I'm half African American (other half Caucasian). Most of my African-American heritage expresses itself in my thick, dark brown hair (blonde mom had curly hair, so did my Af-Am dad). The avatar shows me in a favorite wig--ignore it. :)
I chemically relax my hair myself every 8-9 weeks at home, not so much to make it bone straight but to make it a little more versatile (it still dries in little corkscrews if I don't do anything to it . . . which my bf likes). It's a couple of inches below my shoulders. Lightly or moderately oiled, It will hold any shape given with a flat iron or rollers, no mousse or spray needed.
Twice a week, I wash it w/ the gentlest shampoo possible and condition (w/ a non-alcohol conditioner thick as pudding) it for 20 minutes in a jedi robe with a hood on; rinse. :) My scalp secretes pretty much no oil of its own, so this washing schedule is determined by my exercise regimen (3-4 runs per week, maybe a swim). I don't shampoo every time, sometimes I just rinse the back of my neck/head. Washing too frequently damages it.
Semi-solid coconut oil and olive oil leave in conditioner/olive oils get added to my hair after washing, towel-blotting and air-drying. I pull it back and oil it and rubberband it like a ballerina before it dries fully or it'll get poofier than I want. But for sleep, I do 2 moisturized pigtails and a bandanna. I do moisturize every night even if I haven't just washed it. I also sometimes divide two pontyails into two more, and twist each and them twist them around each other. In the morning, you have ripples. I might also save the day's bangs or roll & pin some 1940's bangs and sleep with the general shape. In the morning, I might puff up or recurl the rolled bangs & do a high bun with a little ice gel (shape very much like Disney's Tinkerbelle . . . very cute). Or clamp the triple barrel curling iron in the long bangs on each side of my face, for big waves, pull the rest back in a low bun and put some little coin-shaped drop earrings on. Either is cute enough for breakfast, especially with a little eyeliner.
For day, I'm very fond of 40s and 50's vintage styles and curl the bangs with hot rollers and have a high ponytail like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face or a WWII shoulder length style.
What your grad student decides to do with her hair depends on where she is in the U.S. (the higher the black population, the more open her choices are, but still--pay attention to what kind of person she is). Her personality and upbringing come into it . . . how she feels about herself, whether she grew up in a black community, what class she is or was, whether her mother was black (mine wasn't, so I found my own way, hair-wise. Mom wouldn't even let me relax my hair, because she loved me exactly like I was and didn't want me to be self-hating).
I am different than a grad student--although I work around a lot of them. A lot of my style is actually owed to a natural theatricality, literal costume design background, participation in the goth subculture, etc . . . nd being teased for not having relaxed hair (pretty much the first 16 years of my life in WA state).
Grad students: short on time-- for everyday, anyway. The average grad would certainly moisturize, but might not not do as much to her hair as I do. Depends on the girl. If I'd gone to grad school, I wouldn't have sacrificed my hair routine actually; I was harassed too much for my hair as a kid to do differently now. I'm always as impeccable as I can be.
It can take a lot of nerve to do dreds if you're not in a progressive area. Even tidy, tiny perfect dreds read as "unprofessional", quite unfairly.
Thanks for your comprehensive response. I think the character will be going for twists; more details above.
Regarding demographics: the metropolitan area centered around Boston is 6.4% black non-Hispanic; for the “primary cities” within that area, the proportion is 19.8%. The comparable statistics for the Seattle-Tacoma area are 5.3% and 7.1%, respectively. So a natural look might be more acceptable in the People’s Republic of Cambridge than in your old neighborhood.
Regarding the character’s background, otherwise: middle-class, black parents, grew up in a black neighborhood... I guess.
(I lived for three years in Hyde Park and went to a high school there that was something like 80% black, so I think my best hope for writing a black character and not thoroughly embarrassing myself is to think of my high-school classmates as a sort of baseline.)
(I lived for three years in Hyde Park and went to a high school there that was something like 80% black, so I think my best hope for writing a black character and not thoroughly embarrassing myself is to think of my high-school classmates as a sort of baseline.)
Interesting! I did wonder where your confidence came from. :) Although I don't imagine it would be a problem. Being mixed-racial (and more importantly, observant) gives me the confidence to write either side . . . in part, because they are not so different, but I'm also conscious of where they are--& have a sense of where to begin when I do not know something.
