Gorrilagluegirl happened becuase of unobtainable standard for black women.

[debbrianna]

A 40yr old teaching assistant putting industrial glue in her hair to obtain the most sleek back hair possible.
The level of desperation some black women will go to inorder to achieve the ultimate baby hair. Somthing not naturally achievable with C4 hair or chemically relaxed hair either. The lack of strong hair glue/gel for specifically black hair is at play. The constant need fot hair to br a certain way. Got2b is not for black hair and the company refuses to acknowledge their black users. I am not sure what gorilla snot is, so I can't comment on that. I am scared for what will become of her scalp. The story is funny to begin with but when you think about societal pressure to look a certain way, it saddens me. I have seen too many badly glued wigs and amount of effort people put in them.

Hi, i am white but i saw this come up in active, i hope it’s ok to comment, tell me to fuck off if not. I am a hairdresser specialising in curly and afro hair and this was my first thought when i saw this story. I was on the other thread as well and mentioned there that i think a lot of the ott reaction to this is coming from a place of white privilege, which obviously went down like a shit sandwich. I think most people just do not get how political hair can be unless they are black or work in the industry.

What strikes me about this case is the way Dr Obeng treated this Black lady as a whole person. He showed her kindness and compassion, both of which are sorely lacking when it comes to Black women seeking healthcare treatment. He also allowed her dignity in seeking to retain as much of her hair as possible (and she's kept the majority).

If you watch the second video, Dr Obeng explains how he researched the chemical composition of Gorilla Glue, made a solution to dissolve it, then tested it on a dummy wig to make sure it worked. All in the space of about 2 days! Dr Obeng's ingenuity in thinking outside the box shows just how desperately diversity of thought is required in the medical profession, particularly when it comes to treating Black patients.

It's interesting that the response when she visited the ER was to attempt to treat her with something which would burn the glue off. No thought as to how that would affect this Black woman's actual scalp

This lady did a silly thing, however a lot people end up in hospital from doing ridiculous, self-inflicted things, so she really doesn't deserve to be vilified as much as she has.

Lastly, I doubt anyone other than a Black doctor (and one who is extremely knowledge in chemistry at that) could have achieved this result for a Black woman in this situation, and for that I salute him (plus he's repping Ghana 🇬🇭 🇬🇭 🇬🇭).

Sorry, not black but would like to understand what does 'edges' mean?

Watching too much "Real Housewives of Atlanta / Potomac" (apologies in advance of being ignorant / insensitive / uneducated) but there's so much bitchiness about wigs and hair in general; are people really judged by their hair? What if they can't afford multiple products / fake hair? Is there a trend now for 'real' hair? Again, trying not to be ignorant (and basically, being) it must take ages to learn how to plait / corn row hair and passing that knowledge down i.e keeping a child patient!

Apologies again if I'm being an idiot and feel free to report.

Is putting acetone on your hair for what be in her case a long period of time, even safe?

Yes- that was my point it won’t harm her natural hair or scalp. If the wig is fake/plastic though, it would melt that and wouldn’t want that on her skin or in her hair so that would mean have to be very careful to only gradually swab the glue itself, wait a few minutes to let it soften, peel/scrape up softened glue, then swab some more glue. Repeat.

(Not pure acetone of course, but a 50-60% acetone solution just the % where acetone nail polish remover is at. That’s where the ER went wrong, they used 100% acetone on her and that is too strong and can burn the skin. Idiots).

I’m not sure I agree with getting “social media help” as for every person out there with good intentions giving both good and bad advice, there will be trolls deliberately giving horrible advice because they are sick human beings. I am glad, however, the Dr Obeng did this for free for her. It is something that is easier to not have to try yourself, a friend helping works better.

In reading how he added aloe Vera to his solution, that was a very kind thing for him to do. He was treating the scalp/skin burns left by the ER while simultaneously removing the glue.

🙄

(That's not for the OP).

Yeah, I didn't read that other thread, but majority white women talking about a mistake that a black woman made is never going to make for enjoyable reading. They can't even let us be with our actual achievements.

