What Makes Women Who Are Dry Down Below Wet Again
Source: Everyday Feminism
Got questions about why people get mad when white folks wearable traditionally Blackness hairstyles? Well, you've come up to the right place – I'm one of those people who's riled up about it, and I've got answers.
Many people are wondering about this topic after the most recent public example of Blackness hair appropriation: Kylie Jenner's cornrows.
So maybe your first question is this: Why the hell do I care near what some teenager does with her hair?
Here'south your answer: This conversation isn't just near hair. And it's not just about Kylie Jenner. Her latest iteration of cultural appropriation is just a driblet in the bucket that's been filling up for centuries.
So if this seems to you like a footling issue, don't worry – we're going to go to why it really matters.
But since this incident started this electric current chat, here's what'southward going on with Kylie:
The white, younger sister of Kim Kardashian posted a photograph of herself wearing cornrows.
Then, 16-year-old Amandla Stenberg (best known for playing Rue on The Hunger Games before becoming all-time known for inspiring widespread awe with her summary of cultural appropriation) made me applaud my computer screen once once again. She pointed out exactly what'south wrong with this moving picture:
Jenner's using her fame to call attention to her hair, which mimics Black culture, but not to the racist violence taking Black lives.
And so Justin Bieber defended Jenner – and the approval squeals of fangirls rang out 'round the world. Now, the public is weighing in.
I can't believe I'm about to say this, only the Biebs has a point here. I don't concur that Jenner should be free from responsibility for her wrongdoing, but he's correct when he says that she's simply ane girl who fabricated a error – and there's a bigger picture we need to pay attending to here.
We tin can outset past talking virtually her hair, only if that's all we talk well-nigh, we'll miss the chance to learn something valuable about how mundane actions, like the way you lot clothing your hair, tin can make a huge statement about whether or non you lot value people of color who are struggling with the atrocities of oppression every day.
And you lot'll notwithstanding exist left with questions, like why was this such a big deal? Let'south answer your questions.
This is what the uproar over appropriation of Blackness women'due south hair is really all almost.
ane. "Why Can't We All But Be Equals and Share Our Cultures?"
I get information technology. I say I'm all about equality, but you lot think I'm pulling for the contrary – stating that simply certain people should clothing certain hairstyles based on skin color.
But in that location's one major detail y'all take to call up about when it comes to equality: the reality we live in.
It's true that we're "all human, whether nosotros're black, white, green, or purple."
I've heard information technology all before, and it sounds pretty not bad – all being treated and so equally that you can wear any hairstyle yous want without harming anyone.
In a truly equal world, you wouldn't have to recollect about if y'all accept power and privilege over the people you're borrowing culture from.
Unfortunately, that's not the world nosotros live in. In our world, systems of oppression create power dynamics between dissimilar groups of people.
In the United States, for example, white people get the unearned benefits of having the ascendant civilisation.
And all of united states – but especially women – deal with a ascendant epitome of beauty that's completely unrealistic. None of us are free from being torso-shamed nearly all of the reasons our pilus, body, teeth, or skin are not what someone else says they should be.
But for women of color, that unrealistic beauty ideal is even further out of attain.
The popularity of Eurocentric images says that being cute means existence white, and that "normal" hair is fine and silky – nothing like my kinky natural African hair.
That type of hair is considered such a norm that mainstream stores don't take products for me unless they're selling the chance to alter – to permanently alter my hair'due south texture with straightening chemicals.
And institutional barriers discourage me from wearing my pilus as it grows out of my head – I'm more probable to find and keep jobs if I meet standards of professionalism that often ban Black women's natural hairstyles.
White women confront sexism, and they may be oppressed in other ways, too – through ableism, classism, or fatphobia, for example. Just when it comes to race, white women have more than institutional power than Blackness women.
So while we should exist treated equally equals, we're not . A white woman is free to take on and take off the same hairstyle that a Black adult female would exist ostracized for.
Until nosotros right that imbalance, so when Kylie Jenner wears cornrows, she's acting on privilege and exploiting Blackness civilisation. She'south participating in a toxic norm that says Blackness people aren't valuable, just our hair is cool – as long every bit white folks are wearing it.
