When you look at this woman, what do you see? A young Air Force officer, maybe? Someone serving her country in the military? Someone who looks neat, polished, and put together? That's what I see.
But according to Treasured Locks, the military disagrees. This soldier, Kim Andrews, has been in the Air Force for seven years, but her mother says she's being threatened with a dishonorable discharge because of her hairstyle, which involves twisting her hair into cornrows, a style that's allowed in the Air Force. Dreadlocks aren't allowed, and apparently Kim's commander thinks they're dreadlocks. Here's an excerpt from the military code:
Braids, micro-braids, and cornrows are authorized. However, must be solid color similar to the individual’s hair color; conservative and not present a faddish appearance, be worn in an extreme or fad style, or violate safety requirements.
I've looked at a gallery of Kim's hairstyle, and I don't see any evidence of an "extreme or fad style." In every instance it looks natural, practical, and professional. Afrobella puts it best when she asks, "Don’t we need professionally-trained military officials now, more than ever? Why would anyone give sisters in the military grief over their hair?" Good question. What do you think?
Charlotte Olympia
Karen Millen
Vertbaudet
I would like to say racism however they allowed other hairstyles that we African American women wear. I just think it's foolish to say no to that hairstyle, but yes to the others. Does this commander hate the hairstyle personally? Seems to be the reason.
1You would think the military would do a better job of investigating exactly what she is wearing... They aren't really in a position right now to be too choosy, or to "nickel and dime" their soldiers on every little thing.
I think she looks very professional. And quite lovely.
2Is her commander male or female? Maybe it's a male power trip thing. Her hair looks very well maintained, I mean if you think about it, cornrows can be rather high maintenence at times.
3I think she looks beautiful and professional and strong. I am proud that she serves our country and represents America to the world.
4Wow. What a thing to nitpick about, geesh. I think she looks professional yes, and at the same time her pony looks more like it's made up of dreadlocks than braids, but still... it's not the messy looking island dreads you typically think of. Give a soldier a break!
AND on the other hand, if her supervisor is being a butt about it, is her hair so important a point to stand on that it's worth being discharged dishonorably for? I think I'd fight it to a point and then change my hair to something more acceptable. (I personally think her's is acceptable NOW but if it's going to get her booted, change it!)
5I think the other side of the story should be posted here so this isn't just written so it turns into a hate thread against the military and thinking that they are racist. They normally make all women cut their hair or if it is long be able to tuck it under their cap. If it sticks out, it is not bulky if long.
6Her hair looks very groomed/nice but I would guess it is too bulky in the back and sticks out too much. It keeps everyone looking uniform and safer with whatever they happen to be doing.
Wow. This is pretty appalling. First of all, I don't know why we should really care what soldiers' hair looks like anyway, but secondly, she looks very professional and pulled together and polished.
7I think she looks professional.
8I think she looks very professional and put together but at the same time there are rules and regulations as to length and style for a reason. I don't think her hair looks like dreadlocks at all but I could see how it would seem to bulky. They require men to cut their hair, not have certain types of facial hair, etc. Same standards apply to women. In this case though I think that maybe her commanding officer is looking for a reason to single her out.
9WHAT? Her hair looks naturally colored to me but that's me speaking as a black chick. My is a natural chameleon. The older hair is light while the hair at my scalp can be dark or light depending on the time of year. Most people think ah black girl you should have black or dark hair but my hair natural turns auburn some places to darn near blond. As far as the style, I think her time and resources are limited in the military this is probably the best solution she likes. It looks very neat and presentable. Better than I've seen on most business women at corporate jobs here in SF.
10She looks professional to me. But, I would think the zigzagginess probably violates the conservative and not present a faddish appearance bit. Also, her mom describes it as "twisted" into cornrows and the reg looks pretty clear about braiding being the requirement.
I wouldn't exactly call it a "power trip". But, if her chain of command has informed her that her hairstyle is in violation, and she refuses to comply, they can't just let that go. In other words, they wouldn't dishonorably discharge her for having a faddish hairstyle, but they will dishonorably discharge her for refusing to follow orders.
And, FYI any unit can add to the military code, they just can't subtract. So, her unit might have more specific or tighter restrictions on hairstyles than the general code.
Also, her mom's racist comment that the military has never "attacked or questioned" white people's hair style is ridiculous. ALL women in the military have very strict regulations about their hairstyles. I don't think I've ever seen a white female soldier with anything but an extremely tight bun with all bangs etc pinned back (usually slicked back). And ALL guys in the military have their hair cut every single week so that it never gets longer than an inch, never approaches their ears, always has a tapered appearance, blabbity blabbity blabbity. I really doubt it would fly if a white guy started showing up with zigzag fades.
