Guessing that "conk" is the result of chemically straightening hair. Must be what Rev. Al does to his.

Somehow, I don't think he's trying to "pass"!

Cassandra Peterson, look out!

Could a Jewfro be called a "JAPy-headed fro"?

Sometimes hair is just hair, for sure. But was that the case at the time that Malcolm X was describing (there, probably in the late 40's or early 50's)? Passing for white was a big deal during the Jim Crow era. These days, probably not so much.

The point, which I didn't make in so many words, but which was my thought when I heard about the Imus brouhaha -- "nappy headed" as a horrible insult? I know black women don't like this term...it's considered offensive...but is there really a good reason for that? A close friend of mine, who's black, has darling, Raggedy Ann-like dreadlocks. I could never get my hair to do that, and I'd look like an idiot if I did. But, I love her hair...it's not a negative.

If Imus had just said "a bunch of hos" I'd bet he would've gotten away with it. And to make the point I made on the Lionel Tiger entry -- he's a SHOCK JOCK. The job description for that is pretty much saying very offensive things -- and he does...about the blacks, the Jews, the Chinese, and probably about the Unitarians. (The violent tendencies of Ralph Waldo Emerson or something.)

Speaking as a girl who's always had stick-straight, baby fine hair I envy your curls, and have endured a few disastrous perms in my life trying to get some "wave" in my hair.

Regarding the racial aspect, I've had it explained to me by black women my age and older (who grew up before the "Black Is Beautiful" days) that it wasn't so much about passing for white as any features that were more like white people had (straight hair, lighter skin, light colored eyes, thin nose, etc.) were considered more "classy" (for lack of a better word) and "better" because the standards were white. Before the civil rights movement, large swaths of the population still believed that other races should be subordinate to whites. One woman told me in her all-black high school in Texas in the early 60's the expression was "if you're white, you're right, if you're black, get back" which basically referred to how girls were ranked on their prettiness based on how much their features were more "white." Getting one's hair straightened was also a considered more sophisticated, and leaving one's hair "nappy" marked you as a hayseed, sort of the equivalent of wearing farmers overalls in the city.

Consider this, Amy: I'll bet my last dollar that nearly everyone will make different assumptions about you in that style than they do in your natural one. I think you look "cooler" in some way - probably because Heart's Ann Wilson is on my "babe list" (has been for 30+ years). Of course, you will react to others as they react to you; there's a column idea for free. So, you'll pull off the shade, shake out your flames and shock somebody: "I pulled off my hat and said, 'Imagine that. Me, workin' for you...'"

It's a great look. Go rob a bank.

Amy, regarding your 12:29 PM comment: THANK YOU! [swivels neck, snaps fingers in an elaborate pattern in the air] People keep bringing up all these mean things he's said over the years. It was his damn job! It's like going after Don Rickles.

Thanks, Rad -- been meaning to go out in it. Bought it years ago at the wig store on 14th Street in New York City. I once went out in an evening dress and a press-on mustache and small goatee that I bought at Gordon Novelties, also in NYC. I had long red hair then, in the style of Veronica Lake. I looked like a cross between Veronica Lake and Wild Bill Hickock. A child whose dad owned my favorite bar took one look at me, ran under a table, and started to cry. My friend David Chesky was enormously upset by it when I came in at a party -- found it deeply troubling. I thought it was hilarious.

Hmmmm. I think Imus's downfall was more related to who he said his "outrageous" statement about than exactly what he said. I agree that calling the team "a bunch of hos" wouldn't have been quite as racist as the phrase he actually used...but I don't think it would have been forgiven, either. However, I think that if Imus had just been a "regular" shock-jock, as opposed to a pseudo-respectable one interviewing a lot of politicians and the like, he'd still have his job. Live by the semi-respectability, die by the semi-respectability.

Anyway, I undergo the Japanese hair-straightening process twice a year, and it is more than worth every penny I pay for it (and it's not cheap!). It used to take me more than an hour to blow-dry my hair piece by piece - now it takes 15 minutes, with my fingers as my only aid needed besides the hairdryer. No more hot rollers, hairspray, whatever. My life has been transformed...okay, that's a bit strong, but it's just so PRACTICAL. And yes, I don't really mind how it looks, either...

I've always had a thing for oriental hair. Amy, I wish I could have seen you when you went out with the mustache and goatee. I would have found it hilarious too. I love messing with people some peoples heads.

"I had long red hair then, in the style of Veronica Lake."

Well, then. You have all sorts of references as well as a wealth of examples of the behavior of others, so you'll understand when I regard this with a drawn-out, "Dammmnnnn..."

It has always fascinated me how relatively minor physical changes in the appearance of women can result in so large a (double-enténdre intended) response... I mean, what a difference, and it's really, actually, superficial, and it's a lot of work to avoid the obvious trap.

See? I'm confused already!

