thumb|upright|Bantu Knots thumb|right|Woman wearing a loose Afro Since the 1960s and 1970s, women have worn their hair in a wide variety of styles. Part of this came from the "Black is Beautiful" movement which promoted the natural beauty of the Black population as opposed to what some considered a Eurocentric model. Some critics argue that straightening or relaxing African hair is trying to conform to a white standard of beauty. However, there are those that disagree with this belief. Nevertheless, Malcolm X advised against Black people straightening their hair for such reasons. Black hair then became not only an act of beauty but an act of revolution. The Afro, specifically, was both fashionable and political in the 1960s onward. However, the Afro, or "the natural", as it was first called, was not originally a political choice, but a style favored by both artistic and intellectual Black communities in the 1940s and 1950s.
thumb|upright|Bantu Knots thumb|right|Woman wearing a loose Afro Since the 1960s and 1970s, women have worn their hair in a wide variety of styles. Part of this came from the "Black is Beautiful" movement which promoted the natural beauty of the Black population as opposed to what some considered a Eurocentric model. Some critics argue that straightening or relaxing African hair is trying to conform to a white standard of beauty. However, there are those that disagree with this belief. Nevertheless, Malcolm X advised against Black people straightening their hair for such reasons. Black hair then became not only an act of beauty but an act of revolution. The Afro, specifically, was both fashionable and political in the 1960s onward. However the Afro or "the natural", as it was first called, was not originally a political choice but a style favored by both artistic and intellectual Black communities in the 1940s and 1950s.