rpanons | Trapped in the city of one loo

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tbh, you're not wrong, even if you're trolling, she could be a better role model if she wore her hair naturally, but it's gonna take more than one pop star to turn back decades of black beauty trends that aim to minimize blackness.

namely, the change has to come from within the beauty industry itself, which it is, slowly.

i'm turned off by the mention of the fact that there are 'darker' dancers, like that somehow makes them more black. most people can't really control the tone of their skin and there's a wide variety of shades of blackness. her dancers being darker than her doesn't make her less black, ffs.

and fwiw, people should do what they want with their hair and bodies. if she's comfortable and feels good to wear it straightened, that's her right and trying to say 'well, if she's going to be a role model for black women, she should wear it naturally' is pretty dumb since being a strong black woman doing what she pleases is more someone i'd want to look up to than someone saying 'if it ain't natural, you're not black enough'.

you're not wrong, and that was pretty poor word choice on my part, but you have to admit that, at least when it comes to hair, beauty marketed at black women has been about minimizing the natural state of most black women's hair to look less "black", for whatever that's worth.

on the other hand, there's something to be said about how these long aged practices have become just as intrinsic to black beauty culture as natural hair, too, to the point where cultural association of it is more in line with blackness than what it was originally meant for.

like, we're a long ways away from malcom x shaming black women (and others) who used lye and other relaxers in their hair to try and look 'more white'. but it still wouldn't hurt to have a major black face in the media wearing their hair naturally, either.

i think some people are also forgetting that natural black hair comes in a variety of styles and while most of it is the really really curly type we associate with afros and 'natural' black, some black women and men have more relaxed hair naturally because of mixed heritage and genetics. outside of that, another thing is that it can be less about 'looking white' and more easier to deal with when you don't have time to manage naturally black hair that isn't kept short. natural black hair can be a pain in the ass and i've known a lot of women that relax it just so they don't have to put so much time into it when they don't have the time for it. others do it because they prefer it. some keep their hair natural and very short to save on time. like, it's all about preference and while yes, a lot of it way back in the day was aimed at making black women look less 'black', that's not such a bad thing to look in this day and age if you want to.

i don't know, i guess i just feel like someone shouldn't be judged for not being a strong member of their culture because they have an aesthetic preference for themselves. it's not like beyonce or any other black woman who straightens their hair is advocating for all black women to do that. most black mainstream female celebrities are very loud with the message of 'you do you' and to be proud of who you are. if you're proud with natural hair, then you do that. but if you want to straighten it, you shouldn't feel ashamed or that you're somehow betraying your culture by doing so.

it sucks being black. one side says you're too black, the other side says you're not black enough.

nah, it is totally fair for you to feel that way and ultimately I agree with you. I just also feel like the message a lot of black girls get, at least this was the case when I was younger, was if you didn't have relaxed, weaved hair, then you weren't "beautiful" and that natural black hair was more a novelty than something that was actually acceptable in mainstream aesthetics. but you are right that this is changing.

Trapped in the city of one loo

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