new thread
Something I've been pondering for a while (mainly since Vincent showed up here ;), is what exactly is "natural" hair? Or "natural" anything? I'm closer to Vincent's position than I am to anything requiring irons, perms, or constant maintainance; but then again, I'm not quite so extreme as Vincent (I do use conditioner about once a week). So what exactly is "natural", both regarding hair and things in general.
Any thoughts?
That "Ball" Guy
"Nature" doesn't really "exist" in and of itself -- except to provide a conceptual binary for "man-made" (which is a construction init's own right -- and serves to engage human arrogance). That's a bit of an overstatement, but it serves to compensate for the cultural abuse of the word.
For Puritans, "nature" was related to original sin and is still used as a means to control human drives by religions -- hence the debate about nature v. nurture in such things as crime, homosexuality, etc. One can write for hours on the theological abuse of the word.
In the environmental movement, "nature" has been used as a means to create empathy for environmental casues-- often using scenic vistas to create support for specific policy (think: Seirra Club). On the other side, the power of "nature" (eg God) has been used to support environmental degradation -- either with "dominion of the earth" metaphors or "the healing power of nature" as it's argument's center.
The problem with all of this is that people are "natural" and so all their actions fall into "nature" -- just like rivers that beavers dam, etc. It can become something of a viscious circle.... William Cronin, the environmental historian and social theorist, writes more eloquently about this than I can. I'd commend him to you.
As to "natural" hair, IMHO it's without chemical treatments -- like dyes, relaxers, shampoo, conditioner, etc. I go either way about combing...
two cents on Sunday...
Pete
spelling isn't natural to me...
This could spur quite a philosophic debate, of which I've had a similar debate before from other topics. A typical one is a woman criticizing another woman for getting breast implants because they are "unnatural", but feels that her wearing make up daily is still natural, because it is only temporary, she can go back to her perfectly natural state. On the other hand, one could argue large breasts due occur naturally, therefore they are more natural than bright red lips and shaded eyes.
One category used to determine natural is man made vs. non man made. With that being said, there are many examples in the animal kingdom of things done for grooming purposes, and with animal behaviours typically being regarded as more natural than human, one could argue that some grooming is natural.
I'll go on record as saying that since we are nature's creatures, anything we do to our appearance that stems from an instinctive desire: aesthetics, hygiene, or practicality is thereby natural. The only exception I would take is when doing something to meet the expectations of society. Therefore we can all be natural, Vincent who does nothing to his hair, myself who washes 2 to 3 times a week, conditions, and combs, to someone whoe dies and curls or straightens, as long as it's from the heart.
I find myself pretty much in agreement with Clarklane on "natural" as a thought system. On the practical side of that, I would just point out some things? Do you brush you teeth? Do you bath? Do you use soap of any kind, or deoderant? Do you wash you clothes? Do you wash your dishes?
My point is that these are many of the things people do--hence natural to us. How we do those things varies a great deal for many reasons, and they have varied over time. For me, it is natural to take are of myself in a way that is not harmful. I try to use cleaning products that are good for me and the environment.
One struggle I have is with the issue of deoderant. I am fairly convinced that the typical deoderants are probably not good for us/me to use. I also find that when I bathe regularly and do not use deoderant, I have a body oder that I think is very natural and not a product of being dirty. On the other hand, it is a natural body odor that I think most people I work around (some of whom are young teenagers) would find unpleasant only because we live in a perfumed culture.
So, what do I do? I bathe every day, and I use deoderant only as often as it takes to keep any odor that could disturb others at bay. That's about 4 times a week--more than I would choose if I were the only one I were considering, but less than most people do.
Is that natural? It is because it is what I do with an eye to taking care of myself. And I find taking care of myself (granted with an eye to others), natural!
Robert
Something I've been pondering for a while (mainly since Vincent showed up here ;), is what exactly is "natural" hair? Or "natural" anything? I'm closer to Vincent's position than I am to anything requiring irons, perms, or constant maintainance; but then again, I'm not quite so extreme as Vincent (I do use conditioner about once a week). So what exactly is "natural", both regarding hair and things in general.
I think there's no use trying to come up with a single definition of "natural"...
i could/do/will use other words... but how i use "unnatural" is pretty simple to define: anything that is made to "revolt" (consciously or not) against the natural state of something. Like deciding to comb your hair everyday, to shave everyday, to look at yourself in the mirror for hours when you could be meditating, breat implants, staying inside all the time, eating gross manipulated non organic food, etc.
Anyway... Anything comes from nature, so it's all natural in that view. Unatural could also be defined as refusing to accept the true nature of something.
-vincent
I think that some sort of daily grooming is natural. Daily teeth cleaning is essential maintenance, even if it's done by eating an apple, and in a highly populated soceity we have to do something to reduce body odour. Other than that, it's highly subjective.
Most Americans shower daily. I don't, because I'm not from here originally. I can almost feel American members of the group shudder through the Internet! However, it's a perfect example of how it's all related to culture, and how learnt responses become deeply ingrained.
One thing though. If you shampoo long hair, then you should always follow up by conditioning it every time. If you remove the oils from your hair, then you have to put something back to replace them. That certainly doesn't mean that you have to wash it every day, though. Twice a week works best for me, and some people don't shampoo their hair atall. If you were brought up to beleive that you must shower every day, it still shouldn't mean that you have to wash your hair each time.
So I guess I'm natural!
