Honestly, it varies from person to person.
Even within a specific ethnic group, everyone’s hair is different, with different qualities.
There are many people of African descent who don’t use shampoos as frequently as people of caucasian descent, because it does indeed strip the natural oils and moisture from the coils, and that can eventually cause permanent damage to the follicles.
Then there are others who choose to wash their hair daily, with no adverse effects.
ETA:
Thanks, but that’s not actually me; just a very close approximation of my own hair texture.
(I actually envy whatever conditioner homegirl is using because it’s clearly superior to mine.)
But to answer your question;
I rarely get asked by total strangers if they can touch my hair; my persona doesn’t invite casual intrusions into my personal space in general.
However I did once have a girl at a party just start touching my hair, as she “admired” it; and before I even had time to realize what she was doing, (let alone flash on her) my friend who I was with suddenly had her hands all in the girl’s hair… and the irony here is that my friend is White, and she caught and deflected the microaggression and unintentional disrespect before I could even say a word.
ETA2:
Thanks everyone, but again that’s not actually a picture of me; just very close to how my own hair is, minus a little bit of the volume.