11ok in my book (I apparently have a book of hairstyles in my head) those would be "micro-braids"
12Ok, first off, when you are in the military, you have to put up with so much sh*t from your commanding officers as well as any one else who out ranks you by one spot or more. You have to follow their rules no matter how outrageous.
I know people, men and women, in the military. They have to follow the oddest guidelines, and if someone higher in rank than they are having a bad day, they might just feel like picking on you.
As for the hairstyles, they have to be exactly what they are asking for you to do, no exceptions. To me, this sounds like the opinion of only one or a few people, and they are having bad days.
Seriously, there is no doubting what higher ups say to you and tell you to do while you are in the military. You have to suck it up and go with it no matter how stupid it sounds at the time. You don't want to end up with a disobeying officer demerit or an article 15. If your officers are real assholes, they will slap you with anything at anytime. They also don't care how many times you have been screwed over.
This is just part of my experience with certain parts of the military through my friends and relatives. I'm just telling it how I have heard it from several people. The women I have heard from have had similar experiences with the hair deal even though their hair looked perfectly fine. But, it's not up to them or us for that matter. It's up to those people in charge of them.
13Oh, and the article you linked to says that her hair is in dreadlocks, but that this particular style of dreadlocks is as neat as any braid and that's why they think the rule is wrong.
I'm inclined to agree with that. I'm not sure how they would fix that, though. In general, the military is really averse to subjective regulations. In other words, they don't like to make rules like "as long as it looks neat, it's ok". They're big on allowing and disallowing specifics like, braids vs. locks.
14While I don't think her hair looks unprofessional, standards and regulations are based on the discretion of a unit's commander. For instance, tattoos are allowed to cover a certain amount of visible skin on your arms while in uniform. However, my commander doesn't like to see tattoos. Thus, I have to wear long sleeved shirts. If she's as professional as she looks, she'll deal with it. Welcome to the military.
15I am an Army officer, and her hair looks fine overall to me! I think she would get by in my unit. The only thing I would question is the zig-zag pattern that jennifer76 mentioned, it is a little faddish.
Jennifer76 is also correct about military units' ability to add to regulations, so if her command wanted to say her hair was not OK, they can - but if they make some ridiculous standard the higher-up commands will probably eventually override it.
I think it's stupid to be nitpicking over this girl's hair - it is really not even close to being unprofessional. There are many worse things to worry about... like that thing going on over in Iraq... but then again the Air Force doesn't have as many shortages as the Army so maybe they have more time to worry about this little stuff.
And it's certainly not a racist thing. In my unit a white girl could never get away with cornrows at all - maybe it's a different standard but it just looks ridiculous on most white girls.
16I agree with Isabelle315 that it's silly for them to nitpick about her hair, which I do think looks professional.
What I don't agree with is the claims that this has anything to do with her being black or being female. Every soldier has to deal with stupid regulations that cause them all kinds of inconvenience. And the regulations seem pretty clear in this case.
17As long as the hairstyle is low maintenance and not distracting, I really don't see the problem.
On the battlefield, I'd imagine that cornrows would keep your hair out of the way much better than bun or even a French braid.
18Good point, Swangeese. Can't get more secure than cornrows.
19I love how the military will accept convicted felons but somehow this woman's neat hairdo is a threat to national security. And, incidentally, her being a woman, and a black woman, most definitely figures into this equation. How can it not?
20"I love how the military will accept convicted felons but somehow this woman's neat hairdo is a threat to national security. And, incidentally, her being a woman, and a black woman, most definitely figures into this equation. How can it not?"
That's a ridiculous and ignorant statement. It's not an issue of her hairstyle being a threat. But it's the military. We are the best military in the world, and that comes along with strict guidelines we have to adhere too. If we ran around looking sloppy we'd be CIVILIANS.
As for it being racially charged, I served with a white girl who decided to braid her hair back in rows to keep it out of her face, but since it was done so in a loud and "faddish" manner, she was ordered to change it.
The rules apply to everyone, and I hardly see how this issue is the business of anyone outside of her chain of command.
21She looks professional.
I suppose this gains more attention because she spoke out, I bet you, there are others who have had their hair nitpicked and ordered to change, and they just change it without speaking back.
22It's quite interesting to see the opinion of people regarding this issue though.
