‘In 1990s Ireland, it felt like I was more of a museum exhibit than a human being’: A Black Irish woman’s hair story

Growing up with a sense of profound difference from her peers, it took Niamh Jiménez two decades to fully cherish her hair’s natural texture

Niamh Jiménez and her natural hair length

Niamh Jiménez

As a kid, I was convinced that my hair was a curse, growing up and out instead of down like everyone else’s. This inversion of the norm felt like proof that I did not belong: a little brown alien among white, straight-haired natives.