Thanks for writing this.

I've grown to dislike my hair because my own mother tells me that I have to have it in box braids or it doesn't look right. I'm not allowed to wear it out like my sister is allowed to, she has a different (looser) curl pattern than I do. My mother has the same curl pattern as me...so I think it has to do with her self-hatred of her hair. She's projecting her insecurities on me, but of course she'd probably tell people that she just doesn't want her "daughters" to look a mess (daughters is in quotations because she only has one daughter...I'm transgender).

My white best friend likes my hair more than I do...which now that I think about it, that's really sad. I haven't been taught to love my own hair, and I actually like HIS hair better. I thought it was normal to not like my hair the way it is. The more I live, the more I realize how much my mother has made me hate about myself.