Being biracial, I struggled with my own standards of beauty, feeling aesthetic beauty was considered predominately white with straight, long hair and not puffy, thick curly hair. At a young age, I would go to hair salons to get my hair relaxed to make it more tamed to straighten, which ultimately damaged my beautiful curls even more. It was hard enough trying to find a hair salon that could even manage to do my type of hair, because hairstylists didn’t know how to style my hair or cut it evenly. I straightened my hair all throughout middle school and high school to purposely try to fit in with what I felt was considered the societal norm. When I attempted to wear my hair natural to embrace my roots, I was harassed by other girls for having my hair too puffy. After watching Beyonce’s “Formation” video, I felt empowered to wear my hair natural again, especially after seeing her backup dancers dressed as Black Panther members with afros and black caps. Back in 2014, Beyonce and Jay Z got criticized for their daughter’s, Blue Ivy, natural hair, in which a New York woman created a petition to request the couple to take better care of their daughter’s hair. Beyonce addressed this in her “Formation” verse: “I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros.” Such an example like this makes it prevalent why black girls and women struggle with wearing natural hair when society emphasizes European standards of beauty.

In a recent article, "Why the 'Natural Hair' Question for Hillary Clinton Mattered, From the Woman Who Asked It," by Rachel Lubitz, a Columbia College junior Kyla Gray at the Democratic town hall in South Carolina on Feb. 24, addressed the topic of natural hair in relation to racism toward Hillary Clinton. Gray said, “Recently I started wearing my hair natural and I’ve noticed a difference in the way some people address and look at me.” Gray mentioned the topic of natural hair to address a more complex issue by asking, “So my question to you is what do you intend to do to fix the broken racial relations in our nation?” Gray is not the only black woman who has been treated differently for wearing her hair natural, since there have been several cases of other black women and girls facing the same issue.

The article, "Women Are Tweeting to #SupportThePuff After Girl Suspended for Her Natural Hair," by Evan Ross Katz, a student at C.R. Walker Senior High School in Nassau, Bahamas, Tayjha Deleveaux, was allegedly suspended from school for having her hair “untidy, ungroomed, unkempt, and it looks like it would not have been combed for days,” according to the school’s principal. In another article, "This Eighth Grader Was Called to the Principal’s Office for Her 'Too Poofy' Hair," by Rachel Lubitz, a Toronto eighth-grader was called to the principal’s office for her natural hair. The principal of the school said the girl’s hair was “too poofy,” “unprofessional” and that “no one would hire her with hair like that.” Last year, an 11-year-old from Texas, Makayla Fallaw, was kicked off the team for refusing to straighten her hair for cheerleading competitions in the article, "Girl Kicked Off Cheerleading Squad For Not Straightening Her Hair," by Taylor Bryant. Fallaw’s mother responded by saying, “I felt like it might make my daughter feel like her hair is not good enough because she’s not like other girls.”

In 2013, the article, "Florida School threatens to expel student over ‘natural hair,’" by Clare Kim, said a Florida school threatened to expel 12-year-old Vanessa VanDyke for not cutting her natural hair. School administrators said VanDyke’s hair violated the school’s dress code for being a “distraction.” Another incident that occurred in 2013 was 7-year-old Tiana Parker who was sent home for having dreadlocks in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the article "Tiana Parker, 7, Switches Schools After Being Forbidden From Wearing Dreadlocks," by Rebecca Klein. The school Parker attended, Deborah Brown Community School, has a dress code that says “hairstyles such as dreadlocks, afros, mohawks, and other faddish styles are unacceptable.”

When schools, institutions, organizations, teams, clubs, and so forth have rules that prevent black women and girls from wearing their hair natural, it makes it hard for them to embrace it. Prominent figures in the entertainment industry are embracing their natural hairstyles, which can be an influence on black women and girls to feel confident with being au naturale. The article "Model makes hair history at Victoria’s Secret runway show," by Lisa Respers France, said model Maria Borges opted to embrace her afro instead of wearing long locks. Borges said, “If you say you’re beautiful without hair and makeup, then they will believe you. It’s about being confident and always being yourself.” Viola Davis, Oscar-nominated actress and star of the show "How to Get Away with Murder," is one of many black celebrities who embraces natural hair. Davis said in her interview with Essence Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. Bush, “My image of myself [as a youth] was in the mouths of young white kids calling me … ugly … and then going home to a mother who did not fully embrace her own beauty.” Davis also said, “I am not going to traumatize my child about her hair. I want her to love her hair.” This is an inspirational quote for all black women and girls to live by, because regardless of short or long hair, thin or thick hair and curly or straight hair, we are all beautiful women who come in different shapes, sizes and hairstyles. When I see Davis on the front cover of Essence magazine sporting natural afros and Zoe Kravitz on the front cover of Marie Claire magazine rocking braids, I think progress for essential black beauty is being made, but we still have a long way to go.

I am proud of my natural curly hair and as a vow to the #SupportThePuff hashtag, I will join the movement in wearing my hair natural, because there is not one perception of beauty; there are many types of beauty that deserve to be seen. Do not be ashamed of the hair you were born with! Embrace it and rock that fro!