That'due south not okay. If she really thinks Blackness folks are cool and wants to honor our culture, she should help eradicate the inequality between u.s.a. instead.
ii. "What Most When Black Women Straighten Their Hair?"
Since society treats white women as more valuable, Black women don't accept the aforementioned context when they make their hair look more like the dominant norm.
In the The states, people have a diversity of reasons for straightening their hair, merely for many Blackness women, it's a matter of survival, not just preference.
When you can't find piece of work unless you exercise it, you take to accept such action to get by.
I can attest to how differently people treat Black women depending on the style of our hair. In one instance from a lifetime of microaggressions, a high school teacher said my straightened hair looked "so much improve than those knots" I commonly wore.
I'd straightened information technology temporarily, for a school dance. My 15-year-old self was filled with the dreadful reminder that I'd exist considered less beautiful when I returned to my twists – the "knots" he'd sneered about – after the style washed out in a couple days.
When a marginalized group takes on elements from the dominant culture in club to survive, that'southward chosen assimilation.
It's different from appropriation, when the dominant grouping takes from an oppressed group without respect for the civilisation they're taking from.
I didn't ever know the word "assimilation," merely I've ever felt the pressure level of it. Similar many other Blackness girls, I grew upwardly with that pressure level even within my own family, from my mother, aunts, and grandmother, who were harshly ridiculed for kinky hair.
In our family unit, the protective honey women showed girls looked like teaching the states that our own hair was ugly and unkept.
Even now, things are slowly changing from how information technology was for them and I've found work spaces open to my natural hair. Simply I couldn't tell my aunties that – if I ever end upward alone in a room with one of them, they're bound to try to take a straightening comb to my head for what they believe is my own good.
That's the lasting impact of the pressure to survive by plumbing fixtures in with white culture.
A white adult female who wears dreadlocks is acting on her privilege to accept that hairstyle and still become by, and even to get positive attending for her hair.
Meanwhile, a Black adult female with dreads gets treated like she's inferior just because her hair doesn't look like a white person's. So she's more likely to straighten it merely to survive.
3. "Why Are You Trying to Limit Freedom?"
Mayhap you're stuck on the idea that if you're a white person, you lot "can't" wear your hair a certain style.
That hinders your freedom. And equally big fan of liberation, I go why that feels fucked up. It's your hair and you lot should exist able to practise whatever you want with information technology.
A lot of people think avoiding cultural appropriation ways policing self-expression.
They say I'thousand calling for locking people up just for hurting feelings.
Outset, tin I request that nosotros ease upward on the hyperbole when we talk about this? Considering I'm non out to outlaw hairstyles, and we tin refer to plenty of real-life consequences of cultural cribbing without exaggeration.
Cultural appropriation is never as simple as saying, "White people aren't allowed to do X, period." It'southward about saying information technology's ethical to consider the context of what yous're doing.
That includes learning most and giving credit to the true pregnant of what y'all're borrowing, instead of doing what Iggy Azalea does and gaining fame and fortune by imitating someone else.
It ways recognizing where it came from, instead of doing what Elle Britain simply did and calling baby pilus "a new trend" when Black women take been wearing it for decades.
It also means leaving something lone if you larn that information technology's not possible to infringe it in a respectful way, similar blogger HaifischGeweint did when they researched dreadlocks and decided not to clothing them.
When people object to cultural appropriation, we're not complaining for nothing – and it's insulting to say that we are. Because we're letting you lot know that even if y'all take harmless intentions, your touch is causing damage.
As the people who have to endure through that impairment, Black folks know what nosotros're talking about when we say that appropriating our hairstyles is fucked up. There's a lot more than at pale than limiting your "free speech communication" when you're actually contributing to other people's oppression.
4. "Where Practise You lot Draw the Line? Why Are You Trying to Segregate People?"
One of the trickiest parts of cultural cribbing is knowing where to depict the line. People contend that we share between cultures all the time, which helps us abound as people.
And believe me, I know Black hair is gorgeous, and then I appreciate that you lot want to capeesh it.