And seriously, bomb whatever they said. This woman made a mistake. The didn't read the bottle properly, or maybe she did and just went with it anyway. In our society people are doing all manner of things to reach some level of beauty that requires methods that are damaging - botox, boob jobs, nose jobs, bum jobs, vulva jobs, permanent eyeliner, lip fillers, tummy tucks, vaginoplasty etc etc. All of which a qualified practitioner had to sit you down and tell you all the possible negative outcomes, er even something as simple as shaving legs or that weird hair removal cream, straight perms, all sorts and people still do it. In some cases you have to see a psychologist to check you are not clinical dysmorphic first. So yeah, this woman made a pretty everyday mistake, no need to vilify her for it.

All of the reality of the situation aside, and I feel for the sister, I would have been p'd that the way I met the amazing Dr Obeng was sitting with glue plastered all over my head! When I come across such fine specimens of man that's not the look I'm going for!

Forgive me for asking (I'm white) and feel free to tell me to fuck off, but is there such a thing as low maintenance black hair? I googled natural black hair, I thought it looked lovely, don't know how acute the images were though or how much maintenance 'natural' actually takes. The other thing is, I don't know how much social pressure there is to NOT have natural hair as well.

I had to come back to this thread to share this, so lovely to see one good deed lead to another:

https://totallythebomb.com/woman-gorilla-glue-donating-20k?fbclid=IwAR0FwNV3GTAHpD5ORlrpH1ZGsdHaWLGG_GMV9XrXmTaXOrHSTZIaQSPnrJs

Truly,

I will be making a regular donation to Restore from now on! You know, come to think of it, perhaps we can share our ideas for donating to charities that support back people.

What a lovely story this turned out to be.

What I'd really like to see is the end of these ridiculous beauty standards. I have noticed in recent years an increase in the number of dark skinned black models and with afro hair.

So lovely that she made a donation.

I hate that everyone was calling her names for seeking help on social media, having a gofund me and the false rumours of her wanting to sue- all to vilify her.

She has done a lovely thing which will get little airplay. I think the Restore Foundation does some great work.

(A directory of black centred charities would be nice as well)

I am glad some positivity is coming out of this.

@SandSeaBeach
Any chance you could post a picture of your girls hair? Block out their faces.
I've heard afro hair is difficult to manage, but this is only when you compare it to white hair, the manageability (or not) of white hair seems to be the default. I'm guessing natural afro hair is a lot easier to manage than trying to force hair into places it doesn't want to go.

@Kendodd

What is the purpose of you wanting to see their hair can I ask? This feels very much like "can I touch your hair?" If you'd like to see afro hair of various lengths you can always look on Google.

Indeed @Waakyeandredred.

First we had the leeches, now we have the voyeurs...you couldn't make up this level of caucasity, and yet, here it is

No, your right. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm white, I shouldn't be so interested about black hair and culture.

Completely agree @Starseeking

@Kendodd is this poster you? Which is it...you're Indian living in or White? If this is you, what are you trying to do here honestly.

Either way, my point remains, if youre curious at looking at afro hair. Go to Google

What is the purpose of you wanting to see their hair can I ask? This feels very much like "can I touch your hair?" If you'd like to see afro hair of various lengths you can always look on Google.

Do you know, weirdly, me and my friends were chatting the other day and the subject of wfh came up, we were all listing how we were feeling about it. The one positive for me was that no one has asked to touch my hair, invaded my personal space to touch it without asking, or otherwise made 'nice' comments around it (that aren't really nice but are condescending). No one has really mentioned it on zoom, I wonder if people staring at themselves on a screen think more carefully before they speak. But how sad is that?!

Anyway, over the moon when I read the surgery was done and it looks like a positive outcome, incredible. The ignorance on threads on here and the internet at large of mocking her shows such ignorance, but are we surprised.

@Kendodd

I'm sorry. I'm white, I shouldn't be so interested about black hair and culture.

There are plenty of resources, posts, photos and other things online plus many social media posts on it. If you are interested there is loads of stuff out there, rather than asking for a photo of someone's children.

Famous People in the press daily, don't help. Their hair styles are desired but honestly can rarely be copied.

I'm sorry, I stupidity thought I was being friendly (and I was interested). I know I was wrong and rude and possibly even racist, I realised this as soon as I posted last night. I do apologise but don't even expect you to accept my apologies, fair enough, just please know I am sorry. Living in the a majority white society must be very trying for you and I know you must have shit like this all the time (even though I was, in my own head, well meaning).