New research reinforces evidence that frequent use of chemical straighteners can be implicated in the incidence of uterine cancers amongst Black women.

The study, issued this month via Boston University, shows that “…long-term use of chemical hair relaxers was associated with increased risk of uterine cancer among postmenopausal women…”

This comes against the backdrop of growing lawsuits from Black women, against the manufacturers of chemical hair straighteners.

More research released in 2022 found that women who frequently used chemical hair straighteners were more likely to develop uterine cancer than women who didn’t. The research went as far as to document that Black women were more affected due to them using such products more frequently and over longer periods of time than other women.

The brands coming under scrutiny includes Revlon, L’Oréal, Dark & Lovely, Softsheen-Carson and others. The companies strongly refute any link to their products and these medical conditions.

NBC has updated this constantly moving story by providing additional voice to the women affected. Some of their symptoms include major surgery removing significant percentages of their reproductive organs, which results in their inability to have children.

As this news and more comes to light, we got to thinking about films that have discussed Black women and their relationship with their hair – many of which look at some of the choices Black women make, which gets them addicted to ‘creamy crack’. Not only straightening hair, Black women were the main users of chemicals which underpinned the ‘curly perm’ era.

No doubt, there needs to be more discussion about styles – especially the ones which require chemicals to change the curl pattern of Black hair, not to mention using these chemicals in youngsters.

Have a look at our list of films below.