Is there a Natural Hair Generation Gap?

Source: Abouteldercare.org

During the holidays I was visiting with my mother and we had some discussion about MANE MAN and the whole natural hair community in general. I found that even as a young guy, I have become very connected to the community and I discovered that my mother had not been exposed to a lot of the information that I had about natural hair, transitioning and different product ingredients and their effects.  As we sat there in conversation all I could wonder was, is there a natural hair generation gap?

I think it’s probably fair to say that there have always been women who have worn their hair natural throughout history. However, in the most recent years we’ve seen a huge trend of many more young women embracing not only natural hair, but a more natural lifestyle and this trend has largely been bolstered by the internet and social media.  Just look around on Twitter’s hashtags #naturalhair or #teamnatural and you’ll connect to thousands of folks discussing the phenomenon of natural hair.  Unfortunately, it seems that the lack of exposure to many of these internet based resources has been keeping people like my mother and others in her age group from making more informed decisions about chemical treatments they have used for years.  I spent some time introducing my mother to some quality natural hair care sites in hopes that she will continue her exploration further.  While her initial reaction was strongly receptive, I’m worried that without the regular support of the community she may not take the next step in her journey.  People in my mother’s age group aren’t used to spending hours per day on the computer using Twitter and Facebook to receive new information like we do so my question is, how do we get them involved?