Sep 2019
all our life we are told to tame our mane
told to tie up that tangled mess
or cut it because people cannot stand to see it go past our butts
they scream savage at the sight of our luscious hair
mothers even tell their daughters to keep their hair up when they are around us
as if every woman with long hair harbors head louse
they tell us we look like jungle women
little do they know that its who we are
we are the descendants of powerful jungle women
women who lead tribes
women who bore chiefs
women who were the hearts of the family
men are challenged when they see our long straight, wavy, or curly hair being worn so openly
these are the men that tell us to chop our beautiful locks
I want to tell you, my sisters
keep those locks
grow them till they touch the ground
adorn them with flowers
let your mane smell like the ocean
show your power
told to tie up that tangled mess
or cut it because people cannot stand to see it go past our butts
they scream savage at the sight of our luscious hair
mothers even tell their daughters to keep their hair up when they are around us
as if every woman with long hair harbors head louse
they tell us we look like jungle women
little do they know that its who we are
we are the descendants of powerful jungle women
women who lead tribes
women who bore chiefs
women who were the hearts of the family
men are challenged when they see our long straight, wavy, or curly hair being worn so openly
these are the men that tell us to chop our beautiful locks
I want to tell you, my sisters
keep those locks
grow them till they touch the ground
adorn them with flowers
let your mane smell like the ocean
show your power
to all my pacific island sisters, never cut your hair because you are ashamed of its unruliness. do what you want to your own hair and never because of someone else, especially a man. in my culture, the women only cut their hair when the island was threatened by a big fish who was eating away at the island. all the women knew that only a net of their hair could capture the fish. they wove the net and captured the fish faster the men ever could.
