Is It Time to Reclaim the Word "Nappy"?

We've heard the term "nappy" used as a negative connotation for black hair. But is that meaning evolving with time? In this op-ed, writer Noel Walker explores the history of the word, its evolution, and how people view it today.

I have vivid childhood memories of me and my cousins getting our hair straightened with a hot comb at my grandmother's house on Sunday mornings. I can still smell the fire burning the metal comb on the stove, smoking up the kitchen. The smoke detectors would blare out until someone turned them off, and the line of girls wrapped around the kitchen all the way into the sun parlor waiting to get their “nappy" heads pressed would whine about the process to themselves. But these days, such scenes are more like a memory than everyday life, considering I don’t see hot combs as much as I used to.

Netflix just premiered Nappily Ever After, starring Sanaa Lathan. It's the role for which the actress famously buzzed her hair last year. In the film, Lathan's character Violet begins as a woman obsessed with straightening her hair in order to be deemed "acceptable" to pretty much everyone in her life. This includes her significant other, who she thinks is going to propose to her. When he doesn't, she begins to rethink everything, including her idea of perfection. As part of her epiphany, she shaves her head and allows her hair to grow back in its natural state.

Indeed, Violet's story, particularly her big chop, is an experience many black women in the West have had. Since the turn of the decade, we've seen more black people embracing and celebrating their natural hair. The #teamnatural hashtag on Instagram has over five million posts featuring women with curls and kinks; styling them, washing them, braiding them, wrapping them up in beautiful wax-printed turbans. YouTube has an army of natural hair influencers whose hair-care tips and styling tutorials are accessible with just a few clicks and keystrokes. On Facebook, women discuss all things natural hair in dedicated groups. To say that these developments are all wonderful would be an understatement.

But now that naturals are embracing their texture, I can't help but think about the "N” word — no, not that one. Nappy. The term is one that has been used as a negative description of very tightly coiled, kinky black hair. "In its derogatory form, nappy is a negative way to refer to the dry, coarse, tangled characteristics of Afro-textured hair," explains Shalleen-Kaye Denham, blogger and natural hair influencer. "It is intended to insult what is unique, magical, naturally beautiful, and glorious.”

However, I've heard the term used amongst black people simply as a descriptor for Afro-textured hair, but not necessarily in a pejorative way. I can't help but wonder if there still, overall, a negative attitude associated with it the word. Is it still offensive? And what is even the problem with nappy hair anyway?

“Whether or not the term 'nappy' is offensive depends on the context,” explains Tanisha Ford, African-American Studies professor at the University of Delaware and author of Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul. “Context definitely matters when saying a word that has such a loaded history. For centuries, hair texture has been used to establish a racial difference and a racial hierarchy, where straighter hair was linked to Europeanness or whiteness, and kinky hair was linked to Africanness or blackness. Pointing out such differences in hair texture allowed slave owners to condemn and chastise enslaved women and men.”

Whether or not the term 'nappy' is offensive depends on the context.

Ford went on to explain that in recent years, "nappy" has been used as both a cultural weapon and a term of endearment. “For example, when the Fugees released their track "Nappy Heads" in 1994, I saw that as a celebration of our African roots and brown skin,” she says. “But I found the term highly offensive when infamous radio personality Don Imus called the members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team 'nappy-headed hoes' back in 2007. His charged comments caused an uproar, and Imus was suspended.”

Of course, Imus's use of the word was blatantly (and extremely) offensive to a lot of people, but does the meaning of the word change, at least when someone in the black community says it? I asked several people and discovered that the answer is just as complex as the history of the term.

“In my house, the term nappy was used when our hair wasn’t done. So I always understood it to be frizzy, tangled, or not sleek,” said Courtney Danielle, natural hair blogger, influencer, and co-founder of Black Girl Fly Mag. “Of course, I soon found out it was specifically referring to kinky hair that wasn’t appealing, considered beautiful, or 'good' hair."

I love my natural hair. Don’t call it nappy, because it is mine. It is beautiful. And I’ll wear it however my soul wants to.

For Ford, the word, particularly combined with the word "headed," was used to describe unsavory behavioral traits. “Nappy hair was hair that, as kids, we were — subtly and sometimes not-so-subtly — raised to think of as 'bad' and 'unruly'," she echoed. “But then "nappy-headed" also had a meaning that wasn't just about hair texture. It became shorthand for calling someone a bad kid, to signify that they were out of control or didn't have good home training. So when someone says 'sit your nappy-headed ass down' they're essentially saying, 'sit your non-behaving ass down.' Nappy is a term I usually associate with childhood."

Dana Oliver, beauty director at Yahoo Lifestyle, says it wasn't until her time as an undergrad at Temple University that she learned the etymology of the word, but she always knew it wasn't a positive term. "Growing up in the Deep South, that term always had a negative connotation, and elders would use it to refer to young black girls with 'unkempt' or 'uncombed' hair," she says. "I love my natural hair. Don’t call it nappy because it is mine. It is beautiful. And I’ll wear it however my soul wants to."

I don't mind if it's used as a term of pride and endearment.

“Nappy is not offensive to me," says Kiara Latrae, founder and CEO of @naturalhairloves. "No matter who it comes from, it's simply a moment for me to enlighten them, or to keep it moving."

Still, Denham agrees that while it’s not bothersome to her personally, it can bring up some bad past experiences. “While the term triggers some traumatic memories for some people (depending on how the term is used), not everyone uses the term with a negative connotation. It can simply describe the texture of our manes rather than be an insult. In more recent years, there has been more acceptance of the word."

Harper's Bazaar senior digital fashion editor Chrissy Rutherford has similar feelings. "I think it's inherently been made to have a derogatory connotation, but it really doesn't bother me," she explains. She does mention, though, that it does depend on who uses it. "Do I want a white person using it in reference to my hair? Hell no."

Jessica Andrews, Teen Vogue fashion features editor, agrees that the offensiveness of the term "nappy" is contextual. "I don't like anyone whose hair isn't 'nappy' saying it," she tells Allure. "That said, she also realizes that within the black community, it can be used in a more positive manner. "[I don't mind] if it's used as a term of pride and endearment," she explains, likening the term to the reclamation of the word "bitch" among some women.

It's one thing if we're using it to each other, changing the way in which we define it and use it, but that's within our community.

Fashion and beauty journalist Kahlana Barfield Brown also acknowledges the painful history behind the word and says she typically tries not to use it. But, she echoes the sentiment that it takes on a different meaning if another black person is saying it. "It's one thing if we're using it to each other, changing the way in which we define it and use it, but that's within our community. For someone who's outside, you can't use that word. I know some people will say, 'well why oh, why?' but — you just can't."

Clearly, the word "nappy" holds a complicated meaning, even though there are people who don't consider it particularly insulting. For the people I spoke to, the problematic connotations of the word appear to linger, and they are conscious of it. Though it describes the same texture of hair as the words "kinky" and "coily," those words do not come with the baggage "nappy" does. At the end of the day, the word started as an insult to black people, and that is a history that many of us are mindful of.

However, times change and the meaning of the word, depending on the context, is taking on a more neutral connotation, or is being reclaimed by some, possibly similar to the ways in which the other N-word has been — again, for some folks, though by no means all. Either way, "nappy" or not, kinky black hair is beautiful — no matter what anyone tries to tell you.

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