Nappy is “crisp, frizzly, frizzy, kinky…((of hair) in small tight curls). (princeton.edu)
Since slavery, the word ‘nappy’ has been used to criticize black people’s natural hair. Historically, whites saw blacks’ natural hair as a negative feature and a contrast to European standards of beauty. As a result, some black people begin to dislike their own natural features.
“If your hair wasn’t straight, it was called nappy. Nappy hair meant you weren’t beautiful or desirable,” said Nsenga Burton, professor of communications and media studies at Groucher College in Baltimore. “Even within the community, nappy hair for a long time was seen as a bad thing.”
Though many people with natural hair describe their own hair as nappy, many other black people don’t do so and are offended when others do. I primarily see ‘nappy’ as a descriptive word and not necessarily bad, although most of the time when someone calls your hair nappy, they aren’t complimenting you. I mean, I don’t necessarily like when people use it negatively, but I realize that some people are ignorant.
To me, it’s like black people using the other ‘n’ word- that word was seen as offensive and derogatory to black people, but now many of us use it as a term of endearment (but that’s a post for another day). And while I might call my own hair nappy, I would never call anyone else’s hair that because it does have a negative connotation, and everyone is not cool with it.
Anywho, ya’ll know I had to ask my Facebook fam, and here’s what they had to say:
“I have no major issue with the word ‘nappy’ unless it is being used in a negative context. I honestly prefer and use the word ‘kinky’ to describe my hair texture and hair texture in general. I’ve always felt that the term ‘nappy’ was created during the slave era to further belittle slaves which is why I’d have an issue hearing the word from a non- black person…”
~Cheris
“I don’t often use ‘nappy’ to define my hair, but I have used it to describe others. Nappy, to me, means EXTREMELY coarse and hard to manage, which my hair isn’t…most of the time. I guess the word can be offensive depending on its context. I don’t mind the word, though. I’m happy to be nappy.” : )
~Audia
“Coming from a guy perspective, I think the whole hair dialogue is a bit more relaxed (no pun intended) from our perspective, but I’ve definitely referred to my/other’s hair as nappy. No problem with it, but I admit there is a bit of a double standard because I’d likely feel pretty militant if someone of another race referred to my hair as ‘nappy.’ Hmm…on the low, is ‘nappy’ the ‘other N-word’? lol
“But nappy is cool, even though I prefer to keep mine wavy, haha. As long as you manage it.”
~Emmanuel
“I second, E. [above]…Nappy’s cool. I say it all the time to describe my hair and other people’s. But I rarely care too much about words anyway; it’s all about CONTEXT for me. You can tell when somebody (no matter the race) is using the term in a condescending way, and when they’re just describing ultra curly/kinky hair. If I said ‘nappy’ around a friend, and they said they were sensitive about it, I’d probably try to avoid using it out of respect.”
~OD
“I try not to use the word ‘nappy’ …sometimes I’ll just feel it about to roll off my tongue, and I’ll switch to kinky instead. Kinky just feels more politically correct.
So, beautiful and fabulous readers, do you use the word nappy to describe kinky hair? Why or why not?
——
Jamie
Want more stories like this in your inbox? Subscribe today!
I use it at times, but not often. I don’t like when it is used on me by anyone. I mostly use it when it is time for a relaxer. I don’t know. It is so sad how messed up things are. We should all view who we are as beautiful. There is not just one standard!
interesting post…I wasn’t aware of this.
I never had a problem using the term nappy. For me it’s synonymous with kinky. I wear my hair in it’s NAPtural state and I love every kink, twist, and coil.