Giggle, the first half of your comment is flippant and ridiculous. If national security were the only issue that mattered, any felons' previous records would be irrelevant so long as they didn't compromise national security. So, what's your point?
As for the second half, several people have explained right here in this thread exactly how it can have nothing to do with her race or sex. White men in the military can look perfectly professional without their hair under an inch short, with their hair touching the top of their ears and without a taper. But, the regulations don't allow that, so they can't do it. She does look professional, but with a hairstyle not allowed by regulation, so she can't do it. What's the difference there?
23I don't see why she can't change - the military has strict rules that everyone has to follow. I agree with most people who say she looks fine, but we are not the judge. Hair is not permanent - just change it for now!
24the military doesn't have jobs for blacks/whites, males/females, tall/short, it just has jobs. the idea is that everyone looks the same so there are no distractions from said jobs. they wear a uniform, have the same hairstyles, facial hair/jewlery restrictions. fashion is not a plus. creativity is discouraged. it's the military, did she not read the information provided before signing up? how can it be a surprise that the military discourages individuality?
her hat here looks like she works at a fast food restaurant. it's poofy and therefore not professional. general rule of conservative dress is; if you question what you have on it's probably not acceptable.
and btw, complaining about being treated unfairly and calling attention to herself and the military this way just ended any possibility of her having a military "career". so she needn't worry about her hat/hair much longer.
25Give her a break!
26think someone needs to give her some makeup.
27"I don't see why she can't change - the military has strict rules that everyone has to follow. I agree with most people who say she looks fine, but we are not the judge. Hair is not permanent - just change it for now!"
It depends on what exactly she has in her hair - braid that are in cornrows or dreadlocks. If she has braids easy enough, unbraid them and she still has hair.
On the other hand if she has dreadlocks as some have said and she seems to have kept her hair up very well and "locs" are very tight to the scalp she would have to shave her head bald to remove said "faddish" hairstyle. They are knots and twists in the hair and would be far too time consuming and destructive to the hair to try to take down.
Very traumatic and this action would probably be viewed as yet another act of rebellion or stand-off-nish on her part.
When my oldest brother went into the Navy he was already heavily tattooed and already wore his head shaved bald. Though my dad was a career naval officer he said nothing to him about his over the top appearance because "you never know what a CO is going to like and what they won't from one day to the next". My brother's CO asked him not to get anymore tattoos until he finished basic but the shaved head was cool. Once he was in unit his new CO hated both the tattoos and the shaved head.
I'm not even going to speak to the horrible crimes that have happened to my female friends that have joined the military. Bases are possibly more frightening places than unsecured war zones.
28"Bases are possibly more frightening places than unsecured war zones."
29... You're joking. Right? And what bases might these be?
No, I'm not joking Foxie. Two young female friends stationed at Army bases one in Georgia - Fort Benning, one in Alabama Fort Rucker (I believe) both raped by men in their units. Both incredibly messy cases where the Army tried to pull a "The Accused" deal on both girls. Stating they enticed the men into violently raping and beating them.
And at the base where I grew up their were cases Pt Hueneme, CA as well as Pt Magu. Pick a base anywhere along the CA coast. You know you travel in packs on bases and avoid certain areas at night. However, there's nothing you can do if someone seeks you out in your barracks, which happened to both young ladies. They both lucked out after the fact that my dad had connections to get them transferred back to CA bases where they could be close to family and friends.
30Anyway this is totally OT.
She looks professional..and I have seen pictures of military people with longer hair (females). I think he is putting her out there for other reasons. Maybe more personal ones and they do not have to be tied to race...eventhough I think they could strongly be...
31This sounds like harassment to me! This woman looks tidy and professional, and they should lay off her hair. With all the sacrifices that our women (and men) in uniform make, they shouldn't get hassled about their hair. Especially since braided hair is so much neater than loose/unbound hair! I admire this woman, and I think it's awful that she's having to deal with this persecution.
32Unless you are of the race in question, no one has the right to say they understand a particular hairstyle. I believe the military is being a bit unfair to this young woman who is serving our country. What if it were a blonde or someone with a different texture hair? Would they think it looked unprofessional? In my opinion, her hair looks polished, professional, and neat.
33At the end of the day, it's the military and she is pretty much government property. My boyfriend has to cut his hair the same every week and he doesn't whine about not being able to have a mohawk or whatever. She needs to get over it and get her hair re-braided. What's the big deal? She signed up for it.
