I’m curious as to why afro type hairstyles like braids are described as protective. These hairstyles seem to risk pulling out a lot of hair around the hairline over time. They also leave more of the scalp exposed to the sun. What are they protecting against, exactly?
Edit: thanks for the explanations, everyone! I always wondered how those with coiled hair could be bothered to sit for hours getting braids or cornrows done, but I guess if the management of the hair daily takes so long too, then it makes sense! 😄
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As someone else said, it’s to minimize movement. With super curly or kinky hair (think Afro), it’s VERY easy for the hair to tangle or knot. Everything is a chance for your hair to not. Sleeping on it, walking around, leaning on something, resting your head on the headrest in the car. Tangles.
Think about how wired headphones will tangle when they just sit in your backpack. It’s like that, but the wires are curly instead of straight.
So you have Option A: detangle your hair regularly. This is extremely time consuming depending on how much hair you have, and risks breaking your hair. The knots are strong but kinky hair is often physically fragile and will break if you just rip a comb through it. Or Option B: you don’t detangle regularly, which just kicks the can further and makes more work for you later when your hair is fuckin matted together.
Severity and intensity of all the above is going to vary based on exactly what hair type we’re talking about, but that’s the gist.
Protective styles are designed avoid all that. Lock your hair down physically so it’s not moving around and getting tangled to shit. That’s cornrows, twists, braids, etc. Dreadlocks too, though slightly different idea there.
OP is correct about pulling at your hairline though. If you get your hair braided/twisted too tight at the hairline or at the root you can definitely get hair loss. It’s a thin line to walk, and it’s why we’re careful about who we let touch our hair. Where I live it’s a stereotype not to let the Africans braid your hair because they’ll braid you into baldness
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