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FDA To Ban Relaxers Next Month As Cancer Link is Revealed

Almost 90% of black women have used a chemical relaxer at some point in their lives; many of whom began using it as children.  Usage of chemical relaxers has posed significant risks to the health of minority women. Women who use chemical relaxers are often unaware of the health conditions that they can introduce.  They have been clinically linked to reproductive disorders, infertility, cancer and other diseases.  


A reporter for the New York Times, Linda Villarosa, spent a significant amount of time gathering facts about the health crisis surrounding chemical relaxers.  Through a lens similar to one idealized by black female epidemiologists, Villarosa discovered the well-researched link between the frequent usage of chemical relaxers and uterine cancer in black women.  These chemically-laced relaxers contain ingredients that act as endocrine disrupters which lead to early puberty and cancer in black women.

Chemical relaxers have always been aggressively marketed towards black women.  A quick look back in time to the 80s and 90s when curly perms and relaxers were steadily becoming popular with the black community will reveal how black women viewed perms.  "Wear my natural hair?! Oh. No. I want that new creamy crack!" were along the lines of the pervasive thought pattern amongst many black women during this time period.  Ads featuring young girls wearing cute straightened hairstyles were all over television and magazines.  The aggressive advertisements influenced young black girls and women to believe that they needed to have their hair look straight and smooth.   

About two years ago, a viral twitter thread showcased women who were once featured on kiddie perm boxes as children.  The original poster (@ashthedonleon) asked the models to show themselves.

  Rapper, Baby Tate, who was once featured on a vintage kiddie perm box had this to say:

Other women, whose photos were once on a kiddie perm box, stated that they had never even had a relaxer applied to their hair when the shot was taken.  One exclaimed that her hair had been straightened via a non-chemical process that excluded the perm that was being promoted.  One woman who admitted to receiving a perm for her shot with the Dark and Lovely brand stated that she no longer uses them and is completely natural.  

A significant number of the young ladies who were once featured on a kiddie perm box are presently natural.

The aggressive marketing that once went on were not only harmful to the body image of young black girls and women who actually went out and purchased the relaxers; they were most harmful to their health and the health of their hair and scalp. Though relaxers are largely unregulated, they are on the brink of becoming banned within society as information surrounding the health risks of the creamy crack are revealed and class action suits continue to grow.

Chemical relaxers are notoriously known for their burning sensation.  Women who use relaxers may think the burning is just a small aftereffect that results in the straight hair they seek.  It is actually the body giving the wearer a signal that the relaxer is doing serious damage.  This burning that is felt when using a chemical relaxer creates the entry point for these chemicals to enter the body and cause disruption to health.   Known carcinogens in relaxers such as formaldehyde and other endocrine disrupting ingredients can lead to breast and ovarian cancers as well as fibroid tumors.  The FDA announced their intentions to ban relaxers.  The ban will take place in September.

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