Nappiness Is..

[talktooloose]

"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.

Comments

[painglass.livejournal.com]

My black co-workers refer to their own and other black people's hair as nappy all the time. I have used it myself in reference to a customer's hair (after she'd left) without my black co-workers being offended. Although, I work with very liberal black women who themselves look down on many black people for their "ghetto ways". So...take that with a grain of salt. I will say, at least here in Milwaukee, many black people will call you for using black slag if you are white (especially if they don't know you).

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

I think the last line is the crucial one: it is not my slang to use casually.