A hairstyle where you weave three sections of hair together to make a rope-like pattern.
This word comes from an old word meaning 'to weave' or 'to twist together.'
Braids are like making friendship bracelets with your hair! You take three pieces and weave them together to make a beautiful rope that won't get tangled.
Braiding has deep roots in African and African diaspora identity and cultural pride. Colonial-era racist narratives pathologized Black braiding practices as 'unkempt' while white women received aesthetic praise for identical hairstyles, reinforcing racial hierarchies.
Use 'braids' neutrally to describe a hairstyle without qualifier terms. Center braiding's cultural significance in African communities.
["protective styling","cultural braiding"]
Black women and women of color have maintained braiding traditions as acts of cultural resistance, identity, and technical skill. Recognize braiding's roots in West African tradition and its continuation as cultural pride in diaspora communities.
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