I Secretly Used to Wig Disgrace—Till I Discovered #WigTok

“Now, who advised her it was alright to stroll out of the home like that?”

I turned the TV quantity to listen to the brand new Hannah Montana episode and tune out my mom’s commentary. My aunt and grandma huddled round her telephone as she confirmed them pictures of superstar wig fails, gossiping because the present’s theme tune started to play.

“She has no actual mates,” my aunt mentioned whereas laughing. “Now minimize it out, you two,” my grandma mentioned because the laughter pale.

This wasn’t the primary time I heard conversations like this throughout my childhood.

I keep in mind outings when my mom would take my sister and me to an area donut and ice cream parlor. Throughout the quick stroll, we’d chortle as my mom discreetly identified “unhealthy wigs,” those the place she might simply see somebody’s pure hair poking out from beneath the wig cap.

I normally shrugged these feedback off or tried to vary the subject. Possibly I awkwardly laughed and even agreed. I did not assume a lot of those exchanges on the time, however they formed my concepts of what Black hairstyles ought to — and shouldn’t — seem like. I by no means hated wigs, however as I received older, I started to side-eye the ladies I noticed carrying them. My household’s opinion on wigs slowly morphed into my very own, and this mindset went just about unchallenged.

In April 2020, I opened TikTok for coiffure inspiration since my common stylist wasn’t accessible. The app’s For You Web page confirmed me a video of #Wigtok hair influencer Brittney Rose discussing how a scarf wig might promote hair development and double as a simple “COVID coiffure.” I used to be immediately intrigued. I had by no means heard of a scarf wig, and the type seemed simple to duplicate.

My preliminary pleasure in regards to the type shortly morphed into doubt. I keep in mind questioning the place I might get a scarf wig and worrying about my household’s response if I tried to put on this type. Nonetheless, Rose’s content material entertained me, so I went down a TikTok rabbit gap, watching dozens of her movies about learn how to type wigs, hair development ideas, and straightforward pure kinds.

I clicked on the #Wigtok hashtag I noticed on Rose’s video, which led me to a different web page stuffed with Black girl creators. The #Wigtok hashtag has over a billion views on TikTok. Many of the content material is about wigs, and despite the fact that I knew I would not attempt to replicate the wig hairstyles, I used to be nonetheless within the movies. Earlier than I knew it, the day become evening, and I spent hours watching #WigTok movies on the app.

I am not the one one who has been sucked into the world of #WigTok. Like me, Leenika Belfielt-Martin, a author who discovered #WigTok movies in the course of the pandemic, was instantly intrigued by the hair-related content material. She was instantly drawn to the content material and amazed to be taught in regards to the effort it took to put on and preserve a wig. She loved studying about wig hacks and the terminology. “I used to be obsessive about #WigTok when the pandemic hit,” Belfielt-Martin says. “I’d go down the rabbit gap and watch movies for hours.”

Like my household, Belfielt-Martin recalled listening to how her household wasn’t too keen on the coiffure. “For many of my life, I’ve all the time been intrigued by wigs, however I by no means dared to put on one, particularly after rising up and listening to a few of the feedback my mother would make in the direction of girls we might see carrying wigs and weaves,” Belfielt-Martin says. “My mother had a lot to do with how I considered the type.”

She additionally did not need to be a “Black woman who wore wigs.” This mindset throughout the Black group stems from the damaging connotation surrounding Black girls who determined to put on wigs, weaves, or hair extensions. Black girls have been scrutinized for carrying these kinds, and they’re accused of “hating” their pure hair, being bald, or incapable of rising (or caring for) hair in any respect. In some instances, if a Black girl wears a wig with straight hair, they might even be accused of making an attempt to “act white.”

With all of the stigma round wigs, Belfielt-Martin did not get the braveness to put on a wig till she was in faculty. She finally determined to strive the coiffure out as a result of she was bored together with her pure hair and could not go to her stylist.

“I did not really feel pleased with my hair, so I began carrying wigs. I received a whole lot of my wig inspiration from TikTok, Pinterest, and social media websites,” Belfielt-Martin says. “I began having enjoyable with it by experimenting with totally different hair lengths and textures.

Belfielt-Martin seen a shift in her temper when she started to put on wigs. She seen that doing her hair turned much less of a chore and extra of an exercise she loved, and her coiffure selections turned one other approach she might showcase her creativity.

Ashley Townes, a well-liked #WigTok creator with over 350,000 followers, has garnered nearly 8 million likes on her movies on her TikTok channel, Ashleythemogulbu. Townes’ wig journey started out of her frustration with styling her pure hair; wigs supplied a fast and classy different.