34Rascism is alive and well and this is a perfect example. It is so sad. I cannot beleive that they would put someone through this who is serving our country. Especially a woman. This is truley devastating.
35Okay, 1st of all, Kim is adorable. 2nd, she is in the military, and if they say jump, the only answer is 'Sir, yes, sir', which most people are aware of before they even join. That being said, unless she's in active combat, this shoudn't be an issue. Her hair is very neat & obviously well maintained. Can't they leave her alone? geez...
36"locs" are very tight to the scalp she would have to shave her head bald to remove said "faddish" hairstyle
If that's the case, then I can definitely sympathize with her about that. That would be heartbreaking. And, they should really consider grandfathering in people like Kim Andrews who have a professional appearance and whose hair was loced prior to the new regulation.
At the same time, if there is literally no way to comply with different commanders' specific preferences without completely shaving the hair off, then it makes more sense why they would choose to disallow this particular hairstyle.
37Oh, and...think someone needs to give her some makeup
What a crappy comment. She's lovely.
38i think she looks lovely, and the haircut is army like she looks good with it, but sad that everything has to be racism
39I think she looks fine and that it's a bit silly of the military to nitpick this, but I understand that they have standards and rules that are to be followed. I'm sure she knows that and should do what needs to be done to comply. I don't think you join the military to express your individuality.
Most of all, I hate that this is somehow being portrayed as a race issue, because I highly doubt that's what it is.
40I think it's disgraceful - as many people that we've lost in Bush's war, I seriously doubt they can afford to dishonorably discharge someone solely based on their hairstyle. Why the hell does it matter?
41I don't see how a woman's personal appearance can in any way hinder her ability to preform her military duties. This is just a power thing with old, white, rich men. They have no idea what it's like to be a woman in the military.
42Marcella, are you saying that just because a woman in the military is black she should be able to wear her hair however she pleases?? That is just ridiculous. I think this girl's hair looks alright, but for her command to expect her to comport with standards that 99% of African American females satisfy is hardly racist. There are standards for everyone - black, white, male, female. I appreciate that it is a cultural issue, but that doesn't trump the need for military standards. There are plenty of ways that she can wear her hair.
I hate having to put my hair in a bun every day - it causes broken hair and split ends - but that's just the way it goes.
43suffice it to say that telling a black woman that her hair isn't professional or up to par is a race issue
Ok, for the sake of argument, let's say that's ALWAYS true. What is it then when a white man in the military is told his hair isn't professional or up to par? Because, that happens far more often.
44In my little corner of the Army, I've seen plenty of male soldiers and white female soldiers yelled at because of their hair (or for wearing fingernail polish, for that matter!); I can't recall a single incident of a black female soldier having a problem because of her hair.
45I was going to say the same thing, Isabelle315. My husband was in a unit for a while where they required a fade so high that it was practically a high and tight. He can't stand that look and was constantly being sent back to the barber to get it higher and tighter.
46She should just change it and when she leaves the miliary wear it however she wants. This is like a hissy fit or stamping her foot.
It's the military!
47I can tell which of you have no idea how the military works, because you're all the ones accusing it of racism. I've been snapped at before for having my bangs hanging in my face. But do you know what I did? I took it like a strong, professional, military woman and FIXED it. I didn't go running to the media, crying about how mean and unfair the military is.
48If she can't handle criticism and being corrected, she SHOULD be discharged.
I say once again, if we were allowed to look however we wanted, we'd be CIVILIANS.
Marcella brings up an important point: For black women, hair isn't just hair... it's a complex issue involving identity. Historically, a lot of black women have been told that "good" hair should look and feel like Caucasian hair, so their natural hair is inherently "bad." And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'd say that you could write a book about it, but people already have. It's that much of a personal-is-political issue.
It's interesting to read everybody's comments here, and it's great that we're creating a dialogue. Just a reminder that while we're all free to share our opinions, let's refrain from making personal attacks or calling people names because you disagree.
49Having been in the military and done my hair just that way for field excercises (and I am very, blindingly, beached-whale white), I'd say that her commander is simply ignorant of the difference between cornrows and dreadlocks. This statement is giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Though I would encourage Kim to educate her commander on the difference between cornrows and dreadlocks with photos of both styles and getting the opinions of other airmen of various ranks and ethnicities, whether the commander decides to allow the hairstyle or not she must comply.
Whether we like it or not, her company/battalion commander can decide that her style IS fadish based on his/her personal opinion of it and disallow it.
50Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.