My days of straightening my hair are over.

All my life I have dealt with the annoyance of having curly hair, and until recently I hardly ever went out in public with it in its curly state.

I used to think having curly hair was like being ginger: a rarity in its own. However, now more than ever I have seen women wear their hair curly. I have started to learn that I am not alone and plenty of women do have curly hair. It has been the popular case of women feeling they need to straighten their hair rather than wear it naturally.

It seems as though there has always been a stigma against curly hair. Society has taught me to think that curly hair is out of the ordinary. Pretty girls are usually stereotyped with shiny, controlled, straight hair not frizzy, loud, twisted hair. It is for some reason more acceptable to have straight hair in our society then to have curly. There was even talk a few years ago that curly hair could keep one from getting a job. It sounds crazy, but it was deemed to look unprofessional and messy.

Most of my life, I could never manage my hair, and it made me feel misplaced amongst all the girls who flipped around their perfectly straight hair. I always struggle with wanting to be pretty in my own eyes and a part of that struggle has been dealing with this crazy hair of mine that wouldn’t rest to let me know the normalcy of straight hair.

Because of my self-doubt, I have been apart of this hidden agenda against curly hair. Usually I would straighten my hair or put it up in braids or a bun, but I say no to that now. I say no to changing my appearance for the sake of it not being normal or being out of place.

Now, I am not shunning people for ridding of the curliness because I still straighten my hair on the always-expected occasion when it is uncontrollable, but I still wonder why it has been my go-to thing to rid of my natural mane for such a long period of my life.

I know that the curly haired debate really doesn’t seem important or life changing, but it brings up this problematic issue of being afraid of natural beauty.

To me straightening your hair is like wearing makeup. Obviously it can just be there for the fun of dressing up, but it also can be used to enhance your natural appearance.

For some reason, it is more comfortable to wear my hair curly then it ever has been, and I love the creative stigma that comes with it; it’s like my thoughts are coming out of my head in an eccentric way.

I know though that it’s not as easy for other people to just let go of it all and be vulnerable to the picky judges of beauty.

How I recommend getting comfortable with wearing you hair curly out in public is just let it down for a little bit, and when it starts to make you feel self-conscious twist it up in a bun.

Anybody that feels nervous about their curly hair should know that it more than anything grabs people’s attention because of its complex beauty. In time, you will get to know your curly hair better then you have ever known your flat iron, and the revolution of curly hair will begin!