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Similar to colorism, a form of discrimination that favors light-skinned individuals over darker-skinned individuals, among black women who feel that loose curl patterns are more admired than tight coils. Read a recent report about the growing interest in texturalism.
Although a fairly new term, texturalism has existed in the black community for centuries and has been incorporated as part of the idea that Eurocentric standards of beauty are becoming more acceptable.
“Textureism can be thought of as the discrimination faced by people with coarser, more afro-textured hair,” says one. Forbes report“Materialism is based on the premise that closer to white hair textures are more acceptable.”
This is especially true in Hollywood, including when Gabrielle Union was told her hair was “too dark.” america’s got talent And BET received backlash for making fun of Beyonce’s daughter’s hair during a segment listing what Blue Ivy thought at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I really woke up like this because my parents didn’t comb my hair,” Rotation co-host Karrueche Tran said on an episode of the now-defunct show. 106 & Park“Sorry Blue! I love you!”

Some believe that the newly discovered hair scale, which rates hair textures from 1A to 4C, is popularizing texturalism. This scale was discovered by Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist Andre Walker. The scale falls into his four categories:

“Curly hair can limit your styling options. It’s the only hair type I would suggest changing with a professional relax,” he said in an interview. was seen as disrespectful by many in the natural hair community who felt that his remarks and hair scales “perpetuated texturalism”.
Many in the natural hair community saw this as fueling the long-held negative connotations of coarser hair types and helping perpetuate texturalism.
Additionally, some critics argue that salons that charge extra to style coarser hairstyles can propagate texturalism. As the saying goes, “textureism won’t end in the black community until we learn to celebrate all hair types without stipulation.”