What makes curly hair curly, and why is this question so hotly debated? Curls form early on, when a curved hair follicle’s protein causes a strand to twist and coil. Between genetics, hormones, and environment, there are infinite ways for curls to develop, as well as numerous different types of textures.
Terms like “2C” and “4A” get thrown around, derived from a manufactured scale that ranges from a straight type one to type four, which signifies coily hair. The letters indicate the tightness of the curls. This scale was created in the 90s by Andre Walker, a businessman and hairstylist, but the concept of hair typing goes as far back as the early 1900s. This prior form of hair typing was rooted in racism, being a way to quantify a person’s proximity to whiteness.
Today, the modern hair typing scale is used for a different form of categorization, where people take to social media comment sections to pick apart hair types, deeming whether or not someone’s hair is truly curly — the so-called “curl police.” A trend in recent years has been for those questioning their hair type to document their hair journeys and curl routines, and from that, tension has stemmed.
Ruby Fitzpatrick Jervis, Berkeley High School junior and curly-haired girl herself, has seen this debate often.
“I define curly hair as having the majority of your hair tightly coiled. It takes a lot of work and a solid routine with lots of different products that actually makes it look good. A lot of people have wavy hair, whereas curly hair is more varied,” Fitzpatrick Jervis said, “I think the ‘curl police’ is not something that should be taken seriously. People go through their own hair journeys, and supporting ‘the curl police’ is a way of doing so.”
Curl policing oftentimes comes from a place of curly pride, and wanting to preserve the identity formed around it. It is not an inherently negative thing, but can instead be lighthearted and informative. BHS freshman Ayshia Bell-Vorkoeper has noticed the two sides of this policing; one where it’s beneficial and the other where it’s hurtful.
“I usually see the curl police in comments of videos of people who have wavy hair or loose curls. Sometimes the curl police are good because there are people who say that their waves are curls, but sometimes they are bad because they say people with loose curls are ‘forcing their curls.’ They can make people feel insecure or unsure about their hair,” Bell-Vorkoeper said.
The idea of “forcing” curls often comes in the form of an accusation. When a person has loose curls or waves, they may face criticism for “forcing” their naturally straight hair to have texture through the use of various products and curl methods. More often than not, however, texture is not something that can be forced. Unless a person is perming their hair or using heat rollers, their texture is their own, and dismissing these different forms of curls and waves is not beneficial to anyone.
While Walker’s original intention with his system was to categorize his own hair care line, his hair defining terminology has become widespread. The broad reach of the scale has led to its misuse, as well as a number of criticisms. Despite Walker being Black himself, people have questioned a potential hierarchy, where the system values Black hair textures below straight. Its effectiveness also comes into question, as the scale doesn’t factor in density and porosity, two big components of hair texture. Moreover, with its A to C, one to four scale creating only 12 options, it is simply not enough to categorize the diversity of hair types, unsurprising given that the system at its core is a marketing tactic.
Another topic debated by the “curl police” is what it means to live with curly hair. The high maintenance of curly hair, they argue, makes it stand apart from looser curls and waves. Candiss Youngblood, the AP/IB Studio Art teacher, understands the difficulty many face with their own hair textures.
“I am a curly haired girl, and I’ve had a very complicated relationship with my hair, you know, it’s flat ironed right now. So, yes, there’s definitely something about being a curly haired girl that straight haired people will never understand, and sometimes people who have wavy hair, they maybe more fit into a straight hair category to some of us curly haired girls. So I understand that. I just don’t think there needs to be the, kind of like, aggressive back and forth part to it. I think it could be a little bit more like, we all just like to share a little bit about ourselves and have commonalities with one another,” Youngblood said.
Curly hair takes a lot of work, and it’s a texture that has historically been deemed as not fitting the western beauty standard. The effort, as well as the pervasive form of othering, makes some feel as though the curly identity is something that needs to be protected, hence the “curl police.” However, over categorization is an issue too, and when curly hair is gate kept, it is often just a new iteration of that unnecessary exclusivity from the other side.