My Hair: 1

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I've not always understood that my hair is perfect as it is; growing up my mother used to do my hair cornrows, bantu knots, fro babies name it. But like most 4C type hair, mine is really coarse and abhors heat which is something that our mothers never really got. (Hello heat damage!) So I had it relaxed just before going away to a boarding school for my secondary education because I thought and honestly believed that is how beautiful hair should look. I have to admit that this book wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. Dabiri starts off by talking about her own life, but, although she often writes in first person, her own experiences are not the driving force of the book. I tend to find that the best non-fiction is personal, because that's what makes it unique. While everything Dabiri wrote about was interesting, and I learnt lots of information, I kept wondering why she was the one telling the story. If it's not an objective study, especially when it involves so much history, it feels more like it should be the subject of an academic book. I know that Dabiri is an academic, so I don't doubt that she is qualified to write such a book, but Don't Touch My Hair is marketed at a popular audience, and Dabiri advertises her personal credentials over her academic ones. Thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Creo que todavía no está publicado el libro en español; sin embargo, recomiendo muchísimo esta lectura. August 2020 By Suzi Button in HIGHLIGHTED, NEWS The Lorna Byrne Children’s Foundation is 5 years old! I don't want to sound too negative. This is wholly my own opinion, and I'm sure many people disagree with me. I did enjoy this book, and I definitely learnt a lot from it - in particular, Dabiri explains some complex issues in impressively coherent language - but I just found it a little disjointed and, as such, had to push myself to keep reading. I imagine it's difficult to teach your reader about extensive periods of history in a personal essay format, which is perhaps where I felt a disjunction -- and that is entirely my own fault, for not already knowing this history. I'm definitely glad I read this book, even if it wasn't what I was expecting, and maybe the book's structure will become more apparent to me on a reread.

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Lorna Byrne Spiritual teacher, international bestselling author and philanthropist Lorna Byrne has dedicated her life to remind humanity of the spiritual potential within us all. She is the author of seven best-selling books, including Angels in My Hair, A Message of Hope From the Angels, and Angels at my Fingertips and she has been published in more than 50 countries and 30 languages around the world. Dit boek had ik zo graag gehad toen mijn dochters klein waren! En ik hoor zelfs van volwassen vrouwen, dat ze dit boek graag zelf als kind hadden willen lezen.

Het verhaal is echt heel leuk en zelfs een beetje schattig. Ik herken mijn eigen kinderen in het verhaal, die elke keer weer wat nieuws met hun haar willen maar niet weten wat.... Now I like to think I can read anything even though I generally prefer fiction. However I had mixed feelings about this book. I found some bits really fascinating and the breath of the research was her inspiring - which unfortunately also meant that some parts of it felt quite disjointed and were quite boring. I think it could have done with a bit more editing to refine it more. Dabiri touches on so many topics that my mind is buzzing with the need to do my own deep dives & research more if I can, not least the somewhat hidden role the Irish played in slavery, the Orisha beliefs (I don't think mythology is the right word), the Oyo Empire and mathematical hegemony not understood or willfully ignored - which now that my eyes have been opened seems so obvious 🤦‍♀️ What is also terrible –and this book made me realize more clearly – is the degree to which we have assumed this standards that we even feel uncomfortable in our skin for not complying with it. Having grown up in Mexico, I am familiar with racism, an attitude that unfortunately exists in our country, but also with the fact of having friends that feel less because they are not thin enough, or have the perfect skin or look young. One thing is to be concerned about one’s looks, and this is something completely normal, but another very different thing is to be obsessed with beauty standards that are not our own. It might sound cliché but we need to understand that every nationality and ethnic group is beautiful and we have been taught to think that if it is not white, or thin, or flawless, then there is something wrong. But why do we think that when half the world population does not meet these standards? And why do we feel frustrated about it? Basically because we have been taught there is something we should aspire to and this thought has become too ingrained in our minds.Terrible también resulta saber hasta qué grado hemos interiorizado estos estándares al grado de sentirnos mal o menos por no cumplirlos. Para mí esta lectura ha sido reveladora, tanto por haber crecido en México –en donde tenemos una especie de racismo que negamos- como por tener muchos amigos que se sienten menos por no ser lo suficientemente delgados o tener el cutis suficientemente terso o verse jóvenes. Desde hace tiempo tenía la impresión de que una cosa es la vanidad (y todos somos vanidosos en menor medida y no creo que tenga nada de malo) y otra cosa es obsesionarse con cánones estéticos que no corresponden a nuestra realidad. Puede sonar cliché pero sin duda, cada grupo étnico o raza si se quiere llamar, es bella, pero se nos ha enseñado a despreciar lo que no es blanco, delgado, liso, inmaculado. Pero la realidad es que la mitad de la población mundial no cumple con esos estándares y aun así se ha convertido en una aspiración que no puede desembocar más que en frustración. Full disclosure, I am a white woman and I know this book wasn't written for me. Please excuse any mistakes I may make in my review, I come from a position of almost complete ignorance on this subject. Dit boek is dus echt een hele mooie postieve manier om kinderen kennis te laten maken met verschillende soorten haar. En het allerbelangrijkste misschien wel, het zorgt ervoor dat het zelfbeeld postief wordt beïnvloed.

This book is a must read to understand not only fundamental aspects of racism against people of color, but also as a first step to think about and question the Western beauty standards that have been imposed in the rest of the world.

Dabiri talked about the aspect of hair as non binary and I appreciated the concept. Just because some choose to wear their hair natural doesn't make those that don't any less. We can not attempt binarize (is this even a word) our relationship with our hair because it is complex. I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by the author herself and can highly recommend it. Really enjoy her turn of phrase and cheeky asides, please don't skip this eye opening educational and approachable read. However, one author is changing this with her debut book ‘My Hair’ which aims to bring about more representation of BAME within children’s literature, while also shining a light on the underlying racial issues that perforate our society. We talk with Hannah Lee about her book, her own journey through childhood, and on what needs to be done to bring about change. Want ander haar hebben dat het standaard gemiddelde wordt helaas nog steeds niet als normaal gezien. En dat zou het wel moeten zijn.