This is a complicated topic. I don't want to get too deep because it can be really deep so I'll try to keep it as brief and light as possible. But basically hair is touchy topic in the black community, especially among black women. There's this whole idea that long straight hair is beautiful, and if you have it naturally you have "good hair." Short, coarse, "nappy" hair is considered bad and ugly. Because of that idea, many black women, myself included, have used chemicals, and extremely hot utensils to straighten our hair. But on the flip side, ideas are changing (a little bit), so many of us have decided to go natural and let our tight coils be free of lye relaxers and hot straightening combs. Anyway, here is an illustration I did based on good hair, bad hair. These illustrations will give you insight to my experiences of being on both sides, getting perm relaxers and going natural. Click image for a bigger view.