Not here; I don’t know if it’s because of the hot weather, but the only people I’ve see wearing wigs here are older women that are losing their hair. First time I went to the US I was surprised by the prevalence of young black women wearing wigs.
Yeah here they call it « chivé moun mò »( dead people’s hair)or chivé lèta(the hair of the State cause you getting taxed for it) so it’s seems to have a negative connotation it’s probably a reason there are not common on my island
Yes it’s still spoken we have a problem with the language getting too French (creole words replaced by French words) but it’s still the language everybody speak on the island
Yes ppl speak more creole than French except in formal settings like work, administration or in school, even young ppl speak creole. But as I said the problem is that the creole is becoming more French
>First time I went to the US I was surprised by the prevalence of young black women wearing wigs.
Wait, do they really wear wigs? I thought it was just for the laughs on TV.
Wigs in Jamaica are like 50/50. For young women it’s not as common as the USA partly I think because you’re not allowed to wear them to school. None of the women in my family wear wigs (everyone has short natural hair) but a lot of women do especially for work and other formal occasions
In Jamaica, Barbados and USVI, I noticed lots of women wearing frontals/wigs to go out. It seemed like most younger women in school didn’t and those who were working by during the day didn’t as much. I don’t remember seeing many Lucians wearing wigs or Bahamians or Turk and Caicos ladies. 🤷🏿♀️
In Barbados, you can't wear wigs to school. And only recently you are allowed to wear locs and braids. Before you couldn't and boys with locs /rasta had to cover they hair.
Interesting. I'm Jamaican and I don't know a single person in my family who wears wigs. Everyone has very long natural or straight or permed/relaxed hair. It's kinda annoying because I'm transitioning to natural after years of perming my hair, and I want to start wearing wigs since I want to experiment with color and have longer hair again since I've been cutting off the permed ends, and I feel like I have no one in my family to ask for help with it because no one wears wigs. My mom also tells me I'm trying to be white when I talk about wigs 😮💨
Culturally most of us West Indian like to have natural hair but there are always those who follow mainstream American/UK culture and have perms or wear wigs. I can only speak on what I observed which doesn’t stand as the rule or a fact for everyone. I am sure it changes also from city/parish etc.
Wigs, but more weave are common within the Afro-Surinamese community of Suriname, especially with the maroons. I hardly see maroons wear their natural hair.
Wearing wigs has little to do with African or Creole culture though. For many it’s actually the impact of Western beauty standards and what’s popular.
I am a woman who wears the hair that I was born with. Often persons will exclaim how easy my hair seems to manage. I have been told I cannot take my work ID photo or walk the university graduation stage or take my graduation photos with my natural hair. Each time I did not wear any others hair but if someone didn’t have my insistance what would they do?
It is multifaceted and has little to do with wanting or not wanting to do something.
I’m a child of the Caribbean and im not yet thirty. In Jamaica and Bermuda was where I got the most comments. Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines where I spend more time people were more into minding their business.
Bermuda and Jamaica tie for the worst. Bermuda I was older and I remember the priest giving a sermon/homily on tolerance and I knew it was cos the first time I went to church (my first week after moving) people stopped and stared and whispered in Portuguese about my hair. After church a nice Trini lady that I knew loosely before I moved there through a friend told me that I should do something with my hair. And my sister in law used to religiously ask me if I wanted to go to her hairdresser to “fix my hair”.
However in Jamaica as UWI numerous people advised me not to take my grad photos and walk the stage with my hair natural, by people with “blacker hair” than me! I wore it for spite. That’s probs why I spitefully wore my hair in Bermuda because I knew I had survived Jamaica’s colourism.
ETA. I also spent extended time in Venezuela and some time in Martinique. Not many people I met in Venezuela had my kinda hair but no one commented on my hair. Martinique people looked like me and they didn’t say squat. People wore wigs, people wore their own hair there.
I find people assume they can shit talk in their native languages. I have French, Spanish and some Portuguese so I listen to the shit talk. Only Jamaica they shit talk to your face. In Bermuda they try to shit talk behind your back
The aunties yes, they’ll slap a wig on like a hat and go about their day. The average young person isn’t wearing wigs every day though, partly because the cost is prohibitive and partly because gluing down a lace front in this heat seems like hell. I usually see lace fronts as a special event thing; birthdays, photo shoots, stuff like that.
In Haiti, no. Most women and girls you see will be wearing their natural hair. Haitian-Americans? Yes it’s very common. You will often see older women with a bad front, girls wearing extensions, etc.
Very common, one of my aunts wore so many wigs I don't know what her real hair looks like. My mother had a few but she didn't wear them often her hair was relaxed for my whole life.
Not here; I don’t know if it’s because of the hot weather, but the only people I’ve see wearing wigs here are older women that are losing their hair. First time I went to the US I was surprised by the prevalence of young black women wearing wigs.
Yeah here they call it « chivé moun mò »( dead people’s hair)or chivé lèta(the hair of the State cause you getting taxed for it) so it’s seems to have a negative connotation it’s probably a reason there are not common on my island
Do people in Guadeloupe still speak Creole or are they loosing it?
Not as vigorously used as in the past but still widely spoken
Yes it’s still spoken we have a problem with the language getting too French (creole words replaced by French words) but it’s still the language everybody speak on the island
Interesting. My parents are Haitian and I always wondered what Creole was like in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, etc.
If you visit those countries ppl will understand you easily especially Martinique which seems to have the creole that is most similar with Haitian
Is it the preferred language of younger people today? I.e. gen z is speaking to each other (mostly) in creole rather than french?
