4A – Forming an Opportunity Belief

4A – Forming an Opportunity Belief

As an African American woman in the Air Force, it has been recognized that the dress and appearance standards, specifically hair regulations, have been an ongoing issue. The lack of cultural knowledge and the widespread notion that “natural” hairstyles are unprofessional have brought about resentment and unnecessary strain on the African American women in the service. The unmet need is cultural awareness of various hair types by senior leaders.  Personal preferences should not dictate what is considered a professional or unprofessional hairstyle. The Air Force has a need that needs to be met in identifying that different races have different hair types and they cannot confine all races to generic standards when it comes to hair grooming. The need has always existed to identify that some of the hair grooming regulations are not tailored to the masses. Many African American females are meeting the need now by chemically altering the natural state of their hair, cutting off all their hair or concealing their natural hair to maintain the generic standard while in uniform. They have made some strides to correct this issue; however, stereotypes and personal opinions have hindered much of the progress that could be made.

Prototypical Customers: African American females in the Air Force

Customer 1:

a.     I do believe that senior leaders need to address the concerns African American women in the Air Force have about hair grooming standards. The lack of support and guidance have led local leaders to form their own opinion of what is considered within regulations.

b.     I become aware of the need weekly. It is difficult to find affordable stylist to keep my hair within standards. Each time I move to a new base, I have to start the process all over again. Locating a reliable, affordable and competent stylist can be taxing. I would prefer to be able to maintain my hair myself; however, what is deemed professional requires skills and time that I don’t have due to my busy schedule.

c.     This need has existed since I’ve joined the Air Force over eight years ago.

d.     I became aware of the need when I went to basic military training. During that time, we were not allowed to go off base. We had to use our personal skills or the on base hair stylists to maintain our hair. Their stylist did not know much about African American hair and they damaged my hair.  

e.     They are constantly modifying standards to include hairstyles into the grooming regulation that will alleviate some of the stressors I have about maintaining my hair.

f.      I’m not completely satisfied with the solution because the regulation’s wording is vague and leaves much of the interpretation up to local leaders who maintain a personal bias on what is considered professional.

Customer 2:

a.     The exact nature of the need is a feeling of inclusivity. I feel like I am looked down upon because my hair isn’t chemically altered to fit the mainstream perception of what is considered professional.

b.     I became aware of the need when I was constantly being approached about the state of my hair. I did everything I could to maintain the standard; however, individuals still felt the need to tell me that my hair was unprofessional and that I needed to straighten my hair.

c.     The need to bring awareness has existed my entire Air Force career and I’ve been in for almost 19 years.

d.     To address the need, I have held conversations with my local leaders to inform them of my growing concern of how African American women seem to be targeted for wearing their hair in its natural state.

e.     I am not completely satisfied with the solution; however, I am bringing awareness to the fact that the hair grooming regulation is not conducive to African American women.

Customer 3:

a.     Although the hair grooming standards have improved over the years, I still believe there is an opportunity for more growth and inclusiveness.

b.     I was informed of the need the moment I talked to my recruiter. She was an African American woman with a short, tapered haircut. She explained that it would probably be beneficial for me to cut my hair short as well. She insisted that it would reduce the amount of stress I was about to encounter. I didn’t believe her until I arrived a basic military training and realized that I would have to try to manipulate my hair daily to maintain the hair grooming standard.

c.     I’ve only been in for about three months; however, the need has existed the entire time.

d.     I personally became aware of the need after two months and I decided to cut off my hair into a short-tapered style because all the manipulation to maintain the standards severely damaged my hair.

e.     I now get my hair cut weekly to maintain the standard. It has decreased my stress levels and saved me a considerable amount of money.

f.      I’m not satisfied with the solution because I do miss my long hair. As time goes on, I hope that they address the concerns African American women have about the regulation not being all-inclusive.

Reflection:

After interviewing the three women, I have discovered that we all have the same concerns. Senior leaders need to be made aware of the hardships African American women in the Air Force experience daily. The hair grooming standards need to be worded to be all-inclusive and reduce the amount of local interpretation it allows. Local leaders should remove their personal biases on what is deemed professional or unprofessional and use the regulation as it was intended.