This morning on AM Buffalo we caught up with 7 First Alert meteorologist Michelle McLeod because she is going to look a little different on tv today and we are going to get to see that first. As of today, she is going natural. Michelle McLeod says after two years it’s just time to be who she is.
When asked why do you think historically it has been something, particularly black women, has wrestled with; do they go natural or do they wear wigs, and the fallout, one way or another that comes with that choice? McLeod says this whole movement is relatively new to mainstream but she has been natural way before it was cool, and she finds that’s really interesting because she is getting a lot of backlash for not being natural and wearing her wig. She goes on to say when she was natural, she got a lot of flack for being natural and people said she should wear your hair straight. So, because of conventional beauty standards, she thinks a lot people feel that pressure to look a certain way.
Michelle McLeod says she heard, it’s powerful when you put your oppressions on your head, and for her not wearing her hair straight years ago she didn’t want to participate in that, but then she would put the wig on her head and she said she would feel kind of like a fraud. She felt like she was putting the oppression on her head. She goes on to say how, in good conscience could she be proud and represent for the children that are watching her and wear this so, going to schools and seeing people who look like her while wearing this oppression on her head, being a figure they could look up to, it just felt wrong and that’s what made her decide to go natural on air. She was already natural off air she says, but on air, it was important to be a good role model to show people, any people, that it’s okay to be yourself no matter what you look like.
When asked how she thinks the reaction will be, Michelle says she is super nervous. She’s afraid people are going to be upset because it is different and say I liked your hair better the way it was before but she hopes it is received openly and warmly and that people are happy about it. If not, she says at least I’m telling the truth now and she can go to sleep a little easier at night.