That'southward why there's a difference between cultural exchange – when people freely share appreciation for one another's cultures – and cultural appropriation.
If people can share as and benefit without harm, that'southward fantastic.
Merely and then some people start to wonder why nosotros should draw lines between cultures – after all, we're striving to be equal, right?
I'm not trying to separate us. Just once once again, let'due south consider reality: when information technology comes to things like who gets more positive representation in the media, and who's less probable to go killed by police, and who'southward more than likely to find employment, there's a articulate difference between me and a white woman.
The differences between united states also include things that should exist historic. Being Blackness comes with disadvantages in this society, like being profiled and stereotyped, but it likewise comes with things I love. I'm proud of my Blackness.
And so when someone takes a piece of what my Blackness ways to me, and puts information technology on like my identity is a costume, I feel like that'south all I am to them. Some minstrel prove, some graphic symbol, some 2-dimensional stereotype of a person you can both mock and steal form.
It'south the ultimate form of objectification.
If you lot care for my await like something you tin infringe when information technology brings you value and discard when it becomes useless, then y'all trivialize both my struggles and the beautiful things well-nigh what being Blackness means to me.
Remember of it this manner: It'south not segregation, but commemoration. The trouble is the unjust ways society treats our differences – not the fact that our differences exist.
v. "Are Y'all Saying I'yard a Bad Person If I Have One of These Hairstyles?"
Information technology's hard to swallow the idea that you could be causing harm when you don't want to.
That's why I'thousand not saying y'all're a bad person, even if you're guilty of appropriating another culture's traditional hairstyle. I don't know you or your intentions, and judging your grapheme is not the bespeak of pointing out how white supremacy shows up. In short, it's not just about y'all.
Just similar this conversation isn't just about Kylie Jenner'southward hair, cultural appropriation isn't virtually proverb whatsoever 1 individual person is evil. The point is to exist enlightened of how systems of oppression show upward in our everyday lives.
White supremacy is an instance of a system. The media is an example of a construction that supports white supremacy, by showing positive images of white people and negative stereotypes of people of color. And you are one individual who consumes media, and acts on the ways they influence your view of the earth.
Then if you've e'er thought a white girl with braids looked "quirky" and a Black girl with braids looked "ghetto," that'southward non a sign that you're the One Truthful Source of All Of White Supremacy.
Only it is an example of how white people as individuals can participate in the arrangement of white supremacy, and of how Blackness people can get hurt.
That's why changing our everyday actions is a big role of creating change on a societal level.
6. "What If My Black Friend Says It's Okay?"
Distressing, since cultural appropriation isn't about ane private being a bad person, information technology'south besides not about one private person giving yous a pass to exercise information technology.
Let'due south be clear: Talking to marginalized people about their experiences with oppression is a good manner to get perspective on issues they're dealing with.
That'southward not to say it'due south a gratuitous-for-all for asking strangers questions and enervating answers. Nobody's obligated to educate you, but information technology's great if you have a friend who'southward willing to to talk to you when you arroyo them in a respectful way.
Just it still doesn't mean their word stands for their unabridged culture.
No community is a monolith, and you could find a Black person who would say that appropriating our hair isn't not a trouble. They could honestly experience that manner, or they could be feeling the pressure to concur with the ascendant culture.
I wish I could give yous the magical formula for what makes something offensive: Add the number of studies published on it + your number of Black friends, split by the number of centuries this debate has raged on, sprinkle your intentions on acme, and there you lot accept it! Annihilation over 6 is wildly offensive.
It's but not that piece of cake. If one Black person says information technology'southward okay, you lot take one person's opinion, and that'due south a outset. But if you really want your answer, you besides have to listen to other perspectives, learn about being an marry Black folks, and admit your own privilege.
One time you commit to that process, yous'll understand a lot more near anti-Black racism – and y'all'll know what's at stake for Black folks if you advisable our hairstyles.
7. "I Don't Support Racism, So Why Is It a Trouble If I Wear a Traditionally Blackness Hairstyle?"
This is oftentimes accompanied by "Don't y'all have more than important things to worry almost?"
Okay, I can already hear people trying to telephone call bullshit on my terminal point – it's "just hair," so what's actually at stake?