“I’ve pure 4C hair, and it is quite a bit to handle typically,” Townes says. “It isn’t that I do not love my hair, however I can put on the wigs longer than I can after I type my pure hair.”

Townes went viral after sharing a storytime video about her expertise assembly a celeb whereas carrying a “unhealthy” wig (the circulated clip is now not accessible). Townes’ storytime video was posted on The ShadeRoom, and different superstar information retailers. Her sudden recognition resulted in individuals commenting that she was “bald” and could not develop hair.

Townes did not let these damaging feedback get the very best of her. As an alternative, she determined to channel that vitality into her Ashleythemogulbu TikTok web page, displaying individuals how she grew her hair and educating others how they may.

Townes caught the eye of wig manufacturers like Crown Assortment Hair and Geeta Hair. Quickly, they despatched her wigs to make use of for her movies, cementing her right into a #WigTok influencer.

As her platform continues to develop, so has the backlash. “I do get extra love than hate, however there are these— particularly males, older Black girls, and White girls—who will remark and ask why I do not put on my pure hair or inform me to like myself,” Townes says.

Regardless of the occasional negativity that comes from being a Black girl on-line, Dr. Johanna Lukate, a analysis fellow on the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, Germany, believes that the group throughout the hashtag is a good way to characterize several types of black hair.

Lukate’s analysis from 2018 targeted on the significance of Black hair and the way it operates as a type of non-verbal communication. “It is showcasing Black magnificence and all its sides, and that is essential, particularly for youthful individuals,” Lukate says. “These youngsters are actually rising up with so many position fashions and folks to look as much as and provides them recommendation, apart from their aunt or mom who might solely know learn how to type afro-texture hair by doing restricted kinds.”

Wigs are a protecting type; they’ll promote hair development and provide freedom to vary Black hair with out damaging it. Most significantly, wigs can function a type of private expression.

Like Townes and Belfielt-Martin, Lukate agrees that wigs is usually a useful coiffure for Black hair. A wig can provide the liberty to vary hair with out a lot effort or dangerous chemical substances. “Styling sure hair textures might be very intense, so a wig might be a simple different if you cannot afford to take a seat there for hours and magnificence your hair,” Lukate explains.

Past simple styling, wigs permit Black girls to embrace their id and tradition.

“For ladies of coloration, hairstyling from chemically enjoyable to overlaying your hair with a wig or intentionally carrying it in an Afro is about managing a marginalized id,” Lukate says throughout a TedTalk in regards to the psychology of Black Hair. “It is styling your hair with the understanding that you simply’re not simply judged by what’s in your management, however by bodily attributes given to you at delivery, akin to the colour of your pores and skin or the feel of your hair.”

Extra Black girls on TikTok and elsewhere are talking out in opposition to hair discrimination in private {and professional} settings. Throughout the US, laws, like the Crown Act, has additionally been launched to assist defend Black girls from hair discrimination in work and academic settings.

My views on wigs have modified, too. I assumed wigs have been a lazy coiffure or a method to compensate for not having hair. However when I discovered the #WigTok group, I noticed issues otherwise. Wigs are a protecting type; they’ll promote hair development and provide freedom to vary Black hair with out damaging it. Most significantly, wigs can function a type of private expression.

My household’s angle in the direction of wigs has modified, and I’ve seen the distinction through the years. Whereas I do not know the explanation behind this shift, like me, they’ve seen that wigs aren’t such a foul factor. Like braids and weaves, wigs are a protecting and classy method to type your hair.

I am nonetheless working up the braveness to put on a wig. Whereas I’ve watched many #Wigtok movies and know the dos and don’ts of wig-wearing, I am nonetheless scared to see how I’d look with a wig on, and I am much more terrified to be judged for it as I used to do to others.

My household’s angle towards wigs helped me acquire the braveness to put on a weave for my faculty commencement. I wasn’t petrified of their response as a result of I knew they’d assist the type. I frightened about different individuals realizing I used to be carrying a weave. I ran by potential rebuttals I might say in case somebody questioned me about my hair.

When my commencement day got here round, I wasn’t even involved about my hair or what others might say about it. I used to be targeted on receiving my diploma and celebrating that milestone.

I’ve all the time heard the phrase, “Black hair is gorgeous,” however as I walked throughout the stage with my weave flowing beneath my black commencement cap, I felt a particular connection to that phrase for the primary time.