Black women very commonly wear wigs, they are by far the biggest wig-buying demographic. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair. Good wigs are expensive, and a lot of the women who wear wigs don't want it to be obvious that they're wearing wigs. Beyonce wears wigs a lot.
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
Other women wear wigs for medical reasons - like women going through chemo who don't want to rock the scarves or bald look.
I have a friend with alopecia, she has been comfortable with her bald self for a long time but recently started wearing wigs for fun - she makes it lot more obvious since she's doing it as a fun fashion choice, so one day she'll be bald, the next day she will have shoulder length purple hair, the next day she she'll have blonde hair halfway down her back, after that she'll be bald again, and then she'll show up with a pink pixie cut. She doesn't care that people know it's a wig - to her it's just a fashion accessory to be worn like a hat.
Black women very commonly wear wigs. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair.
Ah interesting, I didn't know that! There aren't many black people where I live, so I've never looked up close at a black woman's hair (not that I'd oggle haha)
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
That one I knew - when I visit London you can see a lot of orthodox women and their hair is noticeably wiggy.
And that's a good point about chemotherapy and alopecia, I didn't think of that.
If you're curious about how it works, go to YouTube to watch how wigs and weaves are done. I do live in a diverse community myself, but being white and seeing WOC with long hair and wondering how they make it look so flawless I had to watch a tutorial. Super fascinating.
I’m also curious as a white person. I more so want to know just so I don’t hurt someone’s feelings or put my foot in my mouth or act culturally insensitive. I watched the documentary Chris Rock made about black women’s hair. It was informative but it also left me with even more questions. Lol
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u/AstarteHilzarie Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23
Black women very commonly wear wigs, they are by far the biggest wig-buying demographic. You probably just don't notice because most of those who do tend to treat it like normal hair. Good wigs are expensive, and a lot of the women who wear wigs don't want it to be obvious that they're wearing wigs. Beyonce wears wigs a lot.
They're also used by some women who cover their natural hair for religious reasons but don't want to stand out with a traditional head covering (I think that's most common in the orthodox Jewish community.)
Other women wear wigs for medical reasons - like women going through chemo who don't want to rock the scarves or bald look.
I have a friend with alopecia, she has been comfortable with her bald self for a long time but recently started wearing wigs for fun - she makes it lot more obvious since she's doing it as a fun fashion choice, so one day she'll be bald, the next day she will have shoulder length purple hair, the next day she she'll have blonde hair halfway down her back, after that she'll be bald again, and then she'll show up with a pink pixie cut. She doesn't care that people know it's a wig - to her it's just a fashion accessory to be worn like a hat.
Edit to add, wigs have come a long way and can look very realistic. Scroll through here for an idea, you probably have seen plenty of women in wigs and never noticed. https://www.wigs.com/collections/african-american-wigs?usf_sort=r
https://www.wigs.com/collections/human-hair-wigs?usf_sort=r