Self-Love Month – January 1, 2027

History of Self-Love Month

The 1950s Beat Generation and the early Hippie Age of the 1960s were the first to advocate for self-love. Following the catastrophic impacts of World War II and with troops still waging war in Vietnam, western societies began promoting love and peace.

They aimed to aid the advancement of the concept of positive energy and environmental preservation with the upsurge in oil pipelines and the awareness of pollution due to greenhouse gas emissions.

In the United States, self-love has also been employed as a weapon in black communities. The “Black is beautiful” slogan became a platform for African-Americans to reject the burden of primarily White beauty standards during the Black Power movement in the 1970s. Before the 1970s, the typical cultural ideal was to use perms or a hot comb to straighten Black hair.

The afro became the most fashionable hairdo during the Black Power movement. It meant allowing Black hair to grow freely, without chemical treatment, to embrace and showcase its curly hair texture. A pick was used to tease the hair out.

The idea was to have the hair form a halo around the wearer’s head, highlighting their Blackness. During the 1970s, this type of self-love and empowerment was a strategy for African-Americans to battle the stigma associated with their natural hair texture, which was and still is viewed as inappropriate in the professional world.