In early 2023, inspired by conversations during a trip to Jamaica, a woman decided to explore a variety of hairstyles beyond her past choices of safe box braids or weaves. This decision was motivated by the realization that her hairstyle choices had been influenced by societal stereotypes and microaggressions faced as a Black woman in the UK. She recognized the deeper significance of her hair as a form of self-expression and a means to combat internalized biases, striving for freedom from prejudiced assumptions about her identity.
Throughout my 20s, the styles I went for were safe, nothing that could be misconstrued as conforming to some sort of stereotype, such as being messy, unkempt, or even unclean.
I had come to realise that my own understanding of stereotypes about Black women had been learned from years of experiencing microaggressions: from comments on how good my English was, despite being British.
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