In August 2016, The Perception Institute published "The 'Good Hair' Study," the first "Hair IAT" to assess the implicit biases related to natural hair.
The study had 4,163 participants: A national sample of 3,475 men and women, and a sample of 688 natural women from an online natural hair community. Unsurprisingly, the study concluded that "the majority of participants, regardless of race, show implicit bias against Black women's textured hair."
However, the researchers also found that:
"Black women in the natural hair community have significantly more positive attitudes toward textured hair than other women, including Black women in the national sample."
Enter goddesses Cipriana Quann and TK Wonder: Twin bloggers with natural hair so big and beautiful you couldn't miss a strand from space.
The two models reportedly hated their natural hair growing up. They thought it held them back in their careers.
"I was modeling for almost a decade and the only issue that I had in the modeling world had to do with my hair," Cipriana told Cosmopolitan in 2015. "My hair is afro-textured; I don't have a defined curl. I was beginning to actually hate my hair and seeing it as a huge obstacle. I didn’t have any creative freedom or creative control, so I quit modeling and decided to grow my hair natural again."
As a new "natural" born leader, Cipriana collaborated with Nikisha Brunson to form "Urban Bush Babes," a site dedicated to Black natural hair.
TK Wonder later joined as a contributor.
The sisters have since been spotted flaunting their eclectic style and striking hair on major runways and in fashion magazines.
And they do it all while empowering Black women everywhere.
"Natural hair was about being yourself. There’s nothing wrong about a woman who wears a weave," said TK. "I really don’t care what a woman chooses to do with her hair, but I think it came to a point where it was derogatory toward people who wore their hair natural, and there was a certain stigma around people who wore their hair natural or in an afro. It was about breaking down stereotypes and derogatory perceptions that people had about natural hair."
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