I was employed at my current job for about two weeks when I decided to stop getting relaxers. Although I was creamy crack free, I was still wearing bone straight hair and flexi rods while transitioning. I even got a weave and wore Senegalese twists when I got tired of playin’ around with my two different textures. Needless to say, my colleagues only knew me with long hair of some kind.

Then, I big chopped. When I was already insecure and felt like “What the hell did I just do?!”, I was also worried about what my colleagues would think of my new ‘do. Would they accept it? Would they begin treating me differently? Well, when I arrived to work that Monday, I received so many compliments on my hair. My co-workers loved my natural look, and I didn’t expect them to at all.

Now, I don’t know if my colleagues are just sillier (in more ways than one, but I’ll save that rant for another post) than other typical corporate big wigs, but I’ve always been interested in the debate over whether natural hair in the workplace is acceptable or unprofessional.

I was lucky no one in my workplace frowned upon me or my decision to go natural. My colleagues know that I am very dependable, and I get my work done. This may be a different case in other corporate work environments. There’s no doubt that natural hair has had a negative connotation in the US and other parts of the world for many years. It’s been associated with ugliness and inferiority. Our (Black people) solution to become more likable to and accepted by the superior class was to straighten our hair, and most of our people have lived and thought this way ever since.

I can understand why some would think wearing their natural hair in their workplace isn’t professional. It just isn’t apart of the mold of Corporate America. HOWEVER, it’s 2012 guys. You should not worry about what others perceptions of you are, especially if they don’t have a clue about your work ethic. As long as you are articulate and driven, your natural hair shouldn’t matter. If you come across a potential employer who judges you by your hair, you shouldn’t consider working for them! BOOM!

Check out these interesting articles from CNN and Black Enterprise about this topic. Also, share your thoughts! I’m interested to see how others feel about this.