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Nappiness Is..
Jul. 22nd, 2008 01:23 pm"Nappy hair" is actually not a term I was too familiar with until recently when I heard a black hairdresser/activist on the radio encouraing black people to enjoy and celebrate their naturally kinky hair.
I used the term in a story, purely descriptively, but something was tickling the back of my memory so I did some Googlage. I read an article on why the term is historically offensive, but most of the hits were similar to what I heard on the radio.
Is "nappy" being reclaimed? Is it a term that is loaded in such a way that I can't use it casually yet if it's not a black character talking?
And if not "nappy," what term can I use to describe a black character's hair which is kinky and cropped short?
By the way, my chest hair is nappy.
I used the term in a story, purely descriptively, but something was tickling the back of my memory so I did some Googlage. I read an article on why the term is historically offensive, but most of the hits were similar to what I heard on the radio.
Is "nappy" being reclaimed? Is it a term that is loaded in such a way that I can't use it casually yet if it's not a black character talking?
And if not "nappy," what term can I use to describe a black character's hair which is kinky and cropped short?
By the way, my chest hair is nappy.
