While I embrace my naturally curly hair, it can be difficult to ignore the new straight hair trends constantly getting attention on social media.
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The latest hair trend that I have come into contact with is bun dropping: People all over the world are posting slow-motion videos of themselves dropping down their buns, to reveal their long, silky and gorgeous straight hair.
Before I grew to love my curly hair, I always felt the societal pressure to straighten it.
In fact, I did wear my hair straight for many years due to a constant sense of insecurity and a fear of daring to be different than everybody else. Back then, bun dropping would have only added to the oppression that I felt that the world was telling me: straight hair is beautiful, and curly hair is ugly. All of my favorite actors back then had long, straight hair as well, which played a big role in driving me to style my hair that way.
Now when I look back old pictures of myself, I know how absolutely ridiculous that was.
When I finally began to learn to love my hair, I stopped caring what everyone else’s hair looked like. I ignored the media and those around me. I came to realize that having straight hair wasn’t me– now when I see viral fads like bun dropping, they no longer have an effect on me. Now I have an immense sense of pride because I embrace my hair, whether it is straight or not.
For those who do have naturally long and straight hair, everyone has a right to embrace it. I cannot argue with what makes someone else feel beautiful and I think it is nice that this trend exists to encourage confidence and self-love. However, I have to admit that I am proud of the insane amount of love–and maybe pride–for my unique texture that I have developed over the years.
While I am happy that people are embracing their hair on social media, I do wish that there were more viral trends that catered to short, curly folks like myself.
Even though it is getting better today, I do feel that are still too many instances that glamorize straight hair. Whether it is the intention of these trends or not, bun dropping could potentially have some negative effects on the short and curly folks like myself who might not have fully embraced their true selves. Whether it is straight or not, everyone should love their own uniqueness. Whatever makes someone feel confident and beautiful is all that matters.
Bun dropping is great way to show off that self-love for straight hair. If more trends for curly hair were to emerge, I think that people who hate their curly hair would learn to love it instead.
