Iris Malina

Iris | In Greek mythology, Iris (/ˈɨrɨs/; Ἶρις) is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky [...] She travels with the speed of wind from one end of the world to the other, and into the depths of the sea and the underworld. Malina | The slavic word for raspberry

Hair, hair, hair. Flow it, show it, long as I can grow it, my hair!

Kategori: Malawi

 
Salong Monalisa on a saturday morning
 
Braid made of braids, simply awesomeness!
 
"Hair, hair, hair. Flow it, show it, long as I can grow it, my hair!"
 
 
I have wanted braids a long time. Even more so since I got here, especially since it here is something I can afford. But I have seen people who do not look good in braids, especially wazungu (i.e white people), I was afraid it would look really dorky. But hey, it is worth a shot right?
 
So I went to the market, bought six bags of syntetic hair, surprisingly close to my own hair colour. And then, this saturday, I got up at 07:00 to spend the whole morning in a real african hair salon. It took four solid hours, and up to four women were working on my hair at one time. 
 
‘Does it hurt?’ you ask, and the answer is yes it does. But not as bad as I anticipated. And it was fun to see all the other hair styles that the other women got. Malawian hair does not grow long and straight by itself like mine does, and most women (especially rural) keep their hair very short. As does the men. But with status and western ideas, comes expectations. And many women braid in extensions, like the ones I have, or attach a whole hairdo out of a package with needle and thread, and others simply wear a wig. Or spend a fortune on chemicals for keeping the hair straight. I do not know what to think really. As so often, and like at home, the pressure of looks is heavier on women than on men. And I don't like it.
 
But my braids? Yeah, I love them!
 
 
 
 

Kommentarer

  • Vickan säger:

    Du är den coolaste jag känner! Inte bara pga flätorna, men för att du vågar göra precis det du känner för.
    Kör hårt bruden!

    2014-11-04 | 09:05:05

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