The U.S.Navy announced it changed its grooming policy to allow women to wear ponytails and braids.
Monday, representatives said the changes won't apply to the U.S. Naval Academy.
The changes can be seen here.
Among the styles that will be allowed with some restrictions: ponytails and locks. The move also expands options for buns and dinner-dress uniforms.
The change is aimed at increasing the inclusiveness of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in a Facebook live all-hands call.
For many black women, hair is peppered with messages.
It has the power to dictate how other people treat you.
In 2014, a sailor said she was discharged from the Navy after a 12-year career for failing to obey an order to cut off her natural hairstyle.
For Davina Bennett, a hairstyle choice thrust her into the national spotlight. Bennett surprised the world when she wore her afro in the Miss Universe pageant. In 2017, she was the runner up as the representative for Jamaica.
She visited the KARE TV studio this month. Bennett said she used a chemical to straighten her hair as an eight-grader because “I believed that was the standard of beauty.”
“Growing up I did not like my hair. For one, I got teased about it,” she said. “Two years ago, I cut it off. And people kept complimenting me. 'I love your hair. I love your hair.' ... The more I kept hearing ‘I love your’ hair versus teasing words, I fell in love with it again.”
People fell in love with her, too. She dominated the stage at the 2017 Miss Universe pageant when she refused to let those preconceived beauty standards dictate her style.
“There are a lot of these environments that say you can't wear your afro out because it doesn't look groomed. I would be in defense to that,” she said. “Your hair doesn't take away from what you set out to do in a particular field.”
She was thrilled to hear about the recent changes to the Navy’s hair policy. By contrast, her manager, Dimitris Kosvogiannis, opposed the change. He says he wants women like Bennett to embrace the texture of their kinks and curls. But he says the military isn’t a place for women to let their hair down.
“I was in the navy. It is not a beauty school. It is a regimented, structured environment,” he said.
“We are talking about aesthetics. It is my opinion that the military should look very uniform, pun intended. Men and women should all look a certain way. Whatever way the military demands, I believe is necessary to function.”