Model Khadijha Red Thunder Shares Why She Loves Her Curly Hair
Model Khadijha Red Thunder is opening up to share how her curly hair is just as much a part of her identity as her cultural background is.
In a new interview with Byrdie, the model opens up about her beauty journey and her relationship with her hair. Khadija, who is of Native American, Black and Spanish descent, opens up by saying that beauty was a "really important thing" in her household. Growing up, she recalls wishing for curly hair like her mom's — which was totally different than the glossy, straight hair most of the Native American women in her family had — and committing herself to nightly "water styling" (twisting and braiding hair into buns when it's wet then letting it dry overnight so you wake up with curls) in pursuit of the cause. Finally, when she was 13, her wishes came true.
“I remember getting out of the shower and looking in the mirror and thinking, Am I going crazy, or is my hair going curly?” she says. “It was a miracle. I woke up with big boobs and curly hair.” Now, she says, she wouldn't trade her coils for anything. "They're a piece of me," she explains of her beauty signature.
Of her family, she explains that "My mom was the only one who was black, so she was the only one who had curly hair. Seeing my mom with her big, bodacious curls played such a big part in how I perceive hair... She never complained about her hair being curly; she was always embracing it. She was just so beautiful and carried herself so elegantly. All she has to do is wash her hair and bam, she’s just the amazing entity, this phenomenon."
Khadijha's mom also taught her how damaging heat can be to natural hair, so straightening was just never really something she did until she was much, much older. "My mom always was like, 'It’s such a waste of time. You look more beautiful with the hair that’s on your head rather than forcing it to go this way or that way,'" she recalls.
Considering the pressure black women have traditionally faced to straighten their natural curls to fit with society's standards of mainstream beauty, Khadija's embracing of her curls — particularly from such a young age, and in a place where most people in her community looked totally different from her — is nothing short of significant.
"Compared to my other friends who are also mixed who grew up with two different cultures and saw beautiful women on television everywhere with straight hair, it totally affects and hinders their outlook on having curly hair," she says, noting that curly hair wasn't seen as "an elegant thing" in pop culture. "But seeing my mom being so elegant and ladylike with curly hair, feeling like she was embracing her true self, I’ve always liked that. She’s always taught me that."
Image Courtesy of Instagram/@Khadijha
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