On another note a close friend of mine shared a link that I thought was interesting. The short film by un'ruly is about an exhibit titled "You Can Touch My Hair". I found it interesting because I have had people ask to touch my hair. The first time occurred when I was in Madrid studying abroad. I was at El Corte Inglés with a friend and while waiting in line I noticed the cashier looking at me. I didn't know why she was staring and it made me feel awkward. During my time in Spain, I had a lot of Spaniards look at me and it took me awhile to understand why. There were a lot of African immigrants in many of the cities that I visited. I think it was confusing for some people because although I looked like the immigrants, I was also different. So that day in El Corte Inglés, I found myself getting angry with the cashier because I was tired of the looks. When it was finally my time to pay, she asked "Can I touch your hair?" I wanted to say no but I felt saying no would make me seem mean. So I said yes and she seemed delighted to touch my braids. She gave me my change and that was the end of it. The other two times someone asked to touch my hair, it was different because I was friends with them. So while I understand the curiosity, I'm not sure how I feel about a random stranger asking to touch my hair. I'm not saying it's wrong to let a stranger touch your hair..but it definitely raises some issues/concerns at least for me. I think it is stated best at the end of the video "There's nothing wrong with being curious but we do have to be aware of how we let our curiosities play out and how we're treating people as a result of them".
Until next time :)!
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