French MP who proposed bill against hair discrimination: Society forces us to straighten our hair

Paris, Apr 12 (EFE) - The proposed law to combat hair discrimination in France has no precedents in the EU and will help people of African descent to accept their curly and thick hair and avoid straightening or dyeing it before a job interview, MP Fanta Berete told EFE. Amid the parliamentary procedure for the text - after its approval in the National Assembly in March, it will soon have to pass through the Senate - Berete is trying to raise awareness of the need for this rule by using herself as an example. CAMERA: EDGAR SAPIÑA MANCHADO SOUNDBITES OF FRENCH MP FANTA BERETE DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH EFE IN PARIS, FRANCE: 1. "I got a job, but because for a long time I also straightened my hair. I also wore braids and wigs. I said it in the Chamber to look like anyone else, of course, because black communities wear wigs, I explained. I explained it. And why? Because, for example, Tina Turner, no, it wasn't her hair. Turner's wig was fashionable in France and elsewhere, it was called a Turner wig and women wore it a lot in the 80's. You know Serena Williams? She recently recorded a video on Instagram breastfeeding her son. She had a heat stroke and took off her wig in front of the camera, revealing the braids she was wearing underneath. Do you think Beyoncé's hair is Beyoncé's? Of course not. Do you think some Latin stars don't wear added bands? No, they do it because it either protects the hair or it's an aesthetic effect. But most African-American stars don't show their hair". 2. "I have a complicated history with my hair, but at the end of the day I'm like 20% of people who have hair that is not straight or in line with what we imagine in Western countries. So there are societal mandates, which means that nowhere is it really written that you can't have this or that hairstyle, it's just that we are commanded to have a hairstyle that is correct and this correct hairstyle is often straight hair. And that is why I, like millions of teenagers over the years, use a certain number of tricks, ranging, as I have already explained, from simply adding a strand to lengthen the hair, to protecting the hair, to not having it natural, but also what we call waves and a lot of straightening and ironing. It is indeed very dangerous. As we pointed out in the National Assembly, it is very dangerous for health because between the 80s and today, we have improved products, but studies show that these products increase the risk of cancer for women who use them. So health is an important issue. And it's true that we are starting to see a return to natural hair because there is a lot of medical information out there saying: Oh, you are putting yourself at risk, but society has to accept us with our hair. I have, as I explained, category 4 hair, so category one is straight hair, category 4 is curly and very dense. And then if I let it down, I look like the Jackson Five of the time and our society today sends us mandates telling us that it's not professional hair and that's where the problem lies". 3. "This law had already been talked about a lot before, so it was very good. In other words, everyone was thinking: do I have a problem with this? Do I have a problem or does it affect me? Because it's not just about people of African descent, in the parliament we talk about blonde women who put their hair up before going to a job interview for senior positions. Because there is the whole idea of the blonde woman, the Barbie phenomenon, there are also redheads, many redheads have written to us with MP Serva to tell us how in fact there are all these very old stories about redheads and it really hurts the heart to read these letters and there are also all those who have curly hair and who may actually be European or mixed race because we are coming to a society that is very mixed race. So everyone has their own hairstyle. And then we were talking about soccer. In soccer, players of African descent always wear extravagant hairstyles. Very often they are accepted because they are footballers. But do you think that a certain number of players in our national teams, whether in France, in Spain or the championship, in Latin America, could go and apply for jobs in investment banks, consultancies or large listed groups with a hairstyle like that? No, society is not ready for that and we wanted to shake things up. So we talked a lot about this before and when we were in the parliament. In fact, it's an issue that has been taken up by MPs on all sides of the parliament. So we had a large part of the parliament that said it was not a problem of discrimination and that what we were saying was false, and a part of the parliament that really thought there could be discrimination. And in fact in France we have the 26 criteria of discrimination, including physical discrimination, but we have added hair in particular because it is important". 4. "In the United States there are studies by academics that explain the feeling or the impression of judgement. And from a very early age, in fact, they are mandated by society, which means you grow up with all these insults. Some MPs have expressed their displeasure and have cited in committee the insults they have had to deal with, when they were very young as "mushroom" heads. In any case, a series of not very pleasant things. And you grow up like that. And what do you want when you grow up? You want to look like everybody else, you want people to stop seeing your hair before they see who you are. As a result, you do what everyone else does, you read your hair. It is not only Afro-descendants who are concerned, but also the famous Brazilian straightening that has been fashionable in France for the last 5-6 years. This type of straightening is used by a lot of women with curly hair who no longer want to spend time in the morning straightening or using straighteners. To look like who? To look like all those people who look gorgeous on social media, and all those people who look gorgeous on social media tend to have one thing in common: straight hair, which is a very disciplined thing". 5. "The MP who deals with Latin America, we often have conversations about Latin America and I think that if we look at the individual countries, progress is being made. We should even compare ourselves with some of the texts produced in Latin America. I would like to say to the Latin legislators: Don't hesitate to look at what we have done, it may be relevant for you, it may help society to move forward. Maybe you should take the time to discuss it at the level of society, country by country, and take inspiration from this text to propose a text within your parliaments. It is important. We live in a mixed society. Here, in France, we have a problem. So in the labour market, with a certain number of people who cannot find work, it is not normal for them to be left on the sidelines. What is important is our competences and the competences that are there. I would like to say that the colour of your skin and the texture of your hair is not important at all, and we have to do that for future generations, because we are moving towards more and more mixed societies. And so each one of us can be an asset to our country. And so the wealth is like a few years ago in France, the fact of bringing people, women, to the boards of directors, in fact, and then bringing people who had not gone to the national school of management or the big business schools. That's what enriches a company: multiculturalism is important, so you have everything to gain. And it is important for a great continent like theirs to be able to set an example in this area. 6. "No doubt it will spill over. Just like violence against women. Overload in Spain. The Spanish example of violence against women is often cited, and you know if you put a little bit of money into it, if you invest in training the people involved, because you have to make them aware, you have to explain to them why, then I think it can work. I don't think it's going to change my life overnight, but I do think that for my daughter, who is mixed race, who I spoke about in the Chamber, it's going to be a change. Why? Because my daughter is mixed race, my daughter is 20 years old, my daughter has hair that goes down to here and it's very curly, very thick, it's mixed race hair, my daughter spends all her time straightening her hair and do you know what I said to my colleague last week? I said: unbelievable, (my daughter) went out to buy bread without straightening her hair and I was shocked. I know my daughter and I said to her, but don't you straighten your hair? She said to me, I've seen all the videos you've made in the National Assembly and I'm fed up, so to buy bread, I don't need to straighten my hair".