If, as it's said, a woman's hair is her crown and glory, black women face a tumultuous case of ``uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.''

Comedian Chris Rock attempts to explore what is at the root of black women's obsession with their hair in his documentary, Good Hair, which opened Friday. Rock said his oldest daughter, Lola, fueled his curiosity on black hair when she asked, ``Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?''

Lola is symbolic of millions of black girls who grow up to be women waging an expensive war against the texture of their hair. Many view this obsession as the expression of a damaged sense of self, battered by what the status quo dictates is attractive.

Though hair is important to women of all races, author Noliwe M. Rooks says black women take hair to another level. The length, texture and the style in which a black woman wears her hair is used to measure her femininity, attractiveness, social acceptability and professionalism.

``There isn't another group that spends the amount of money and time on changing the basic texture of our hair in order to be considered beautiful,'' says Rooks, who examined the effect hair has on black women in her book, Hair Raising: Beauty, Culture, and African American Women (Rutgers, $18.95). ``For the most part, to be considered beautiful both within and outside of black communities, black women must have hair that is long and straight.''

And that's not easy or cheap to get or keep, says Rooks, who is associate director for the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. As a result, the black hair care industry generates a staggering $9 billion nationwide and internationally.

While provocative, the film Good Hair doesn't explain why black women spend so much on their hair and why it is deemed so important, though one person in the film, the controversial comedian Paul Mooney, touches on one possible reason:

``If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.''

Black hair is as diverse in texture as are people of African descent. Many who identify themselves as black, regardless of skin tone, can have wavy, loosely curled, straight hair or what is commonly referred to in the black community as ``good hair.'' Like lighter skin, ``good hair'' is considered by some a way to garner acceptance by white society.

The hair issue in the black community can be traced back to slavery and is ongoing.

``African people were brought to a place where they were told that everything about them was ugly -- their nose, skin color and that includes especially their hair. They were told that they were damaged, less valued,'' says Detroit psychologist Angela May.

Garrett Augustus Morgan was best known for inventing the traffic light and the gas mask, but around 1910, he also whipped up the first hair relaxer.

Annie Malone invented and patented the pressing comb in 1900, a device still used today to straighten hair with heat. While often credited with the development of the pressing comb, Malone's former employee, Madame C.J. Walker, went on to develop and market a line of beauty and hair care products.

Weaves and wigs aren't new either, according to the book Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, by Lori Tharps and Ayana Byrd (St. Martin's, $14.95). Wigs and the act of lengthening hair can be traced to antiquity. Egyptians often wore full wigs made from human hair and hair pieces in the form of braids or curls.

The modern-day weave was created by an Ohio housewife and hairdresser named Christina Jenkins, who, with husband Duke, formed Christina's Hair Weaves in the 1950s.

Today, many black women find changing their hair a fun way to celebrate their individuality and sense of style, psychologist May says. However, she adds, some use dyes, weaves and relaxers to look and feel acceptable.

``It is this idea that what you were born with is ugly, deformed and needs to be fixed,'' she says.

In 2005, R&B singer India .Arie's song I Am Not My Hair became an anthem for women who tired of being judged by their hair. Today, many black women are seeking to break their dependence on chemical relaxers, or what one woman in the documentary Good Hair refers to as ``creamy crack.''

Websites such as MotownGirl.com instruct women with kinky-curly hair on getting to know their hair and easily manage their locks without using chemicals or extreme heat.

``I was hoping to open people eyes,'' says MotownGirl.com founder Alisha Cole. ``It is not a movement. People aren't trying to prove anything. They are not militant in their politics. It is just people accepting themselves.''

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