Thanks for the good wishes. “Confidence” may not be the right word (I had the social skills of a turnip in high school, so I’m not sure how much I really picked up), but... I don’t want to be That Guy, if you know what I mean.
I chemically relax my hair myself every 8-9 weeks at home, not so much to make it bone straight but to make it a little more versatile (it still dries in little corkscrews if I don't do anything to it . . . which my bf likes). It's a couple of inches below my shoulders. Lightly or moderately oiled, It will hold any shape given with a flat iron or rollers, no mousse or spray needed.
Twice a week, I wash it w/ the gentlest shampoo possible and condition (w/ a non-alcohol conditioner thick as pudding) it for 20 minutes in a jedi robe with a hood on; rinse. :) My scalp secretes pretty much no oil of its own, so this washing schedule is determined by my exercise regimen (3-4 runs per week, maybe a swim). I don't shampoo every time, sometimes I just rinse the back of my neck/head. Washing too frequently damages it.
Semi-solid coconut oil and olive oil leave in conditioner/olive oils get added to my hair after washing, towel-blotting and air-drying. I pull it back and oil it and rubberband it like a ballerina before it dries fully or it'll get poofier than I want. But for sleep, I do 2 moisturized pigtails and a bandanna. I do moisturize every night even if I haven't just washed it. I also sometimes divide two pontyails into two more, and twist each and them twist them around each other. In the morning, you have ripples. I might also save the day's bangs or roll & pin some 1940's bangs and sleep with the general shape. In the morning, I might puff up or recurl the rolled bangs & do a high bun with a little ice gel (shape very much like Disney's Tinkerbelle . . . very cute). Or clamp the triple barrel curling iron in the long bangs on each side of my face, for big waves, pull the rest back in a low bun and put some little coin-shaped drop earrings on. Either is cute enough for breakfast, especially with a little eyeliner.
For day, I'm very fond of 40s and 50's vintage styles and curl the bangs with hot rollers and have a high ponytail like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face or a WWII shoulder length style.
What your grad student decides to do with her hair depends on where she is in the U.S. (the higher the black population, the more open her choices are, but still--pay attention to what kind of person she is). Her personality and upbringing come into it . . . how she feels about herself, whether she grew up in a black community, what class she is or was, whether her mother was black (mine wasn't, so I found my own way, hair-wise. Mom wouldn't even let me relax my hair, because she loved me exactly like I was and didn't want me to be self-hating).
I am different than a grad student--although I work around a lot of them. A lot of my style is actually owed to a natural theatricality, literal costume design background, participation in the goth subculture, etc . . . nd being teased for not having relaxed hair (pretty much the first 16 years of my life in WA state).
Grad students: short on time-- for everyday, anyway. The average grad would certainly moisturize, but might not not do as much to her hair as I do. Depends on the girl. If I'd gone to grad school, I wouldn't have sacrificed my hair routine actually; I was harassed too much for my hair as a kid to do differently now. I'm always as impeccable as I can be.
It can take a lot of nerve to do dreds if you're not in a progressive area. Even tidy, tiny perfect dreds read as "unprofessional", quite unfairly.
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Regarding demographics: the metropolitan area centered around Boston is 6.4% black non-Hispanic; for the “primary cities” within that area, the proportion is 19.8%. The comparable statistics for the Seattle-Tacoma area are 5.3% and 7.1%, respectively. So a natural look might be more acceptable in the People’s Republic of Cambridge than in your old neighborhood.
Regarding the character’s background, otherwise: middle-class, black parents, grew up in a black neighborhood... I guess.
(I lived for three years in Hyde Park and went to a high school there that was something like 80% black, so I think my best hope for writing a black character and not thoroughly embarrassing myself is to think of my high-school classmates as a sort of baseline.)
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Interesting! I did wonder where your confidence came from. :) Although I don't imagine it would be a problem. Being mixed-racial (and more importantly, observant) gives me the confidence to write either side . . . in part, because they are not so different, but I'm also conscious of where they are--& have a sense of where to begin when I do not know something.
Hope your story turns out wonderfully . . .
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