What's a Good Hair Day Got to 'do With It?

"Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" -Lola Rock, age 5

Can you imagine what you would do if your FIVE year-old daughter asked you why she isn't pretty enough? What would you tell her?

Chris Rock, known for his provocative (read: truthful) comedy, produced a documentary to find out the lengths African-American women must go to have Good Hair .

Most people don't realize that the African-American hair business is big business, and I'm ain't talking 'bout Tina Turner's eponymous What's Love Got to 'do With It? style that even the perfection that is Ms. Oprah Winfrey admitted she tried for years to emulate. (Love you, Opes!) Thing is, we all look to other women for style inspiration and in fact, it's been said women dress for other women. As such, most men don't notice that many African-American women wear wigs, weaves, extensions and such to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars a year, just to be perceived as beautiful in the European tradition with smooth hair (and I'm not even touching on the light skin/dark skin issue so many women must confront). This is not a (cue Whitney Houston soundbite) Black Love diatribe, but rather to bring attention to this critical issue. Sure, every season on America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks takes the razor to one woman's long hair, telling her to embrace her womanhood and the black is beautiful mantra, but how often does Ms. Banks show up to panel without a fierce*TM hair piece? If a contestant is to reject the style chosen by Mr. and Ms. J, she is often threatened with elimination for being uncooperative.

But who is really being uncooperative? How can the average woman afford to look like mainstream America's perception of black beauty, when it takes a village in India, quite literally, to attain the illustrious locks of say, Beyonce, to the tune of $15,000 per hair piece or more (no joke). No wonder Ms. Knowles-Carter keeps her mom on staff!

Just last week, Bey's younger sister Solange (whose music is actually quite good) decided to rock it au naturel, setting the internet abuzz with her bravery. Now, I'm not saying one look is better than another, or advocating for the abandonment of the weave industry (with the exception of tardy for the party ATL "housewife"/wig enthusiast Kim Zolciak) but I hope we can all embrace our beauty and be brave enough to accept ourselves for who we are, not what we look like, so that five year-old girls can focus on playtime and I don't know, idolizing their Barbies (record scratch) wait a minute...so we won't have to convince others we have Good Hair . We're good enough the way we are. I Decided (video by Solange).

Good Hair, Special-Jury winner at Sundance, opens nationwide October 9.