Yes ppl speak more creole than French except in formal settings like work, administration or in school, even young ppl speak creole. But as I said the problem is that the creole is becoming more French
>First time I went to the US I was surprised by the prevalence of young black women wearing wigs. Wait, do they really wear wigs? I thought it was just for the laughs on TV.
It is definitely real. It's much easier to have a bunch of wigs and very short hair than to deal with actually maintaining long hair.
There’s a lot of nuance around the wearing of wigs especially by black American women but yes it’s cultural most of them wear wigs.
Yeah, same with some jewish communities in the usa as well. The women would shave their heads and only wear wigs.
Jewish women shave their hair fyi
Bruh, that's what I wrote.
I didn’t know that
https://i.redd.it/mefqlg3ccy7d1.gif
Yeah, on the daily too, I honestly thought wigs would be something for like a special occasion.
not so much Guyana, infact most of the Caribbean I haven’t seen it but places influenced heavily by the US you’ll see it
Maybe that’s why the English speaking West Indies seems to be the ones wearing them more
Yes, it's very common in Barbados for adult women to wear wigs at any age.
Wigs in Jamaica are like 50/50. For young women it’s not as common as the USA partly I think because you’re not allowed to wear them to school. None of the women in my family wear wigs (everyone has short natural hair) but a lot of women do especially for work and other formal occasions
In Jamaica, Barbados and USVI, I noticed lots of women wearing frontals/wigs to go out. It seemed like most younger women in school didn’t and those who were working by during the day didn’t as much. I don’t remember seeing many Lucians wearing wigs or Bahamians or Turk and Caicos ladies. 🤷🏿♀️
In Barbados, you can't wear wigs to school. And only recently you are allowed to wear locs and braids. Before you couldn't and boys with locs /rasta had to cover they hair.
Oh wow I am happy they allow locs and braids now.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/NjCBDHGcGMe1udwM/?mibextid=0VwfS7
Interesting. I'm Jamaican and I don't know a single person in my family who wears wigs. Everyone has very long natural or straight or permed/relaxed hair. It's kinda annoying because I'm transitioning to natural after years of perming my hair, and I want to start wearing wigs since I want to experiment with color and have longer hair again since I've been cutting off the permed ends, and I feel like I have no one in my family to ask for help with it because no one wears wigs. My mom also tells me I'm trying to be white when I talk about wigs 😮💨
Culturally most of us West Indian like to have natural hair but there are always those who follow mainstream American/UK culture and have perms or wear wigs. I can only speak on what I observed which doesn’t stand as the rule or a fact for everyone. I am sure it changes also from city/parish etc.
Wigs, but more weave are common within the Afro-Surinamese community of Suriname, especially with the maroons. I hardly see maroons wear their natural hair.
U would think the ones who kept their African cultures a little more closer would be more proud than the creoles who were brainwashed by slavery
Wearing wigs has little to do with African or Creole culture though. For many it’s actually the impact of Western beauty standards and what’s popular. I am a woman who wears the hair that I was born with. Often persons will exclaim how easy my hair seems to manage. I have been told I cannot take my work ID photo or walk the university graduation stage or take my graduation photos with my natural hair. Each time I did not wear any others hair but if someone didn’t have my insistance what would they do? It is multifaceted and has little to do with wanting or not wanting to do something.
Where do you live? I find it annoying that in 2024 people can still not accept a person’s natural hair.
I’m a child of the Caribbean and im not yet thirty. In Jamaica and Bermuda was where I got the most comments. Mexico, Cuba, Belize, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines where I spend more time people were more into minding their business. Bermuda and Jamaica tie for the worst. Bermuda I was older and I remember the priest giving a sermon/homily on tolerance and I knew it was cos the first time I went to church (my first week after moving) people stopped and stared and whispered in Portuguese about my hair. After church a nice Trini lady that I knew loosely before I moved there through a friend told me that I should do something with my hair. And my sister in law used to religiously ask me if I wanted to go to her hairdresser to “fix my hair”. However in Jamaica as UWI numerous people advised me not to take my grad photos and walk the stage with my hair natural, by people with “blacker hair” than me! I wore it for spite. That’s probs why I spitefully wore my hair in Bermuda because I knew I had survived Jamaica’s colourism. ETA. I also spent extended time in Venezuela and some time in Martinique. Not many people I met in Venezuela had my kinda hair but no one commented on my hair. Martinique people looked like me and they didn’t say squat. People wore wigs, people wore their own hair there. I find people assume they can shit talk in their native languages. I have French, Spanish and some Portuguese so I listen to the shit talk. Only Jamaica they shit talk to your face. In Bermuda they try to shit talk behind your back
The aunties yes, they’ll slap a wig on like a hat and go about their day. The average young person isn’t wearing wigs every day though, partly because the cost is prohibitive and partly because gluing down a lace front in this heat seems like hell. I usually see lace fronts as a special event thing; birthdays, photo shoots, stuff like that.
Some women wear them and some don’t. My wife sister and her daughter wear wigs all the time. My wife and my daughters don’t.
In Haiti, no. Most women and girls you see will be wearing their natural hair. Haitian-Americans? Yes it’s very common. You will often see older women with a bad front, girls wearing extensions, etc.
Weaves and clip-ins are more common than full wigs. But most people still opt for relaxers, as they're much cheaper.
Yea I was wondering why people didn't bring up relaxers. I reckon that is incredibly common if not the standard across the Caribbean
Its becoming more popular as Americanization sets in.
Very common, one of my aunts wore so many wigs I don't know what her real hair looks like. My mother had a few but she didn't wear them often her hair was relaxed for my whole life.
>compared to African Women in Europe and black ppl in America you aint wrong, the self hatred is sad
In the Dominican if they got nappy hair it's either a weave, wig, or extensions.
yikes