Lena Waithe: Black women have been ‘forced to conform’ with their hair styles

Lena Waithe feels Black women have been “forced to conform” with their hair styles.

The ‘Bad Hair’ star believes that Black women have changed their hairstyles or adapted them in order to “look palatable for their white coworkers” and says there has been unnecessary pressure on Black women to “straighten” their hair.

She said: “I think for a lot of Black women, particularly in corporate America, they have been forced to conform and to look palatable for their white coworkers. We’ve also had this sort of European beauty and what we were supposed to look like. There’s a lot of pressure on Black women to straighten their hair, even if they don’t want to.”

And the 36-year-old screenwriter, producer and actress insists her new horror satirical movie, which follows a woman who gets a weave so she can fit in at work, only for it to have a mind of its own, is not “anti-straight hair or natural hair”.

Speaking to Good Morning America, she added: “This is not anti-straight hair or natural hair, it’s more about having the freedom to wear your hair however you choose. Things like the Crown Act are a prime example of that. I think the movie is really all about not conforming to fit in but more about doing what makes sense for you and standing out.”

Meanwhile, Lena previously spoke of the importance of black LGBTQ+ representation.

She said: “It’s substantially significant and necessary. I think representation in all regards is so necessary, and right now, we’re fighting for so many different causes. Not just Black lives or Black male lives but Black trans lives, gay Black lives. I wanted to be clear Black women who are, I always say ‘masculine-presenting,’ we can also be soft. We can also be vulnerable. And we’re not all aggressive. I’m always fighting to be the best person I can be, partner I can be, friend I can be. And I think people don’t necessarily associate that with someone that walks through the world the way we do. And I was really happy that we got to just show a different side of us.”

Article source: https://www.contactmusic.com/news/lena-waithe-black-women-have-been-forced-to-conform-with-their-hair-styles_6325450