- Share This Post
- submit
- 7
-
Sparkle (0)
Ahh, black hair.
Why there is so much pain and frustration surrounding not just how a black woman chooses to wear her hair, but how other's perceive us because of our hair, it really makes me wonder about human beings.
I'm not being dismissive, because I have to check myself from judging others everyday. After putting in a weave earlier this year and taking it out a few months later, I have realized how much how you wear your hair really says to the outside world. You might dismiss it, declaring 'It's my choice' and yes, it is, and no you shouldn't care what other's think. But it does matter.
Recently two great examples of how black hair is viewed in the larger society became present in the media. The first was Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair and the second was an article that came out a couple of weeks ago and a follow-up article a couple of days ago from Newsweek's Allison Samuels, who took actor Angelina Jolie to task because apparently Jolie is letting her adopted 4 year-old daughter Zahara's hair go 'nappy':
In recent pictures it's clear Angelina Jolie hasn’t taken the time to learn or understand the long and painful history of African-American women and hair. If she had I can’t imagine she would continue to allow Zahara to look like she has in the past few months. Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a “hot mess.’’
Now before I go on to the thousands of blogs who have tore Samuels a new one for this article, from reading the first piece, what Samuels seems to be saying is not what I expected when I first heard about this story. She is not suggesting that Jolie straighten Zahara's hair, just run a comb through it. Is that bad? No.
What is a bit suspicious is that Samuel's takes the position that it what is other's think, is more important than Zahara. Also, as Samuel's starts off the article with a story about Tom Cruise's son Conner, who is biracial, she seems to hint that the real problem is white parents adopting black children and then conveniently forgetting that the child's ethnicity differs from theirs. I agree with her on the Cruise issue, as I feel that Cruise and probably the mother of Conner, Nicole Kidman, are both in a fantasy world. Or just narcissists who feel that if they view the world a certain way, the world will follow in their footsteps. "We don't see colour." Give me a goddamn break.
When I was a kid, my hair looked even worse than Zahara's but I don't think her hair looks particularly unkempt - mine really was. I know though, that when someone touches your hair and they don't realize the texture, it is going to be painful. Perhaps Jolie has had a screaming toddler on her hands who cried when Jolie came towards her with a fine-tooth comb. I know I did.
I must also add that Samuels backs up her argument using other blogs who scorn Jolie for allegedly not taking care of Zahara's hair. And she is right. People are skeptical that this beautiful white rich actor couple adopted not only an African child, but other children of other ethnicities. Instead of applauding her for adopting, we are critiquing her when many people would never even think of adopting at all. But it's okay when black bloggers critisize; it's not okay when a black journalist does it in a publication in which is geared towards a white audience.
Tami from What Tami Said brought up a great point: Maybe Jolie simply wants Zahara to be comfortable in her own skin. Maybe she wants to celebrate the inner beauty of her daughter instead of educating her that her hair as to be 'done' in order to be accepted by the westernized standards of beauty:
Instead of teaching Zahara to conform, as Samuels would advocate, I suspect her mom and dad are teaching her to love herself, including her hair, the way it is--whether in multiple braids and beads or flying free. Later, Zahara can wear her hair however she pleases--a bald fade, an asymmetrical bob, dreads, or long, flowing and bright red. If her parents are successful, she will make those decisions free of feelings of hatred for her natural hair and without the pressure of judgement from people like Samuels who seek to impose their own hair "issues" on another.
Samuels responded to the
