mixed chicks products: a black hairstory (and education) for everybody

photo: getty images

I have just been on a whirlwind tour of a conversation started by a recent article on Coco and Creme, in which Alexis Garrett Stodghill poses the question, Do Mixed Chicks Hair Care Products Make Light Seem Right?  Mixed Chicks, as in the line of hair products started by entrepreneurs (and mixed chicks themselves) Wendy Levy and Kim Etheredge, to address the needs of bi-racial women's "combination hair".  In the article, Stodghill points out the not-often-brought-up-in-mixed-company-Black reality that the concept of good hair is still alive and well, and chewing away at a lot of Black women's self-esteem (yes, even now, in 2011).  In light of this reality, and citing a recent feature on Black Enterprise, Stodghill calls out the makers of Mixed Chicks products for, she says,

" ... providing themselves with a marketing vehicle through the black community, while targeting their multi-racial audience, at the cost of black women’s self-esteem.
By being featured in Black Enterprise, and shouting out Halle Berry as a supporter, these mixed chicks are clearly drawing on the energy of the black audience for their company’s benefit. At the same time, they want to emphasize the fact that they are not black — flaunting hair black women spend billions every year trying to replicate.  Hair is such a sensitive issue to black women, it is inherently divisive to market a product for mixed women through avenues intended for a predominantly black-identified audience. I find it abrasive and wrong." (Coco & Creme)

My own reaction to Mixed Chicks products has been much less visceral than Stodghill's:  A few months ago, while shopping for hair products, the name seemed to jump out at me from a store shelf.  The entire encounter lasted seconds, literally.  Once I realized that yes, that label said Mixed Chicks, my next thought was 'Obviously not intended for me,' and I moved on.  I did not feel insulted, as Stodghill claims the average African-American woman will be by the brand's name.  That being said, I think she brings up a valid point of discussion when it comes to the marketing of Mixed Chicks products.  I also think Stodghill's article is a  courageous piece of writing in which the author lays bare and calls out her own “good hair” jealously, putting what seems like a tender personal spot out there for people to do with as they see fit.  And the 109 (so far) commenters wasted no time before pouncing on Stodghill, taking an article about the possibly devisive naming of a brand of hair products and spawning necessary (though at times unnecessarily rude) offshoot conversations about so much more. 

I am as inspired by the article itself as I am by the comments and ensuing passionate offshoot conversations I have come accross on  facebook about it, to examine my own reactions to this story.  For example, I may not have felt personally insulted when I first saw the Mixed Chicks label, but the way it jumped out at me may mean more than I have been inclined to think until now.  And I didn't get to growing and loving my own cascade of dreadlocks overnight.  My hairstory has been long, and winding, and it is beginning to feel called for.  These conversations are an opportunity for us to learn from each other. And I mean ALL of us, including sisters and brothers of all races who want to know more about why things are the way they are.  What are your thoughts?  Care to share your hairstory?