Well, let'south review the impact of some of the examples I've mentioned and then far. When a white woman wears a traditionally Black hairstyle, she:
- Ignores the inequality of systematic racism, letting it remain invisible
- Distracts from the real issue of racism by leaving it upward to people of color to point out the trouble – so information technology'due south almost our "oversensitivity," rather than institutional oppression
- Adds to the Eurocentric standard of beauty that says that Black women'south features are adequate only on white women
- Claims turn a profit, credit, and/or praise instead of the people of the culture she borrowed from
- Trivializes the struggles of the people who identify with that hairstyle
- Erases cultural differences that should be celebrated
- Perpetuates the organization of white supremacy by reinforcing false ideas of Blackness women's inferiority
That's no small-scale impact from 1 private.
And when you call back most lots of people believing cultural appropriation is okay, you lot tin empathize how this adds up to equal major problems.
Yes, we practice have things more of import than hair to worry about. I've touched on several of the important bug for Black women already – employment discrimination, lack of visibility in the media, law brutality – not to mention things like healthcare, reproductive justice, and intimate partner violence.
So if you're wondering why I'd accept any time away from these pressing issues to worry virtually pilus, the reply is that you've just stumbled upon i of the realities of Black women's everyday existence in the United states.
Nosotros're suffering and invisible. There are feminists who fight for women simply won't even acknowledge that our issues are worth fighting for. There are Blackness people speaking out against law brutality who don't speak the names of Black women killed past police.
Nosotros're told that we're not beautiful, specially non when we await most like ourselves. Oftentimes, the same people who advisable elements of our culture are completely absent when we need support.
And then we find a treasure that helps united states challenge those abusive narratives, helps us recognize our value and be proud of our heritage, even after a lifetime of degradation. Fifty-fifty after being violently disconnected from our ancestors and having our history erased, sometimes directly through suppression of our natural advent.
And that treasure is our own hair, which becomes more than just pilus – we grow to understand that information technology's one of the precious tools we can wield to help u.s. affirm our worth and encompass our roots.
Fifty-fifty if you don't contribute to these struggles, the fact is that Black women wrestle these conditions every day. If you agree that we deserve better, then respect us enough to let us determine for ourselves what we need.
Your everyday actions don't be in a vacuum separate from anti-Blackness racism, so if you lot don't admit the problem, then y'all're part of information technology.
***
I hope this information clears up any confusion you had – non just virtually what Kylie Jenner's done wrong, simply near the bigger picture of why appropriation of traditionally Black hairstyles is harmful.
Yous'll have more questions about how all of this applies to particular situations. But now you've got the fundamental: applying context.
If you're a white person cleaning your house and you toss your hair into braids to keep it out of your face, of form nobody's going to arrest you lot for appropriating cornrows.
But if yous happen to take hold of a glimpse of yourself looking quirky in the mirror and decide you'll tell the globe you invented braids to proceeds profit, try re-reading this article earlier calling your agent.
And if you're thinking that technically the Norse, or technically the Vikings, or technically some pale-skinned ruler in 2000 BCE had dreadlocks offset – over again, consider the context. Who, in this society, gets the burden of negative stereotypes near dreadlocks?
With what you know about why Black women's hair matters, you tin apply context to other situations of possible cribbing to figure out if what's respectful and what's oppressive.
There are no piece of cake answers, but with some thoughtfulness and care, you lot can help improve the abhorrent ways our society treats Black women – instead of beingness office of the problem of making our lives more of a struggle just then y'all can have your fun.
Maisha Z. Johnson is the Digital Content Associate and Staff Author of Everyday Feminism. Yous tin detect her writing at the intersections and shamelessly indulging in her obsession with pop civilization around the web. Maisha'due south past work includes Community United Confronting Violence (CUAV), the nation's oldest LGBTQ anti-violence organization, and Fired Up!, a program of California Coalition for Women Prisoners. Through her own project, Inkblot Arts,Maisha taps into the creative arts and digital media to amplify the voices of those oft silenced. Like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @mzjwords.
Source: https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/white-people-black-hairstyles/