The afro is a hair type created by natural growth of kinky hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair. The hairstyle can be created by combing the hair away from the scalp, dispersing a distinctive curl pattern, and forming the hair into a rounded shape, much like a cloud or puff ball. For people with wavy or straight hair, the hair style is created with the help of permanent hair structure-changing creams or gels and/or other solidifying liquids to temporarily hold the hair in place. Particularly popular in the African American community of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the hairstyle is often shaped and maintained with the assistance of a wide-toothed comb colloquially known as an Afro pick. Etymology "Afro" is derived from the term "Afro-American". The hairstyle is also referred to by some as a "natural"—particularly the shorter, less elaborate versions of the Afro—since in most cases the hair is left untreated by relaxers or straightening chemicals and is instead allowed to express its natural curl or kinkiness. History in the United States Circassian beauties In the 1860s, a hairstyle similar to the afro was worn by the Circassian beauties. Sometimes known as "Moss-haired girls", they were a group of women exhibited in sideshow attractions in the United States by P. T. Barnum and others. These women claimed to be descendants of the Circassian people in the North Caucasus region, and were marketed to White audiences captivated by the "exotic East" as pure examples of the Caucasian race who were kept as sexual slaves in Turkish harems. It has been argued that this portrayal of a Caucasian woman as a rescued slave during the American Civil War played on the racial connotations of slavery at the time so that the distinctive hairstyle affiliates the side-show white Circassian with African-American identity, and thus: African-American hairstyles prior to the 1960s During the history of slavery in the United States, most African Americans styled their hair in an attempt to mimic the styles of the predominantly white society in which they lived. Afro-textured hair, characterized by its tight kinks, has been described as being kinky, coarse, cottony, nappy, or woolly. These characteristics represented the antithesis of the European American standard of beauty, and led to a negative view of kinky hair. As a result, the practice of straightening gained popularity among African