Earlier in the week, I watched a video from Buzzfeed’s Pero Like channel entitled “Pelo Bueno, Pelo Malo.” Now, this is a phrase I know all too well, but more so “pelo malo.” “Pelo Bueno, Pelo Malo” translates to “Good Hair, Bad Hair.” In the Latinx community, “pelo bueno” is valued over “pelo malo.” “Pelo bueno” references to flowy straight hair that can be easily managed, whereas “pelo malo” is seen as unruly curly or kinky hair, which is usually aimed towards us Afro-Latinxs.
From a young age, I was told that I had “pelo malo” because my hair was so hard to manage. I used to get headaches when my aunts tried to comb through my hair because they’d pull so hard. When I was seven, I relaxed my hair for the first time to make it “pelo bueno” and I absolutely hated it. Although I hated it relaxed, I hated it even more curly. I used to wish that I would wake up with hair like my friends, straight and beautiful. I used to pray that I would wake up with long flowy hair that blew with the wind anytime I walked somewhere. I used to beg God to give me “pelo bueno” when my hair was already good, something I realized when I was twelve. Every time I washed my hair, I noticed how my curls slowly started to become practically invisible and at the age of twelve, I refused to get it relaxed anymore. I started to miss how my curls used to bounce when I was younger and how long and strong it used it be.
Now that I’m older, I strive to bring my curls back to how they used to be. I did a semi-chop before entering high school five years ago and now it’s growing back stronger than ever; however, almost seven years later, my hair is still a bit damaged from relaxing and straightening it. Although I do still straighten it from time to time, it’s because I want and choose to straighten it. My hair is mine and it is beautiful.
Someone in the Buzzfeed video points out that there is no such thing as bad or good hair because at the end of the day hair is hair. So to all my fellow Latinxs, especially Afro-Latinxs, your hair is beautiful. You don’t have to relax or straighten your hair to please others, you do that for yourself. Your hair is absolutely gorgeous the way it is. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