This is apropos of nothing...
tune

OK, so how can I get my wife (Japanese) to stop dying her hair red? I loved it long and black. Pass the word, long, straight black hair is back.

Like most other things, I guess I just need to wait for the pendulum to swing back...

Well, as a completely unbiased observer, I must (must!) say that red works just fine on you.

Jesus freaking Christ. And he probably had a jewfro, too. I have straight, bone straight, freaking straight is not going to hold a perm, somewhere out there is a little Japanese kid wondering where their hair is, straight hair. And I dye it black (naturally a light brown). I wear it in a choppy bob with bangs that I cut myself. I've always wanted black (okay, dye it), long, wonderfully wavy hair, or at least hair with enough texture to hold itself in a braid or pinned up. However, I am not going to lie, straight hair is a hell of a lot easier to deal with than curls. It doesn't get frizzy, it looks the same every day, and it's awfully predictable. I can style it from wet to finished in about 5 minutes. Aside from dying it every couple of weeks, I don't do anything at all to my hair.
I don't consider someone straightening their hair as wanting to "look white" (could it be construed as wanting to "look Asian?"). I just think that for most people, straight hair is easier to deal with and quicker to style. I think curly hair is beautiful, and if I could, I would love to sport some waist-length dreads. Short of extensions, my hair is never going to do that. I see cool cats on the subway every day sporting a snappy suit and tie and a big ol' sheaf of dreads, and I think that's just the hottest thing ever. Does wanting dreads mean I want to look black? No, I just think they're cool looking.
For the record, who is Imus to criticize anyone else's hair? Has he looked in the mirror at the crispy man-mullet he's been sporting lately? And no, I don't consider "nappy" an insult.

I don't think that nappy is even a negative word for hair. The shop I go to in Oakland to get my hair braided (you wanna talk low maintenance, just put braids in and you wake up with perfect hair for the next 3 months!) is called "Nappy or Not" and the place my sister gets her hair styled in Bakersfield has nappy in the name. My niece has a book called "Nappy Hair". I don't think nappy is a big deal.

When my hair isn't in braids, it's straight. I've broken numerous combs and brushes in my shit when it was natural, even though it was hella cute. Too much trouble. Straight combs out easier. (No Japanese straighteners here, though, they tend to fuck up black hair. The stuff you pick up for $10 at Longs works just fine.)

~meshaliu

It is just another example on how infantile American society has become over the past few decades.

I will give you an example of another shock jock who was fired for making a real racially insensitive comment back in 1999. There was a Washington DC local shock jock named Doug 'The Greaseman' Tracht. Right after Lauryn Hill won a bunch of Grammys for her debut solo album. The Greaseman played a small sample of her music and made the comment: "and they wonder why we drag them behind trucks."* Of course there was a local media storm and he was fired from the station. His firing from the station was justifiable and the reasons:

1. Anyone could interpret a veiled threat in the statement.
2. The racial composite of Washington DC.
3. Being an extremely insensitive comment.

Each incident has to be taken in context. Now compare Imus’ and Tract’s comments. There is a huge difference.

Of course, Tracht was hired by another DC radio station less than 3 years later in 2002 and is still on the air.

*Tracht's comment was in reference to the murder of James Byrd by 3 white men in 1998.

Tracht's comment was horrible. Imus' was immature -- one immaturity in a career rife with them.

We have a salon in our town called, "Nappy Heads." I've never known anyone to be offended by it. It has been my experience that telling a person they have nappy hair is like telling another person he needs a hair cut.

You are a very ignorant women to believe that you can attest to the thoughts of what it is to be Black or have the hair texture of a black person. It is not for you to understand or comment on. If your ancestors were burned, lynched, raped or demeaned because of their skin color then you could discuss it. Until then, shut the hell up.

Honey, my ancestors were burned, raped, and demeaned for their religion, and kids chased me around and called me dirty Jew and threw chairs at me in junior high (just to give a few examples) until my dad went to the principal. That give me enough victim cred with you?

Excuse me, but why do I need to be black to be allowed to speak freely on any number of topics -- including what I think of Imus' remark and why I like my (black) friend's hair? Don't I get that right via the Constitution, no matter what my skin color is?

Perhaps if you spent more time reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights (you can get a really cute copy at the Cato Institute online) and less time dwelling on playing speech police officer you'd have a better understanding of this.

The thing that I respect so much about my close friend who's black is that she doesn't walk around with the identity of a victim but of somebody who's looking forward -- which is why she's a self-made, successful entrepreneur who sells her work here and in Japan. The day she tries to weaponize a discussion by talking about persecuted black people...! (The same goes for me and my ancestors, who didn't exactly find life fun and games while being burned out of their villages and chased around eastern Europe by the Cossacks.)

Hmm, come to think of it, you've heard of a wee thing called "The Holocaust"? You want to play "top the victimization," honey, I win hands down.

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