Dr Kirleen Neely

Straight Talk: a Mother Daugther Conversation About Self-acceptance and Learning to Love Your Hair Dr Kirleen Neely

Sisters Morgan and Maddie give their mother nothing but trouble when it comes to combing their hair. They try many tricks to get out of the process and, more importantly, are convinced that getting a hair relaxer will be the answer to all their troubles. Their mother does not know that some family friends have made the girls feel that they have BAD, ugly hair. The story unfolds as their mother makes this discovery and has a straightforward conversation with the girls. As a family they discuss the impact of media images on self-esteem, the importance of self-acceptance and the history of slavery as it relates to hair and colorism. Straight Talk is geared towards children in the 8-13 year age group. The book is intended to spur mothers and daughters to have straightforward conversations on the tough topic of self-acceptance. Mothers routinely tell their girls they should love themselves, but often don?t have the words to explain the history behind the message. The book is based on Dr. Neely?s qualitative research on dominate beauty standards and hair loss for young women of color.