Affiliation:
1. University of the Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands
Abstract
This book chapter offers readers an opportunity to travel through time with the author on her personal hair journey. Readers will immerse themselves in the author's experiences from young adolescence through her adult professional life and have an opportunity to fully understand how those experiences impacted the author's feelings of self-confidence and self-esteem, which resulted in her going to great lengths to conform to what is considered acceptable and professional. The concept of hair bias will be examined and explored through the lens of the author's employment experience. Readers will discover how black hair has evolved from its natural existence to an altered state to conform to societal constructs, and how this has resulted in hair challenges for women of color.