Bonnets come in all colors and sizes, just like people, so why not let anyone wear one?
There is a stereotype that only people of color or people with textured hair should wear one, but the benefits of wearing a bonnet is beneficial to anyone.
No matter what kind of hair you have or what culture you come from, you need a bonnet. Bonnets save you from the trouble of waking up with messy hair because your hair will not get matted or tangled while sleeping. Bonnets help keep moisture in your hair while you sleep.
They even keep natural hair oils from going to other places, like your face, when you’re sleeping. And if these oils touch your face or any other part of your body for long periods of time, pimples and acne can occur. Bonnets can even keep these oils in the correct place.
“One thing that it does is hold the hair cuticle down, it helps to keep it in place,” JC Styles Salon Academy director Jessica Clarke said. “So when we’re lying in the bed and tossing and turning on cotton sheets and things like that, it tends to dry it out more any hair texture. And so the bonnet helps to keep the cuticle in place.”
These numerous benefits should not be blocked from anyone. One thing that gives me horrible migraines is the fact that we gatekeep bonnets. Black people think that when a person of non-color is wearing a bonnet they’re making a joke and abusing black culture.
If we get past this idea of cultural appropriation and let other people wear bonnets, our nation can further understand culture and hair. There are a lot of confusing things with bonnets and black people should be willing to help teach what kinds of bonnets are helpful, how to properly wear, and how to benefit from them.
We should share hair hacks and tips with people across the world and not just gatekeep it for one community. Just like how many other cultures have welcomed outsiders, the black community should do the same. Cultural appropriation isn’t impactful unless the person doing it has malicious intentions. Just like how the black community has made a big thing about white girls wearing box braids or white guys having dreads, it all doesn’t affect you unless they’re doing it for malicious reasons. Even if these hairstyles are bad for their hair, let them make their own choices.
And as Ash Sarkar, a journalist and political theory lecturer wrote in The Guardian “Not everyone who participates in a misguided attempt at cultural borrowing is a colonizer in disguise. Some people are just sad try-hards.”
If you are considering wearing a bonnet, as you should be, looking for the right one can be confusing. There are so many different types and some have more benefits than others. But overall there’s one type of bonnet that I think is amazing if you want to grow your hair to its full length and health. Anything silk is amazing for your hair, because not only does it give you benefits beyond appearance, but the texture and look of you hair will be amazing.
Bonnet usage is one size fits all, and if we shame people for wanting to expand their horizons then humanity will never find peace. We need to share the love: just like how black people love their hair, we should be able to let everyone love theirs too.
