Keep It Professional

Do I need to iron my curls like I do with my shirts?

By Salma Muftah

The way the strands of my hair come out of my head seems to dictate a lot in terms of my potential career. At least, that's what I had heard from so many women who struggled with the idea that straight hair made them more professional. The idea that burning their hair every morning before work was necessary for them to keep their jobs, or at least to avoid unwanted stares or hidden criticisms. I started reading about how women with naturally curly hair were told to straighten it if they wanted to make a good impression at an interview. And I get it. Curly hair is wild; trust me, we even think it's crazy sometimes. 

However, what's crazier is telling someone to change something they were born with in order for them to be accepted or approved of. Would you tell someone to change their face if they wanted a job? You can't, and you wouldn't think to do that unless you were either a jerk or were working in the fashion industry. But what about in a hospital, a firm, a business, or anywhere else? 

That's why on the day of my scheduled visit with a large law firm, I woke up slightly uneasy, because no, I didn't have an interview, and no, I wasn't going to work. I was going to visit one of the largest law firms in the United States to meet with people who were working in a field that I hope to be in someday. Maybe if it was a smaller firm I wouldn't have thought twice, but I had received a reminder that the dress code was business professional, so that little voice in my head immediately went up to my hair and gave it a look. I wanted to make a good impression. And no, I don't have an afro nor are my curls kinky, but if they were, why would that be an issue? Maybe my curls were destined for a lifetime of disapproval or scrutiny in the workplace, but I was determined to change that.

I didn't know if what I had heard was true. After all, we were living in a new era, a time characterized by freedoms and rights and celebrating women. I decided to not do anything to my hair. Tame, clean, and most importantly authentic. That's all I had to offer. 

I wasn't too worried about my hair after those brief three minutes spent looking in the mirror, so I went about my day as usual. I focused on being excited and getting answers to questions I had. But that didn't stop me from feeling a pang of excitement, pride, and relief when I saw that not only were other people wearing their curly hair naturally, but people who work there were too. I was ecstatic. I had never been so happy to see women with curly hair in my life before, or women with braids, or best of all women in HIJABS. It didn't matter what texture hair they had. All that I'd heard and all the warnings I got from people didn't apply. It was just as I had hoped. I knew that either way I wasn't going to conform and straighten my hair to get a position, but now I wouldn’t have to battle the urge.

I was ready to do it because I love a challenge. What if I started wearing a scarf on my head? That might lessen my opportunities, but I've seen plenty of hijabis in all sorts of positions.

 Hope, relief, and the feeling of progress keep me on my toes. The experience left me inspired and ready to work through some of the tough years ahead, as long as I wouldn't ever have to wake up two hours early just to burn my hair into looking a certain way because my own “isn’t professional” or “right.”