third clique

Let’s come together to embrace the beauty of naturally textured hair in a world
that often prefers straight hair.

“In high school, I was never allowed to step on the stage to anchor without straightening my hair,” said Leela Nigam, 22, a student of NIFT Mumbai. When I told her, I would write a personal piece on the acceptance of curly/wavy hair in today’s society, it made me extremely excited as it would provide me with a medium to vent out all the suppressed emotions with words.

Image credits: Styled and Photographed by Medha Gupta
Model: Parnika Gandhi

“You should get your hair straightened, Medha. You will look much prettier,” is a statement that I have often encountered. My perpetual response to it became a weak smile. Such comments and witnessing people swoon overwomen with straight hair eventually made me idolise it to the point where I stopped appreciating the beauty of my own. My mother, Abha Gupta, 47, a businesswoman in the optical industry, who herself has straight hair, would often tell me about how she always wished for her daughter to have curly hair due to her immense admiration towards it. I would see her putting heatless
curling rollers in her hair whenever we had to go out for a function, which I thought was absurd, because why would a person with straight hair want their hair to look curly?

Image credits: Styled and Photographed by Medha Gupta,
Model: Parnika Gandhi

It is only recently, that I have begun to notice the hypocrisy of society and the influence of digital media on it. Why did Priety Zinta’s, wet look, from “Dil Chahta Hai”, gain immense popularity back in 2001, or why did Carrie Bradshaw’s hair in “Sex and the City,” played by Sarah Jessica Parker, become such an iconic look back in 1998? Were people not big on using heat to style their hair back in the day? When and how did the society shift from embracing their naturally texturedhair to styled, perfect hair?

Image credits: Styled and Photographed by Medha Gupta
Model: Parnika Gandhi

“Why don’t you follow a curly hair routine for your hair, you would have the most beautiful curls ever?” I asked Aditi Bora, 23, a student of fashion communication studying in Delhi. To which she replied, “Oh! I do not like curly hair, it would make me look so messy,” this response did not surprise me at all because there was a point in my life where I would have made the same statement. But the question lies, what made us perceive curly hair as messy and wild, while straight hair is classy, neat and clean?

Image credits: Styled and Photographed by Medha Gupta
Model: Parnika Gandhi

“I always had curly hair and hated it for most of it, it never made me. feel pretty. I always felt that they too were too frizzy which made them difficult to manage and style. Now that I have shifted to straight hair after getting my keratin done, I often find myself missing my curls, because they made me feel unique,” said Diya Sharma, 22, a student of fashion communication at Pearl Academy, Delhi.

Image credits: Styled and Photographed by Medha Gupta,
Model: Parnika Gandhi

Curly and wavy hair can be a lot of work and require time to maintain, but many people, especially in India, don’t realize they have natural curls; they often brush them out either because they’re uncomfortable with the texture or don’t know how to care for and enhance their curls to make them look beautiful. If not properly maintained, textured hair often becomes frizzy, reinforcing the misconception that it is unkempt.

Many Indian haircare start-ups, like Moxie and Truth & Hair, are making a remarkable impact by educating Indian customers about their hair type by sharing informative content on social media platforms like Instagram. It brings me immense joy to see myself and the girls around me gradually embracing our natural hair. The growing popularity of the curly-girl hair trend has not only
empowered women to celebrate their curls but has also prompted society to question its beauty standards.