Respectin’ the Kitchen: A Black Girl’s Nape Line
“Look at all those people in your kitchen!” my mother would scream as she shoved my head forward and took a soft-bristle brush to my neck. I would squirm and whine as she used all her strength to spread the stubborn coils from the nape of my neck and into my hairline. She still does it, especially since I’m wearing my hair naturally now. My mother is not above taking a razor to my kitchen to hide my shameful coils and, in the days of the relaxer, she would slather extra cream to my neck and leave it just a little longer. Nappiness is viewed with disdain and as an unacceptable hair texture. Never have men ever looked to the back of my neck to check the condition of my nape, but now it’s a normal daily occurrence. I know that my nape line doesn’t look the best when my kitchen is nappy, but the black girl’s nape always gets a bad rep and I’m out to prove that it is unjustly so. The Kitchen The kitchen is one of the nicknames for the hair that dwells at the nape of our neck...
