Necessary Precaution or Irrational Obsession?

I am talking about something that is talked about sooooo much on hair boards and blogs worldwide:

PROTECTIVE STYLING!!!!!

The reason this was on my mind was partially because I am attempting to be a part of a 6 month protective styling challenge that is being put on by InnovativeThinking. The guidelines are to pick a protective style of your choice (mine will be twists for the most part) and also pick a set list of products that you will use consistently so that you can see the benefit a routine can have.

Now there are two sides to this debate. Some believe that protective styling is the holy grail, the be-all-end-all of hair care, the only way to properly care for your kinky curly coily frizzy wavy hair. And then there are some that believe in showing off the beauty and creativity that often comes with natural textures, no matter what time of year it may be. I can understand both sides of the spectrum.

First of all, I can only speak for myself (duh!) but I have realized the benefit of using protective styles on my own hair:

• It keeps me from manipulating my hair so much. I don't comb or brush my hair every other day like I might have to if I constantly wore my hair out. So I give my hair a break from detangling so often.
• Allowing my hair to dry in a protective styling is the ONLY WAY my hair seems to dry feeling soft. Even though I love how wash n goes look as they're drying, once they're completely dry my poor hair feels brittle and strawlike and depleted of all moisture : (   so I use protective styles as a way to keep my hair soft
• It is a lot easier for me to moisturize my hair when I have twists or braids in my hair because I know I can get moisture on all my strands without much difficulty
• I have seen my hair grow much better and retain more length when I used protective styling (mainly twists). Shrinkage kept the hair off my shoulders, my hair felt softer and more moisturized and I wasn't ripping at my hair as often.
• I also don't walk out the house every other day with a wet head which is awesome *2 thumbs up*

On the other hand, I can understand the urge to wear your hair out all the time:

• I know for me, I want everyone that sees me to see that natural hair is fun and exciting and manageable and diverse and beautiful! Not something that can't be flaunted proudly. I have a weird desire for every new person I meet to see me with my hair out because that matches the best with my personality PLUS I don't mind answering questions about hair. In fact, I love talking about it!
• I don't want people to think that the only way to manage natural hair is keep it twisted up and hidden and protected from the eyes of society forever and ever and ever. Live a little!
• What's the fun of having a ginormous, fantastical fro if you can't show it off?? We work hard to take care of our hair and I think it's feels great to reveal to people the benefits of TLC
• I live in California so the only thing I'm really protecting myself from is my own hands-in-hair epidemic
• I love to experiment with styles and different textures and different products. I want to know everything that my hair can do so that I can show other people what their hair can potentially do!

The way that I deal with this is by wearing twists as long as I can stand it (which is usually only 4-5 days) and then rocking a twistout every chance I get!! If the mood hits me to blow dry, I do it. If I see someone with a gorgeous bantu knot out, best believe I'm going home to knot my mane up. If I'm inspired on youtube or fotki or CurlyNikki or some other place, I will re-style in a heartbeat. I know that PS can be beneficial but I also know that I love wearing my hair out. So I do both! I kind of see wearing my hair out as a treat that I can only get if I've been taking care of my hair and myself and my responsiblities. Since that doesn't happen everyday, I don't wear my hair out everyday LOL

So the question is: TO PROTECTIVE STYLE OR NOT TO PROTECTIVE STYLE? WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK!