On Saturday, Kylie Jenner rolled out of bed, took 500 selfies as usual, and posted one to Instagram. The caption casually referred to her new cornrows: “I woke up like disss.” Amandla Stenberg (who played Rue from The Hunger Games) couldn’t let Kylie’s hairstyle slide without comment. Amandla recently wore cornrows to prom with date Jaden Smith, and she called out Kylie for appropriation: “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #white girls do it better.”
Kylie replied, “Mad if I don’t, Mad if I do … Go hang w Jaden or something.” (You can see a screenshot of both comments here.) This wasn’t the greatest comeback, and Amandla had a point. Kylie was celebrated by the media for wearing dreadlocks earlier this year because they were seen as “edgy,” yet Zendaya was mocked for wearing dreds. Now Kylie’s cluelessly wearing cornrows.
Amanda previously called out appropriation from pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift. Amandla defined the concept for those who think it doesn’t exist:
“The line between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange is always going to be blurred. But here’s the thing: appropriation occurs when a style leads to racist generalizations but is deemed as high-fashion, cool or funny when the privileged take it for themselves. Appropriation occurs when the appropriator is not aware of the deep significance of the culture they are partaking in.”
[From Amandla Stenberg on Tumblr via Pajiba]
Amandla nailed it. Kylie’s simply not aware of anything of substance, so of course she doesn’t recognize the cultural significance of her hairstyle of the day. One positive aspect of this situation is that Kylie won’t wear the cornrows for long. I’m including pictures of Kylie’s Friday hairdo, a mermaid-blue wig with dark roots.
Photos courtesy of Kylie Jenner on Instagram, Fame/Flynet & WENN
What amandla wore to prom wasn’t cornrows those are box braids. Love what she said. Atleast there is one celeb who isn’t afraid to stand up for black culture/ black people.
<3 agreed!
Her and Zendaya, props to these young girls for fighting for black people to be respected and calling out the white racist power structure.
Ditto
amandla is gorgeous!
more amanda and less k trash please
It’s just HAIR, ffs. And on a Kardashian to boot. First world problem. Love Amandla but can we find something of substance to fight about?
totally agree with you.
And shouldn’t the issue be with the people who make racist generalizations or who treat the same style on different races differently?
I don’t know, I understand why cultural appropriation is offensive, but I just don’t see
It here. Cornrows have been around for a very very long time and I’ve seen people of all races wearing them.
What you’ve seen is cultural appropriation for a very long time. You’ve become desensitized to it.
I agree with you MrsB, I don’t see how this is cultural appropriation. I’m a black woman who had straightened hair for a long time – I didn’t culturally appropriate anything, it was just easier for me at the time. People get so bent out of shape for the stupidest thing. Wear whatever you want, ffs and leave other people alone as long as they’re not hurting anyone.
I remember when Bo Derek did the cornrows for “10” and cornrows and braids became all the rage. There was backlash from the black community for it then because a blond, white woman was receiving praise and adulation for something black women had been doing all along and they felt there was no appreciation for their culture or the style until a white woman wore it. And that was waaaaaaay back in 1979.
And I’m glad that people have become desensitized to it because it means that those people are living in the now, fearless of ridicule and free to just revel in what they love without hateful intent and hopefully inspiring others to do the same.
Desensitivity means you’ve been ignoring an issue for so long that even if it’s in your face and screaming you’ve become blind to its reality. That’s cowardice and consumption.
Way back in 1985 on a flight home from Jamaica there were all sorts of white women – fat, thin, attractive, ugly – sporting corn rows with little beads here and there. There are Jamaicans on the beach who have concessions where they braid cornrows for tourists. Don’t know it is still a thing, but obviously the Jamaican people didn’t have a problem with it! They were providing the service.
@Sassy, I’m not sure if they still do cornrows on the beach here, and I know I don’t speak for all Jamaicans, but I don’t think a great percentage of Jamaicans would think this is something bad.
I get what others are saying about the double standard (what would be considered “ugly” on a black person may not be considered ugly on a white person) but that doesn’t mean we should say, “well you can’t wear it then”. I think we should try to go in the other direction where it’s “acceptable” for all of us.
Rastafarians were treated terrible for the way they kept their hair and continue to suffer unfair treatment because of their dreads. Does that mean that only they should wear dreads? I know a lot of people (yes, including black people) who only wear it for the style, not the religion.
Agreed. It’s hair–let’s quit acting like some styles are reserved for certain segments of the population only.
And now I’m annoyed. I’ve had to defend a Kardashian before 8 and on no caffeine. Grrr..
Agree. Terrible position to be in.
Well it’s not “just hair”. The perceptions of kylie and black women wearing this hair style wpuld be completely different. Kylie lives a bubble of security and at any given moment can go back to being a privileged naive white girl but black women can’t do so. There’s loads of history behing this hairstyle and is necessary to keep black hair intact. Kylie however doesn’t have this issue. In the end, people love to be black until it actually comes time to be black. I have yet to hear kylie speak out on any of the racism running rampant in the US. maYBE if she did i wouldn’t care thay she appropriated my culture.
So what, she has to pay a toll to get your approval to style her bloody hair as she likes? We should all strive to make this world a less racist place, and I personally lament that the Kardashians are throwing away education and a platform to do more, but this is just ridiculous.
It’s not about pretending to be black or loving being black.
She’s not black and never will be.
She doesn’t appropiate anything.
Kylie is a mess and very priviledge, but her hairstyle doesn’t oppress black people and doesn’t take anything away from them.
Dee- 100% agree
Completely agree, Dee. Very well spoken.
“The term “microaggression” was used by Columbia professor Derald Sue to refer to “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.””
Just because it isn’t blatantly staring you in the face doesn’t mean it isn’t there. “It’s just hair,” is a major oversimplification, and we can do better than that. We can think a little more deeply than that. Kylie has the benefit of putting on and taking off this hair style, but women of color don’t have the option of changing their racial identity like a hairstyle. They can’t decide not to be black and avoid the struggles that come along with it as Kylie can simply decide not to have corn rows anymore. This is a girl who’s only struggle is trying to text without breaking her banshee claw nails, and she has never done a thing to acknowledge her privilege. Never done a thing to align herself as an ally to the black community. So she doesn’t get a pass from me.
IMO, the only people who get to decide what offends a group of people are members of that group. It’s not anyone else’s place to say whether or not they should take offense.
I don’t think that Kylie has enough education to even understand the words “cultural appropriation”. In her world she is just following in her sisters footsteps and trying to appeal to the guy or guys that she wants in her life. I don’t have an opinion one way or another on the hair. But I am not black either so maybe I have a skewed way of thinking. I do think the rest of it she could be and should be called out, her lips and her ass. We all know that is fake.
I am so proud of Rue! I love that a young, black women is standing up for something important. Amandla’s so right, they “love” the culture, but not the cause(s).
For the non nappy “it’s just hair crowd” – you don’t get it and I’m not going to take the time to explain it to you. I’m sure they’ll be a post for you to whine about body shaming, soon enough. Ironic, right?
For the nappy ‘relaxed’ “its just hair” crew – who’s straight, easy to handle, socially and culturally accepted hair do, do you think you’ve been assimilating/appropriating?
Could it be because your natural state has been described (by your own people and others) as too difficult, not attractive, too radical, not business appropriate, low class and not feminine.
And Jaden – Be careful of who you associate yourself with, they may like your look, your music or your style, but they don’t want to know your history . Wealth won’t shield you from the inherent bigotry of people. It’s a lesson all of us have to learn eventually.
Preach Dee and JB!
@Dee, yep. They all want to be a BLACK WOMAN, but they don’t want to BE a black woman. #everythingbuttheburden.
So, we’re fighting over hair styles now? A white woman can’t wear cornrows because it’s a black hairstyle? And really, does anyone think Kylie should be a spokesperson for anything?
If it was “just hair” would Kylie have felt the urge to write “woke up like diss”, instead of “this”?
Well what about black women who STRAIGTEN their hair? Is that a white style? No race owns a style. Kylie can wear her hair however she chooses. It is HER hair, no one elses.
You’re missing the point. You should search for the video “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows.” Then maybe you would get what Amandla is saying.
She won’t. She’ll just pout and be frustrated because outside of her view of the world ‘it’s just hair!’. Let’s face it for black women in a country where you can still be fired for wearing ‘just hair!’ it’s not a silly little thing for us, its a symptom of a larger problem.
People of any color can be fired if they dye their hair blue or put up a mowhawk or come in with a head full of braids… Can anyone see the reality that the point isn’t ALWAYS the fricken skin color? Many professional positions require a person to present themselves as neutral, someone plain, not as some sparkly butterfly that is distracting and attention getting. It doesn’t matter if your white, black, brown or purple, certain things just don’t fly in a board room.
And in this case – This girl wanted to do this and did. She thought it looked cute. For those who instantly think about their own skin color as soon as they see someone else’s hair style… I can’t even.
mytbean, your comment shows that you don’t understand how cornrows can become a necessity for black people in order for them to save time/money on grooming natural black hair. Dying your hair blue or putting it in a mohawk isn’t comparable. Saying that black hairstyles is “distracting” and “attention getting” places it in direct comparison to white hairstyles and implies that natural black hair is of lower class, lower status than white hair. If hair is “just hair,” black people should have no problem attending board meetings with locs, cornrows or afros because their hairstyle shouldn’t detract from the work they do in the office.
That being said, i am not black and do not have experience with black hair texture, grooming, etc. If someone else wants to take over the conversation and impart more accurate knowledge and experiences, you are more than welcome to!
Ugh my comment didn’t post but tifzlan has said it exactly.
You’re comparing an unnatural color and hairstyle to a natural hair and its protective style. Not the same thing but indicative of how uninformed you are on the subject.
Mytbean, there is a HUGE difference between dying your hair blue and wearing your hair the way it naturally grows out of your head, like a fro or locs. And wearing braids because it keeps your hair healthy and cuts back on tangles as opposed to just wearing it as fashion and stating “I woke up like dis.” If you can’t see the difference I have no clue what else to say to you.
How old are you, Mytbean? How on earth does wearing your hair as it naturally occurs make you a ‘sparkly special butterfly’?
i so agree with you, i am African and i don’t see anything wrong with a white person wearing cornrows… Americans want to act like they are Africans..u r not…stop fighting a battle we didn’t ask you to fight.
I think it’s not really the problem.
The “cultural appropriation” is an american concept and issue and finally it only concerns american people.
Black american are not africans and certainly can’t speak for african people. There’s very little in common between black american people and african people.
I am African too but I understand why this is problematic. Isnt the Kardashians whole gimmick that they have features predominantly associated with black women but packaged in sanitized white skin? Then you hear the media going on and on about their body types like they invented the shape, funny I dont recall hearing mainstream media talking about how sexy Janet Jacksons or Tina Turners or Josephine Bakers bums were.
Its the same thing playing out here with this fall out. Even in my country, where people like me are the majority, cornrows are considered “backward” and you most certainly wouldnt go to a job interview in them. That is the legacy of colonialism. The only way you would be instagraming your cornrows would be if you added braiding fibre to the plaiting so that the cornrows looked longer and smoother. There is serious race politics at play when it comes to plaiting black hair. And this idiot doesnt even seem to know this. She is wading in with a “and this is HOW its done” attitude completely unaware that this is exactly the aesthetic thats made it impossible to apply the same hair style my grandmother wore and still get that office job.
Also just to add that just because I ,as an African, am not living the experiences of a black American does not mean that I have any business dismissing those experiences. My place is to learn to empathise with people whos shoes I have not walked in.
Chichi! Exactly!
You said it so well and I agree with your experiences as an African as well.
Thank you ChiChi.
Chichi: YES to everything you said.
I love that Kylie was called out, because ALL of the women in that family are guilty of appropriating black culture. Maybe once upon a time Kim only dated black men because she was actually attracted to them, but it has become a huge joke at this point as the rest of her family only dates and associates with black people. It isn’t just because they relate better to black people or because they’re more attracted to them, it’s because they enjoy the image and the status and the “credibility” it gives them, and YES, that is racist behavior. Khloe has no white female friends. Khloe, Kendall and Kylie hang out in the same circles as Amber Rose and Blac Chyna and make no bones about the fact that they think they’re better than Amber and Chyna because they’re white–This became evident when Khloe and Amber had it out on Twitter. They think because they sleep with black men and have black friends that they’re not racist, but what they do is type A racist behavior.
+ 10000 Bella. Great comment. This hairstyle wouldn’t be so loaded if Kylie didn’t come from a family of women who have spent many years and dollars trying to purchase the features that many ladies of color are born with. A family of women who have spent a long time treating black men like commodities, enjoying the status that comes along with these men but completely wasting the opportunity to use their platform to bring attention to the needs of the black community. I’m glad she’s being called out, too.
I have to kinda disagree with both of you. They just want black husbands and boyfriends to be relevant. This isn’t racist, it is just plain nonsense because these people have no sense. The cultural appropriation in the Urban Culture is beyond disbelief. I think Amanda is a very bright girl and she should give up acting and take herself through college and be a professor our something. But white people want to be black for profit has been going on the 5 decades, when rock and roll was invented by white people who stole black people music. And I didn’t mind that when white people wants to share the same struggles as us black people when we struggle but use ore culture whether be it food, music or lifestyle we have as a symbol for us as human beings to be hip and cool is just plain wrong. But this has been going on for years.
I find it gross how this family fetishize black culture and people.
@Kiki, I hear you and I get what you’re saying but like @jammypants said, as a family, they fetishize black culture and people and I personally consider that to be racist behavior. I think with with arts, such as rock & roll as you mentioned, it’s more of being influenced or even inspired by black culture–note how bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were highly influenced by the blues and went on to make covers of classic blues songs by Robert Johnson and others…I consider that to be a case of being inspired by black culture; those men idolized the African American blues musicians. In this instance, these women have what seems to be a fetish for black culture. I mean even their mother, a woman who has had relationships exclusively with white men is dating an African American man now and one really has to wonder, does it have anything at all with him being someone she was attracted to without color being considered, or did she purposely choose him because of his color? It has become a “shtick” for them. Khloe got some heat for posting a picture of herself and her 2 sisters that said, “The only KKK that lets black men in.” It’s become a big joke and I think that’s really gross.
These women choose their partners and their friends purposely because of their skin tone, and this is not seeing past race, it is looking directly at race. They like the attention it garners them. I find it disturbing that they hang in the same circles as Amber Rose and Blac Chyna yet they have been pretty vocal that they believe themselves to be better than these women. This is white privilege; they get to associate with black people and yes, appropriate black culture, but when it comes down to it, they can say, “I’m better than you because I’m white and rich.”
These two likely know each personally (the Smith and the Jenner kids run in the same circle). This sounds like a discussion they’ve had more than once, not just someone nitpicking a single Instagram picture.
Mountain out of a mole hill, nothing to see here move along.
That wasn’t what I was saying here at all. In fact, I think people are trying to turn the mountain INTO a molehill.
AGREE!!!!
You don’t get to decide what other groups of people should be racially sensitive about. If you don’t see it then move along.
You also don’t get to decide how people wear their hair. Fight the double standard and racist bans of perfectly acceptable hair styles in the workplace, military, and schools. But nobody owns hair and nobody owns a type of braid. It just doesn’t work that way regardless of history. Focus on the real issues and don’t get side-tracked.
Your comment is perfect for the practice of *it goes both ways*
+1. I think she’s got good intentions but she (Amandla) is going to figure out that nobody likes someone telling everyone how they should look. Here’s why I don’t think cornrows (like chopsticks in the hair) are a worthy example of cultural appropriation:
1) hairstyles are STYLES. Styles are aesthetic; they’re not features that can’t be altered. Even black hair can be ironed straight, but people can’t change their features. Imitating someone’s features–like making your eyes look slanted at the Chinese-themed Met Gala–is akin to blackface, regardless of your intentions. But imitating an aesthetic choice–like thin slanted eyebrows or red eye makeup–is just a cultural reference (and not one that’s shrouded in a painful historical context). So what.
2) To me, cornrows are not Native American headdresses. Native Americans have had their culture deliberately and almost fully dismantled. By reasserting ownership over the headdress, they’re reclaiming a fraction of the dignity lost in that wrong. Cornrows will never be a commonplace white girl hairstyle, and they’re not a dignified cultural symbol (if anything, they’ve always been looked on as the hairstyle of the poor and working classes). They’re a pragmatic hairstyle for kids and anyone with the hair suited for it.
3. You can’t tell people what they can and can’t do with their hair. Shaving your head–classic AFRICAN hairstyle for women. Yet there will always be white women who shave their heads, not because they’re appropriating a culture but because they want to shave their heads.
I get where Amandla is coming from, but she’s better off directing her attention to the NYT–not Kylie. Incidentally, you could call Eminem the world’s biggest appropriator of black culture. But is that a fair assessment, when it is the culture he was raised in? The United States *is* a melting pot, after all. If people aren’t aiming to parody or ignorantly perpetuating the degradation cultural objects/negative connotations, then I really don’t see the problem. Is Amandla the black culture police? Who says you get to tell everyone which cultural lane they belong in, forever and ever amen?
Also, later Amandla writes about how dismantling black women to various body parts intersects with oppression. I hate to break it to her, but ALL women are subject to this. The oppression might manifest differently when applied to black women but the wrong is the same, and it’s one that ALL women have to confront. So maybe Amandla should ponder her feminismsmsmsms a little more.
Looking at the pics I feel like she also has a growing ass of lies – I never noticed it until now
What is it with this family?
As in her arse looks bigger..? I really think it does too!! Maybe it’s a more modern version of pinocchio, the more lies they tell the bigger there arses get…? The real horror here is the velvet 2 piece thingy she is wearing.
Kim always said her rear size was because of her Armenian side, but Kylie has no “excuse” for it aside from injections, implants, whatever it is this week.
She had her butt done a few months ago. It just popped up out of nowhere on her Instagram. The girl is all plastics and injections at this point, and she hasn’t even turned 18 yet.
And she looks hard and about 15 years older than she is. Kylie could easily pass for pushing 30. Very disturbing. I think she has body dysmorphic disorder.
^^all of this. And in the first pic is that her bathroom? And does her personal bathroom have professional lighting?? (all that stuff in the background).
Whoa, good observation. Figures that she would have professional lighting since her whole existence is based around selfies and Instagram. I feel more sorry for her every day and I mean that sincerely. What a vapid, ridiculous life.
As much as I don’t like Kylie, this cultural appropriation thing is tiring.
Cultures evolve by cultural appropriation since the beginning of humanity.
It’s just an haircut, it’s not offensive by itself, give it a rest.
Agree, Funnybunny. Not to defend a Kardashian but I don’t think any harm was meant. It’s not like she was in blackface.
Completely agree with you. No one cries racism when Beyonce lightens her hair to blonde and straightens it—because it’s just a freakin’ hairstyle! Much ado about absolutely nothing, Amandla. And I never thought I’d defend a Kardashian…
Because when black women straighten their hair, it is to assimilate into white culture which often has to be done to be successful in this society. Natural black hair is deemed unprofessional, not as attractive, etc.
THANK YOU @JUliet. Glad you said it so I don’t have to. If a black woman showed up to an interview wearing her natural hairstyle or cornrows, she’d immediately be shown the door. Now, if Kylie had any education or any desire to actually work at something in her life and wore her cornrows to her job interview, then I’d pay attention.
OMG no. We straighten our hair because often times its a knock against us (one of MANY). Luckily that is slowly changing as many people are going natural
Its appropriation when Kylie gets an Elle article about how braids are IN yet in the same breath will knock a black girl for rocking them. When urban outfitters sells barrettes I grew up wearing ($0.50 stuff) and touts it as the newest accessory and sells them for a ridiculous amount. When people wear headdresses for cover shoots without knowing that they are a symbol of pride and are EARNED in the native american culture…appropriation.
Amandla did a great video for school on it…I would recommend everyone watching it
@Juliet, you’re so right. I have a friend who is an advocate for natural hair and started a very popular website on this subject and she has opened my eyes to so much on this subject.
@KJB – it’s unfair to use Beyonce as an example at all because truth be told, her light skintone and her “white” features have largely contributed to her success. I’m a white woman and I think we’re all kidding ourselves if we’re going to try to deny that society doesn’t treat light skinned black women (as well as men, but that’s a different topic) differently. Society has accepted Beyonce and her star has been able to rise astronomically largely in part because of the fact that she wears her hair blonde and straight and she is light skinned with white features. Lena Horne got the same pass, and was quoted as saying, “I was the kind of black that white people could accept.”
The problem here in this debate is that yes, the race card does get pulled a bit too frequently at times, but this is not an instance where that applies. The argument of “oh please, enough of this. I’m so tired of this being said” is invalid. Pretty much ALL of society is kinder to black women if they’re light skinned and fair featured. There is no excusing some young white girl who wants to be viewed as “hood” running around with her hair in cornrows and writing “I woke up like DIS” from the comfort of her Calabasas gated community knowing that she can rest easily knowing that she doesn’t actually have to deal with the issues that come along with being a black woman. It’s gross and a very ugly thing that the Kardashian women are so guilty of.
As a matter of fact, Khloe is currently getting heat for posting a picture of herself today wearing a hat that says “Compton” on it. They need to stop their bullsh*t. It isn’t OK to appropriate black culture or even poverty because they think it gives them some sort of street credibility. I’m sure the people in Compton who have to worry about sky high crime rates and immense poverty love the fact that some rich white woman without a clue is “repping.”
The question that NEEDS to be asked is what is their obsession with this? Why do they find it necessary to do this? What are they hoping to gain? If less people would defend them, they would be forced to answer this question and I think they really need to.
Perfectly stated Bella. Beyonce succeeded because she appealed to the group of people who decides who the stars will be. She had all the right qualities and she worked them.
No. When Beyonce lightens her her, it is because she is told that it will help her “crossover”. Basically that she will be more successful if she looks “accessible” to her White audience. It’s a common thing in that industry. The same thing with the straightening. Also, I’m pretty sure that when people think of blond hair, they are more likely to think of Taylor Swift, not Beyonce. And I have never known a of any woman that looks like me that has colored her hair blonde being told that her hair was beautiful, soft-looking, feminine on her, and ugly, to harsh, or unattractive on a White woman. Understand?? Blonde hair is genetically specific to White, Northern/Western European and Scandinavian women. It is her, and she has “owned” it (I’m mean in pop cultural speak) from it’s beginning.
Even brunette and red haired women of her/your own people envy it and change their hair to fit that standard of beauty. She has never had any other women where it on her head because it has always belonged to her with no shame or stigma attached to it. It is the thing that made her unique, defined her aesthetic. Made her the ultimate symbol of beauty and femininity among her people, and eventually, the world. Like I said, when you think blonde, you more than likely think of a White woman, not Beyonce. And that is okay. You have never had another woman be told that your blonde hair looks better on her head. And there lies the problem.
It’s not just about hair. It’s identity. And until all of my race and the children in my race can look at their hair and not be ashamed of it, and are able to wear it like anyone else, then yes, it is inappropriate. That love of self needs to start with us, not you.
Hey, you know what’s also tiring?
1. Being told that your natural black hair is “dirty” and “unprofessional” and having to perm and straighten it just to able to go to work…. but seeing it lauded on a non black person.
2. Being called “sniper dot” because of the bindi on your head… but seeing it sold by Urban Outfitters and paraded around by non-Desi people at Coachella as something cool and edgy.
3. Being called terrorist and towel head because of the hijab you wear…. but used as a Halloween costume as “ISIS” every year and having people laugh at your expense.
4. Being treated as fifth-class citizens in your own homeland… but seeing sacred cultural items like your headdress and war bonnet used in “high fashion” photoshoots and runway shows.
And a billion, trillion other things that non-white people can’t do when it’s their own culture because it’s negatively viewed on us but compleeetely okay, acceptable and even praised for when a white person does it.
Yeah. Being exploited is tiring too.
^I wonder why more people don’t understand this.
@tifzlan -I need to give you ALL the praise this morning.
Nailed it.
Beautifully said. I was also of the opinion, “it’s just a hairstyle…so what?” But this comment clearly states what I was obviously failing to grasp.
Thank you.
Tifzlan, I hope everyone reads your comment. Thanks for weighing in and doing it so perfectly.
Yes! I’m glad you said this. I’m natural and get so many “comments” about my hair on a daily basis. If it’s “just hair,” that wouldn’t happen.
@tifzlan
This was spot on.
You have explained the issue perfectly.
Mm. This is the truth.
Thank you so much for articulating this better than I could. Some of this comments in this post are so infuriating it’s making my head hurt. I am just further convinced that no matter how “enlightened ” some people claim to be they will never understand, nor do they care to.
@Tifzlan you are my hero
I’m white and there are some times I see people stretching to make a cultural appropriation argument but I see Amandla’s point here:
While, yes, “it’s only hair” BUT there have been many cases where a black child with the same hair style as a white child in the same school/class has been suspended from school/kicked out of class for “inappropriate hair style/nonconformity to dress code” and black people are often given crap for wearing their hair naturally. There are two sides to the “it’s only hair” argument and it seems that when a white person says it as a defense for something like this, it should be accepted but when a black person says it after being on the receiving end of the “it’s a distraction” argument, it’s not accepted.
The tone of Jenner’s picture and caption to the selfie seems to be more of the appropriation line than hey think I pull this off or dig my new style. Her response to Stenberg’s comment is even worse. and who the hell is mad if she doesn’t wear cornrows or something similar?
Yes, she’s a kid and making mistakes in public in a way most kids don’t but she’s an entitled one making a living out of putting herself out there this way
Thank you all for reading my comment. Some of what has been posted here has infuriated me too. It’s not “just hair” or “just” anything when people are being racially profiled, discriminated against and even killed for wearing cornrows, locs, hijabs, bindis, do-rags, and other cultural signifiers that are seen as negative on us POC but hip on white people. Some people are literally dying because of these things! But hey, it’s just hair and Kylie’s a trendsetter right?
Right on!
@Tofzlan thank you.
Beautifully said.
THIS. I feel this all the time.
You knock it out of the park every single time tifzlan!
Nailed it. Thank you. It is so frustrating to see people not understanding this issue, claiming people are being too sensitive, not understanding why “such a fuss is being made over hair”. It shows a clear lack of deep thought on the issue. I went to Kylie’s IG page and put in my two cents, a majority of the people were making such inane comments, so frustrating.
GOD, YES!
@tifzlan I’m not sure if you are Indian or not. Your comment doesn’t specify. Can I ask a question? Have any of you, no matter what color worn human hair extensions? Indian hair extensions? Does anyone here know where it comes from? A hint – it comes from a temple where a woman or in many cases child made a sacrifice to the gods of shaving their hair.
Lilian, i’m not Indian but i am Malay (native Malaysian and all) and Muslim. I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at with your comment though.
@Tifzian
Thank you. This really explained it for me.
You are Muslim, so are u appropriating Hindu culture by wearing a bindi? U know a Bindi is a religious symbol right? So that would actually go beyond cultural appropriation. As for the hair, to wear the hair that someone has sacrificed to a deity at a temple also goes beyond cultural appropriation. Would you want your religious sacrifice used as an ornament? If u say u didn’t know any of this, how are u any different then the Kylie’s of the world? My point is people with glass houses.
Lilian, what? I don’t wear a bindi. I don’t have my hair in locs. I don’t wear weaves. I think you misunderstood my point? I’m… really confused right now….
EDIT: My country’s racial dynamics is also very different from that of America’s. In my country, culture is fluid. Before you say i’m being hypocritical, understand that appropriation as understood in the US cannot be wholly applied to the Malaysian context because of the absence of white supremacy. All of us – Malays, Chinese, Indians, indigenous communities – were colonized and similarly oppressed by the British. Hence, me wearing a sari or a cheongsam, or my Indian friend wearing a baju kurung does not have the same implications as a white person wearing bindis, war bonnets or dreadlocs.
But again, i have never and would never wear a bindi for fun, for vanity, for trendiness, for a reason other than if my Indian friend had a wedding and i was a bridesmaid or something like that, and it was ABSOLUTELY required of me. I’ve seen this happen at cross-cultural weddings in my country. BUT AGAIN, this is occurring in a country where the racial dynamics are very different from countries where white supremacist ideals are still very much firmly entrenched in society. I agree that co-opting religious symbols go beyond cultural appropriation. I’m still confused by your comment.
She never said she wore a bindi. If you read the comment again, you’ll see that she is using examples from several different groups. The black hair, probably African American, I’m thinking. The bindi, Hindu. The hijab, Muslim. The war bonnet, indigenous Americans.
@Lilian – oh, so you’re speaking for all Indians now?
I am Indian, and btw bindis are not always sacred and ‘for Hindus only’ in India. There’s a big difference between the vermillion/sandalwood paste markings worn by Hindu married women or people performing religious ceremonies, and the little sticker sheets full of glue-on bindis that women might stick to their foreheads as the finishing touch to a traditional outfit.
The sticker bindis are just fashion accessories, and we think non-Indian people who wear them with western clothes look like idiots. Not offensive, but they definitely give me secondhand embarrassment.
Hell yeah, to everything you said.
I’m South African and we have a melting pot of religions and culture here and it’s shocking to me what people consider cultural. A lot of Americans would not know African Culture if it slapped them on the head. Culture itself is fluid, we mix and we learn from one another and we adapt. If people are taunting you for something like cornrows then they are racist. You are being racist by telling someone they can’t do their hair in a certain way because you think your race owns the hairstyle? Fight the actual racists! Trust me, I know a little about racism. @teacakes I never mentioned what race I was.
Lilian, you’re just being purposely obtuse now. Plenty of comments here have explained why this isn’t cultural exchange or adaptation or whatever positive thing you think it is. Lots of people here know a thing or two about racism too.
Thank you for saying this!
@tifzlan Well said!!! I’m kind of horrified by all the privileged people who refuse to understand the issue here. Thanks for clearly explaining cultural appropriation.
Obtuse no. You on the other hand are being racist by telling someone what they can and cannot do with their own hair because of the color of her skin. Racism is very simple concept and unfortunately it does work both ways.
Lilian, clearly you did not read my comment. I’m telling someone they can’t EXPLOIT other people’s cultures and benefit from it – whether financially, through “street cred” or cheap laughs – because THAT’S appropriation. It’s a simple concept and unfortunately, some people choose to ignore the myriad of very well thought-out posts here explaining why Kylie Jenner wearing cornrows is offensive. She CAN choose to do it all she wants but it’s still offensive and upsetting. Sooo.. obtuse, yes.
Oh, @Lillian, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Please take your “racism goes both ways” elsewhere, like TMZ or Fox News. Not here. Not now. Not even close. No.
@pinky I’m from South Africa. I lived in America for a while but I’ve never watched Fox News so I have no idea what that has to do with anything.
A hairstyle that has been used for thousands of years because of its convenience is not a culture. A lot of races braid their hair. Appropriation does happen, this is not it.
Yes!!!^^^^all of that and more.
Having long hair and being asked if it’s weave because Black hair doesn’t grow that long.
Having straighter hair and being asked if you’re mixed because Black hair is ALL kinky and coiled…the list does go on and it’s not pulling the card, its just ignorant.
I woke up like disses because all Black people speak like that. And people don’t see the problem unless it’s blackface or something as blatant as that? Wow.
Tifz you just laid it out.
NICE!
I know I am a day late on this, but was told to read this thread on the other newer thread and saw this comment and I had to respond. I understand and agree with your sentiments it isn’t fair or right that people are abused for their culture while white people are applauded for the same thing. Aside from the racist and anti-semetic along with others learning not to discriminate, isn’t it better to have some of these cultural styles appear more mainstream so more people feel comfortable wearing these styles. I realize a lot of African American women have straightened their hair or colored it more caucasian colors to be more accepted, but some have done it because this is what the media and others have defined as beautiful or they think it is beautiful too. The reality is America is still a white male centered society, but it is rapidly changing to more mult-ethnic. Right now the multi-ethnic have the numbers, but not the power in business or politics. I just feel that once we all start accepting all cultural preferences as a country we all will be better.
Okay!!! That was better said and shorter. Made me feel like taking my comment down. Thanks.
Kylie looks so much like Kim now.
And that should be the real issue here, IMO. How much work have her parents let her have? It’s shameful.
If she has had that much work done to her body before she is even eighteen , what will she look like by the time she is thirty? Just sad
they will all look like the jacksons before they are 40
Agreed. If I’d read this first, I would have posted my comment (below) here.
I was thinking about that, but how can her parents tell her no. I mean, look at all the surgery they have had over the years. I will say that it is good work, overall.
Bo Derek did corn rows before anyone. See movie 10. This whole current craze for cultural appropriation rules and regulations is divisive and unnecessary. It’s about this is mine and you can’t have it. Let’s move past division.
Lol so africans who were were cornrows in 500 b.c jist simply didn’t exist? Gotcha.
Apparently those women were merely channeling Bo’s magnificent spirit, eye roll.
Frankly, I couldn’t care less about her wearing cornrows as it’s a hairstyle women have worn for thousands of years around the world. I’m more concerned about her “waking up like ‘diss'” and the dress/pose she struck … and perhaps Amandla Stenberg felt the same, because she talked about ‘black features and culture’ rather than the hair. At least, that’s how I read her comment.
Before anyone?? African women have been wearing cornrows for hundreds of years.
LMAO…are you SERIOUS? Cornrows have been around forever…Bo Derek didn’t invent it.
Hahaha! Oh dear….
Bo is the first white famous person to wear cornrows, is what I believe Susan is saying
Bo Derek’s cornrows were the first I ever saw when I was a child.
When I see cornrows, I think of a hairstyle. Not a culture.
Perhaps that is bad of me, but I see the woman – not her heritage in that hairstyle.
So Kylie wearing them, or Bo Derek wearing them, or Amandla wearing them, or even Monica from Friends wearing them is all the same to me.
“It’s about this is mine and you can’t have it”
Well, that’s a complete oversimplification of a very complex issue. But even if it was about certain cultures retaining ownership of clothing styles, hair styles, symbols, words, whatever, why is that such a big deal? Why must some white people take everything for themselves? How hard is it to accept that some things do not belong to our culture?
Cause there’s nothing like exclusive ownership in culture.
One of the biggest mosque in Istanbul is a former cathedral. Civilisation and sociaties evolve with migrations, trades and sometimes invasions and wars.
If you look at the Humanity history in its arts, music and architecture, you can always see how cultures influence each others all the time.
Even in the language, each language adopt words of other cultures.
If there’s an exclusive ownership on culture, cultures won’t evolve anymore and will suffocate.
There’s a thin line between fighting racism and deny the right to culture to evolve cause it “offends” people.
The problem, Freebunny, is that you’re thinking very much like a westerner and westerners in particular have a history of imposing our culture on others and taking what we want in return like “Here have this and I’ll take that from you”. That’s not sharing, that’s theft. An important difference between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange (and admittedly, there’s some overlap) is that cultural exchange is MUTUAL and it is RESPECTFUL.
Western ideals invite/demand that people assimilate and embrace our culture, but not every culture wants that. Not every culture wants to be absorbed and diluted. That’s how the “taking” occurs and it’s not mutual, it’s not respectful, it’s cultural looting.
There is no definition of culture. Go ahead, you can try. Thousands have and even the brightest of the bright have no been able to agree upon a absolute answer to the meaning. I agree, from my viewpoint as an archaeologist and anthropologist, with statements from both of your opinions. You may want to consider that ‘culture’, if you are going to use it as a defining trait of humanity, only truly exists because of divisions within each certain society; wealth, attractiveness, social mobility etc. Culture mixes, it will always mix. That is how we have come to be as humans today. There is no moral way to prevent culture from flowing, take the Japanese attempts to cut themselves off from the rest of the world not so long ago. Cultures should not put each other down but they should also not be prevented from naturally evolving in a positive way. It is also a little ridiculous to place ‘white culture’ and ‘black culture’ into two boxes and never open them. We all know how diverse and incredible human nature and culture s are, so why is the US so hellbent on only having two in their country? It is simply not possible to shoehorn on that level, not to mention highly inappropriate and detrimental to the whole cause.
People often find me confusing. I was born in Nairobi to white parents, grew up living within East African culture (as much as I could have done), moved to London to study and now work mainly in Uganda, helping to encourage young people there to engage with their heritage. I do not pretend that I know their culture, but I ensure that I have as good a grounding as I can before engaging so that I do not act insensitively. This is something we should all try to do. I will never forget being asked why I was white many times when people discovered my place of birth. Thats just another level of ignorance, or outright racism.
First, it’s not only westerner thing.
Then western is a wrong concept as many european despise “american imperialism”.
As much as I understand the need to defend local cultures, the concept of “don’t touch my culture in any way” is frightening and dangerous.
There’s a balance to find, but people can’t freeze cultures in their so-called purity.
What kind of world would it be if artist or scientist could not take inspiration from elsewhere?
In other words, cultural melting pot is not only a form of colonialism or racism (it can be), it’s also a way for societies to progress.
The term “Western” applies to countries whose history is strongly marked by European immigration, colonisation, and influence, such as the continents of the Americas and Australasia, and is not restricted to the continent of Europe. So yes, my comment still stands.
We’re not talking about an artist or a scientist “taking inspiration from elsewhere”. In this case, we’re talking specifically about westerners’ proclivity for stealing cultural symbols that our society has historically used to marginalize or stigmatize a culture and making them into a fashion statement or a Halloween costume. Using someone else’s cultural attire as a form of self-expression is an exercise in privilege, end of.
@Oh-Cultures are not all interchangeable though. The US has our own unique history of racism and as such, we have to approach cultural appropriation within the necessary framework that acknowledges our historical oppression of black people. It doesn’t have to be a divider, but as a society we need to listen to each other. That’s how we evolve-through acknowledging and validating the feelings of those who feel marginalized. It doesn’t happen through willful ignorance and a sense of entitlement.
@Freebunny: Um, since you mention the Hagia Sofia … ask a Greek person about that one. Or Istanbul in general. They’re not over it and don’t necessarily agree with your view on “That’s just what happens, it’s human history.”
Nobody is saying “Don’t touch my culture”. People are trying to point out that exchange is not the same as picking and choosing the aspects of a minority culture you like but still trying to keep that culture down. That’s not okay. Ever.
As a non-American I sometimes have difficulties grasping the specifics of “American racism” (I do think there’s a specific form of racism in the U.S. but correct me if I’m wrong), cultural appropriation etc. because I’ve never lived there. But even I can see from a mile away that this Instagram pic + caption screams cluelessness. Which brings me to my main point. She’s a little Kardashian. HOW was she ever going to turn out differently?
I know the story of Hagia Sofia but at the end Hagia Sofia is today a mosquee, it’s an objective result.
And you’re right, cultural appropraition is a very specific american problem.
Other countries would call it US imperialism, they’re less affraid to see USA appropriate their culture than to see their culture disappearing under the Coca-Cola, fast food restaurants and marvel movies wave.
” People are trying to point out that exchange is not the same as picking and choosing the aspects of a minority culture you like but still trying to keep that culture down. That’s not okay. Ever. ”
Well said!
I don’t like the melting pot idea, either. At best it would be more of a gumbo. Multiculturalism means we can all try to get along and find our place but still preserve our respective histories and cultures. If it you melt it down and homogenize it, look at what you’ve lost.
Thanks for holding it down again, Kitten.
@Susan1 Are you for real? That’s the most ridiculous thing said on here in awhile. Bo Derek got the idea of cornrows from Black women who had been wearing them for years way before Derek.
That’s like saying the singer Blondie was the one who invented rap.
Well, it wasn’t Blondie who invented rap but a white Italian singer named Adriano Celentano. The original song is called Prisencolinensinainciusol. V4Real, a little knowledge goes a long way when you want to make your point 😉
@An-I’m not religious, but I can only pray that this is sarcasm.
(in which case LOL that’s a good one!)
Rap originated with griots (West African singers/storytellers) not some Italian dude.
@An No. Try again. He did not invent rap. You might want to educate yourself on the history of rap.
@An. Did you just try to think you were educating me but failed miserably. You just got schooled so bad that you dropped out based on your non comment after the facts smacked you dead in the face.
Also if you understood what you read you would know that I never said who invented rap. I just said that’s like saying Blondie invented rap. But I get what you were trying to say without saying it. You were trying to make sure I knew Blacks didn’t create rap but you were wrong. I think you might want to take that advice and educate yourself on the history of rap. LOL……
I thought An was joking
I think it’s a joke.
I remember reading an article years ago about an episode of “Keeping up With the Kardashians” in which Bruce Kenner expressed his concern to Kris Kenner about the influence the older daughters–Kim, especially–might have over their two young daughters. It seems that one of their young daughters had developed a fondness for the Striper Pole in Kim’s bedroom. He told Kris he didn’t feel it was appropriate at their age, and Kris just laughed it off and said he was being an over-protective ‘paranoid’ Dad. Since Kylie seems determined to imitate Kim’s life right down to her a$$, it was probably her.
Not quite…I used to watch the earlier seasons of the show when I was in undergrad. It was actually about Kendall and Kylie who enjoyed spinning around on the pole that was actually in Kris and Bruce’s bedroom. I always felt like Bruce being upset was just a stupid plot line – the pole was in HIS bedroom. If he was upset about the girls using it, he should have just removed it.
The Stripper Pole was a gift from Kim (I just looked it up) and Kylie wore 3-inch heels to work out on the Pole . Sorry, I didn’t actually see the episode and I thought he complained because the girls were going into Kim’s room to use the Stripper Pole
http://jezebel.com/310859/kim-kardashians-9-year-old-sister-works-a-stripper-pole
It’s not about cornrows. It’s just another drop in the bucket for these people; whether you guys accept it or not the K clan have a long tradition of jacking traits from black women. Kim’s idiotic, self-hating, husband has more than one song where he makes not so subtle comments about dark skinned black women being inferior.
Also, the “I woke up like diss” didn’t tip ya’ll off?
I hate those “self-hating” arguments.
I don’t speak about Kanye cause I deeply don’t care about him, but the “self-hating” argument is too easy and dangerous.
When you dismiss your own culture as less than and attribute “positive” attributes to another culture, yeah, I’d say you’re “self-hating.”
Hating is such a big word.
I see to much people called “self-haters” when they just criticize their own “community” or don’t seem to support it enough.
Sometimes (and I don’t speak about kanye) it’s less self-hating than lucidity.
So what would you call it when Kanye said about Amber Rose, a stripper and ex-girlfriend, that he had to take 50 showers before he could be with Kim, a woman who released her sex tape on a porn website and gets money from it.
I agree self-hating can be thrown around a lot, but in Kanye’s case the word fits. He constantly insults and blames black people for things not working out for him, while gushing about white people who use him.
Nope. Around here, they’re too busy being dismissive to really notice any of that.
We ruin their white mornings with this race stuff, you guise!
Lol, this is why I hate reading the comments here sometimes. Like, if white people don’t think it’s an issue or it’s not blatant enough to say “that’s f*ucked up”, then people are being “too PC” or making a big deal over nothing. Just because you refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem or you don’t see the problem, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
People are getting really defensive about things that have nothing to do with them and then refuse to listen to the reason why people are having a problem with this.
Truth be told I think your comment is the most accurate one. It’s like a thorn in someone’s side disrupting what once was a peaceful process of using and abusing. Now there’s a fight, a kick, it must really suck for them. Too bad, our voices are being heard and we are never giving up.
And just what is a “white morning”? This is the part that bugs me. I’m working on getting it. That cornrows are deeply significant for black culture. That racism is not dead, that microaggression is present and incredibly damaging. And many other things. I’m trying to figure out how to behave in the new world without offending people and trying to check my own biases. And then I see these posts about this monolithic white culture. And yeah, I know I’m benefitting from it. But just like blackness defines you but is not the only thing that defines you, it becomes hard to listen and learn when people start from talking about a “white morning”. And I’m not remotely gonna play the reverse racism card because that’s just ridiculous. But how should this discussion go on from here?
Yes, the cornrows are not the problem. It’s a hairstyle with many meanings to some and no meaning to others, people are allowed to play with their hair. It’s actually a very convenient hairstyle, easy to keep clean and comfortable to sleep on, and the time it takes to put it together is gained back in the relatively easy maintenance. Plus it looks elegant.
But her comment… Yeah, she was playing black. Clueless child.
@Kopi …
Yep, I don’t think it’s about the hair at all. I think it’s the pose and the “woke up like ‘diss'” that drew the comment from Amandla Stenberg. She doesn’t mention ‘hair’ anywhere in her statement.
The “woke up like dis” is a major elephant in the room here. Thanks for bringing it up.
I don’t know how saying “dis” is cultural appropriation. I know that saying “dis, dat, dese, dem, dose” is not specific to one ethnicity. I get that for Kylie it probably is, but I know where I grew up in South Philly, where there’s a history of a majority of Italian immigrants, we all grew up saying “th” like d. Same as in Little Italy in NY. I don’t think that Kylie has that accent, so in her case, it could be an elephant in the room, but some of us non-POC grew up talking like that, too.
I Know, but I also don’t think she was trying to imitate an Italian-American
I agree, as stated above.
Amandla is 100% on point here. I’m sure many people won’t get it. Mostly because they dont want to.
I agree.
I’m genuinely asking so please do not take offense. Are only white not allowed to wear “black” styles? Can Asian women? Can First Nations of Australia? I genuinely want to know where the line is. Also, why doesn’t that work in reverse- “white” music and styles and designs? It’s so insane how slippery the issue gets. I don’t see why anyone wants to make this an issue when the same logic applied in any other direction doesn’t get met with the same reaction.
Piña Colada, to answer your question, it is an issue when black women adopt certain styles or imagery of European culture. I’ll stick with the subject of hair…how often do we hear stories of black women being derided for wearing blonde hair/wigs because that’s not a color natural to our race (although I was born with blonde hair and I’m not of immediate mixed race heritage). Recently there was a black waitress for Hooters (an American restaurant chain) who sued and won a case for this exact issue. So unfortunately it does go both ways.
PinaColada, I’m not offended at all. Thanks for asking. See Tifzlan’s comment above and also Daisyfly’s down below. They put it more succinctly than I ever could.
Amandla has a point, but there’s no point in having an argument with a Kardashian, it’s like talking to a wall.
This!!!
Good grief! Go after Beyonce then for straightening and lightening her hair. I don’t know who this girl is but she definitely falls into the category of young and stupid.
@Sabrine You do realize black women traditionally straightened their hair in order to be seen as more acceptable by society. Black hair in it’s natural state is still considered unkempt and unprofessional. So no it’s no the same Beyonce straightening her hair.
There’s a world of difference here. It has to do with an imbalance of political and social power.
The point, people, is that something that is often viewed as inappropriate for one group of people is being used by another and they’re, in contrast, receiving compliments and praise for it. The example argument is already there in the OP how Amandla was derided for her locks while Kylie was praised for hers. The black girl was criticized for a hairstyle that is part of her ethnic heritage while the white girl was praised for wearing the exact same hairstyle.
To some of you it is just a hairstyle but to others it’s yet another item in the long list of things that prove how unequal and prejudiced society is.
Thank you. It’s just that simple.
No one praises (at least here) Kylie for her hairstyle, at best people (like me) don’t think it’s a big deal.
There’s a difference between praising someone and saying that what she did is not a big issue.
And I didn’t see anyone derided Amandla for her hairstyle too.
Kylie change her hairstyle or hair color and even eye color every day, she’s not the new Rachel Dolezal.
We get it already. You and your white privilege want to decree that there is no valid issue here.
(But there is.)
A real valid issues are about black people being shot by police men, dozens of migrants dying every day in mediterraen sea or black men being massively in prison.
Check your priorities cause Kylie Jenner hairstyle of the day isn’t one.
@ Freebunny-It’s not your place to decide on what is/is not a valid issue for the black community, though.
Oh, so you’re going to educate me on what the valid issues are?
Whatever would we do without you to guide us through the darkness of our black ignorance?
@Freebunny Why is this always the go to response? People are capable of and allowed to be upset by more than one thing at once. Being upset about cultural appropriation doesn’t mean people don’t care about any other issue. Both are valid issues.
As much as I can see the obvious anger around Kylie Jenner hairstyle, it’s just Kylie Jenner’s hairstyle of the day.
I just think that in the fight for civil rights and against racism, Kylie Jenner hairstyle is (very) far to be a priority.
Fight for the right to have your hair as you like them, natural, straight, curly, blond, blue or pink, whatever you want but talking about Kylie Jenner’s “cultural appropriation” of the day, won’t make natural black hair more acceptable at the end of the day.
Isn’t the person to argue with, then, the one who compliments one girl and derides the other?
Then fight the double standard rather than telling non-Africans they can’t braid their hair the way they want. Yes, Kylie is a clueless uneducated child who thinks she’s not racist but really is. Amandla was not imagining it at all. But not every non-African who wears cornrows is another Kylie.
The hairstyle itself is a type of braiding, and people have been braiding their hair in various ways forever everywhere. Cornrow braids are even seen in prehistoric cave paintings. Although the style has remained especially popular in Africa and among people of African descent, I doubt very much that its use has ever been strictly confined to Africa. It’s too obvious a thing to try, and also even if it started in Africa there were many opportunities to spread. Europeans and Africans in the Mediterranean area have been interacting for ages (and humans actually started out in Africa) so I’m sure Europeans noticed it on people from across the sea at the very least. People from Africa and Europe also interacted with people in Asia fairly early, so that’s another conduit for sharing hairstyles. People have always copied styles they like, it’s a human thing.
But the double standard is real and involves more than the cornrow style. Schools and workplaces have even banned this beautiful and practical hairstyle for peculiar reasons that have their roots in racism. Those are the important hair battles to fight.
Ok, first let me say that I am neither white, nor black. Having said that, I can understand both sides of the argument. What I don’t like is the comments that feel like attacks on people that don’t share the same view. For me, it is just a hairstyle and there are bigger acts of cultural and religious inappropriate acts out there. For instance, as tiz stated, the dots Hindu women wear that I now see on a regular basis on both blacks and whites that are non-Desi. It irritates me to no end when I see some 18-24 year old sporting a skin dermal, or jewelry showing this. I also hate religious inappropriateness. I hate people whom wear rosaries as a fashion statement. I hate what the media portrays as Buddhist meditation, clanging a bowl and sitting there chanting out loud. Guess what? 90% of us Buddhist don’t do that and are taunt to meditate silently using beads and counting the beads individually as we do. I could keep going on a laundry list of both cultural and religious inappropriateness from many races, but a hairstyle is not on the top of my list. That doesn’t mean I dont get the issue, it just means I find more compelling arguments in my own opinion, other than cornrolls. If we want to argue about hairstyles, I’d be more inclined to talk about how Hollywood portrays those of any ethnic race and hair. Now that for me, is a bigger issue. Not some 17 year old drop outs hairstyle,that shouldn’t be anyone’s role model.
It’s cornrows, not cornrolls.
We’re all talking about Kylie Jenner as just a 17 year old, but unfortunately, she’s a 17 year old with a lot of influence. Have we forgotten the KylieJennerLipChallenge?
I’m the whitest white girl and I have to braid my stringy hair every night so as not to get tangles. Of course, I look like Pipi Longstocking. I’m not sure what to think of this mess because I am a privileged white woman. I will never walk in the shoes of a person of color. Neither will Kylie.
Miley Cyrus is another good example of that.
Ridiculous, non black people aren’t allowed to braid their hair now? How silly. We live in a global society where we are all influenced by each other and that’s how it should be. Not sticking everybody in colour coded boxes and demanding they follow the assigned narrow ‘culture’.
Yes that’s what I’ve taken from this thread of comments. If you’re white just be white, enjoy your “privilege” and don’t ever ever ever do, wear, or say anything that could ever possibly in any way offend anyone. As a matter of fact, spend all of your days making sure all of your actions are inoffensive in every way. Because as a white person you’re just a culturally appropriating moron who is born to be mean and racist. Walk on eggshells in fear, and be glad to walk on those eggshells of privilege.
Literally SO. MANY. PEOPLE. have explained how and why this is upsetting but if all you’re getting from this conversation is “YOU’RE PICKING ON WHITE PEOPLE, POOR US WHITE PEOPLE” then there’s no really no point to this whatsoever.
Sigh.
It’s not a huge effort to be inoffensive. It’s actually pretty easy.
You’ll be okay Joy, even if you’re frustrated right now just remember this world is built to cater to you and you’ll go skipping through your front door. You’re choosing to plug your ears and not hear and to be honest I respect that choice, some folks don’t want to look in the mirror.
Just step aside and let progress happen without you.
@Joy- Your words, not mine.
My comment from earlier today didn’t post, so I will weigh in once more. WOW – this thread has gotten totally we vs you or us vs them.
My original thought is that it’s hair! And black women straighten and color their hair, just as white women perm and color theirs. So are we never allowed to change anything lest we “appropriate” another color? And what about clothing? If I’m wearing distressed jeans, does that mean a black woman can’t as it’s now a white thing? So a black woman who straightens and colors her hair blonde can’t – as long as I remember not to put in a weave, extensions or cornrows, etc.? This is silly.
I’m not appropriating anything, I’m just trying to pay my bills and live my life. I was born white – can’t change that (see Rachel Dolezal) but in this day and age, shouldn’t we be celebrating the similarities rather than the differences?
“If I’m wearing distressed jeans, does that mean a black woman can’t as it’s now a white thing?”
@Pandy-What’s the cultural significance of a pair of distressed jeans?
Do different styles of distressed jeans indicate a person’s community, age, marital status, wealth, power, social position, and religion?
Are distressed jeans used for special occasions like weddings, social ceremonies or war preparations? Can people belonging to a tribe be identified by another tribe member by their distressed jeans?
Are distressed jeans symbolic of generations and generations of women passing down a ritual and an art form to their daughters? Are distressed jeans intrinsically tied to the pride and the customs of a culture?
I really don’t know any other way to explain to you the difference between an article of clothing that has no real historical relevance or cultural value and the significance of a deeply-rooted tradition that helped to forge the aesthetic identity of an entire culture.
Perfectly said Kitten.
Blue Mohawks and jeans are really the best defense folks can come up with to defend the issue of appropriation.
Some of the comments on this article are a complete mess. You all sure you’re really better than Kylie here?
Hair styles are a sensitive thing and it’s usually best to listen to the people who are usually discriminated based on said styles (looking at the US military for example). I’m not black, but I’ve had enough conversations around this subject to know it’s way more complicated than “I just like this hairstyle”.
I’m with you 100%.
People don’t want to listen, though.
They’re too busy screaming “mine!”
Yup. I have a friend in the army that spent an entire evening testing out “appropriate” hairstyles to wear on duty.
But judging from the comments on here many people don’t want to get it…must be nice…I can’t “forget” all the crap I go through just to seen as equal day in and day out
Yup, it’s only recently the army has made any effort to compromise with WOC on their hairstyles. Before our only options were perm it and shove it into a bun or cut it all off and keep it low. There’s a whole structure in this country that has been fighting black women over their hair for a long time and of course to some people – and this is where I have to give Kitten props she actually listened and understands – since it doesn’t effect them personally they assume it doesn’t exist.
Thanks, Side-Eye.
This was one of the more frustrating/disheartening threads I’ve seen around here in a while.
As a woman of Native American descent with stick straight hair without a hint of body even with a perm I am offended by anyone who uses a flatiron to get hair like mine (said with HEAVY irony; I don’t give a rat’s a@s)
Are you offended by the fetishizing of women in your culture and the statistics of how much more risk of rape and domestic violence they face?
Applause Catwoman! And Eternal – really, you want to get this heavy so early in the day over a hair style? Argh!!!!
Pandy, let me guess…you’re white?
I am capable of speaking on and defending an issue present in our society at any time of day. It’s not ‘just a hairstyle’ but I know you won’t accept that because you choose not to listen, consider, or learn. I hope one day you choose to be better informed but I’ve accepted many people like you will always plug your ears and hide from hard truths for the sake of your own comfort and shelter.
There is a petition going around, to remove the monument from the South Carolina State House. For awareness purposes.
From the petition itself “It has been stated that the battle flag must be removed due to it being offensive to the African American community, and invoking upon that community reminders of the dark history of slavery. To the same point, the African American Monument depicts slave ships, mistreatment and words such as “segregation” and “Jim Crow”. This being the case, it is undeniable that this monument can and does serve to invoke in the white community feelings of shame, humiliation and offense, serving as a constant reminder of the dark history of slavery.”
so, you know? hair styles or… ? you don’t have to pick, but for everyone on this thread crying out to end racism, let’s also include fighting back against this horrific petition.
Oh boy….so why is there a holocaust museum in America if it never happened here?
We fight multiple battles and one of the most offensive battles is and continues to be how this country uses our souls, beauty, style, music and magic while segregating, punishing, and mocking us.
magic?
Eternal, I read a lot of your comments on this thread. I would like to also hope you are doing much more about this, than posting on a gossip blog, because what you have to say is important and very well articulated.
Do you blog yourself, perhaps? If not, you should.
You could do much to educate people, and help make swift changes in society.
Thank you for the lovely compliment original Kay, I haven’t but I do several different out reach programs and try to help and educate where I can.
Still, this might be something I should consider. Ultimately I do believe we’re making positive progress and that these are the growing pains of an evolving society.
Until VERY recently in US history a black woman wearing this particular hairstyle (or a similar one) to work would likely be frowned upon, but to large segments of the world this Jenner child doing it is just another day. Yes, it’s just a hairstyle, but to black women it is something deeper and more stinging when so many just throw away this idea of just get over it…
I don’t think this is a matter of Amandla just choosing to call out Kylie for how she styles her hair in her personal life. It’s the combination of the hairstyle, the “I woke up like disss” caption, and the fact that Kylie and some of her sisters (and other people as well) will use looks from her culture for themselves but don’t have anything to say when major issues affecting black people’s lives, plus the double standards related to a white person styling their hair like that vs. a black person doing it. I’m not saying that Kylie styling her hair this way or not cause or reduce racism and oppression, and I agree that the people perpetuating the double standards and stereotypes are the bigger problem, but Amandla wasn’t being mean to her at all and it wouldn’t kill Kylie to learn about something more important than selfies. And it wouldn’t kill her to acknowledge her privilege in this area and ask herself, “Why is it that I like using certain things out of black culture but don’t use my privilege and platform to speak on any of the problems POC face?”
Team Amandla, of course! She has grown into such an amazing young woman!!!
Amandla tweeted this as well: https://twitter.com/amandlastenberg/status/620443549532876801
It’s well worth a read. She’s a very intelligent, well-spoken 16-year-old.
I don’t think this whole thing is so much about the cornrows themselves as much as it’s about the whole presentation, along with the comment Kylie left. And the fact that the Kardashians sisters kind of have a track record of trying to make themselves look black.
Didn’t Kyle and Jaden hang out for a while? It sounds like she’s a little jealous in her remark back to Amandla.
Yes they were friends but I guess their not anymore from her comment.
It looks like Amandla was replying to someone else on the picture and not directly to Kylie. Overall I agree with her but the whole story should be posted for those who don’t understand and will only see a black girl attacking little Kylie… Oh well they’re gonna believe that anyway.
No kidding.
Kylie looks a lot like a 40 year old for someone who fears aging so much.
Amandla is so well-spoken for such a young lady.
wtf. so im from mexico, but if i wear braid im appropaiting black culture even if my mexican ancestor wore them?
I agree. Anyone should be allowed to wear their hair how they so choose. A lot of women straighten their hair and dye it blonde…are they trying to act “white” then too? This is just getting stupid. I agree the Kardashian/Jenners are annoying and clueless but why give them attention? They love that !
Something you should be aware of Steph, please wear your hair any way you like, no one is saying you shouldn’t. Any black woman would be fired or written up if she went to work like that or profiled by the police. That is the difference. So, when children like Kylie do this I do an inner eye roll knowing that because she white she thinks it’s cute knowing nothing negative will EVER touch her world. If she were a few shades darker, society’s reaction to her would be completely different.
Kylie, next time you want to do something with your hair, or anything else for that matter, better call this chick and ask for permission. How ridiculous
lol
It’s sad how some people are very dismissive of somebody else’s struggle. Don’t be ignorant ,educate yourself about this issue and obtain understanding.
This is not a small issue and will never be when people don’t want to be understanding and want to stay in their “bubble”.
Let’s also include Katy Perry in this discussion. Kylie is not the only one ignorant of this.
I am going to rush right out and educate myself on this very important issue of wearing cornrows.
While you’re at it please educate yourself on micro aggressions, Privelage, and the manner in which people mock issues that don’t effect them and lambast minority groups that attempt to educate the ignorant.
Will do
i’m feminist, and identify as a racial miniority. My issue here is Amandale is using corn rows as cultural apropriation and I think thats lame example. There are much bigger fish to fry than this when it comes to racism. It’s petty and childish to whine about how another CHILD (kylie) wears her hair.
Having hair rituals and feeling shame about an aspect of your appearance isn’t exclusive to black culture. If corn rows have been such a source of shame and opression, why not reclaim them and revision them? i think you all are overreacting if you think a child wearing corn rows is appropriation.
Are corn rows sacred in black culture? is kylie mocking anyone with her hair? At the end of the day I look at it as two KIDS mean girling each other over a hairstyle. they both need to grow up
Did you not read the above comments at all before posting this drivel?
Here’s a recap
When black women and men try to “reclaim” their natural hairstyles their workplaces, schools, even the military says “Lol no, this is unprofessional stop it.” Kinda hard to “reclaim” hairstyles that can get you fired/expelled.
Appropriation comes in both big and small forms like everything else. Pointing out the cornrows, taking into account Kylie’s past actions, that caption, and reaching the conclusion that is appropriation is not overreacting. It simply is what it is. Amandla used the cornrows, because that was the most pertinent issue in the photo Kylie posted.
I wouldn’t say cornrows are sacred, but they’re no joke either.
As for your mean girling, I suggest you watch the movie again, as Amandla’s response and Kylie’s weak clapback is NOT mean girling.
Well, I can see why some people can be offended.
For instance, we live in Germany and are of dark skinned ethnicity. My son, who dresses conservative, by no means counter culture, had long dreads and was, at least once a week, stopped by the police for identification. That is in Heidelberg, Germany, a student city with a high counter culture. This happened to none of his ethnic German friends who had the same hair style and dressed very counterculture. He finally got tired of the harrasment and shaved his hair completely off, and hence, no more police harrasment.
So, what is style, being edgy or whatever to one group, can be reason for harrasment to another.
Eknasok, thanks for sharing your experience. The fact of the matter is, it’s not “just hair.” People are being racially profiled, discriminated against and sometimes even killed for sporting certain cultural signifiers. Astonishing to see that so many people don’t seem to understand this.
What you describes happens all over Europe. I am white Dutch person so I don’t experience this myself.
But I just saw this happening an hour ago to a black man in my bus. When the doors opened other people pushed in so this man couldn’t get out on time and the bus driver blamed him and wouldn’t let him out. Thankfully a lot of people on the bus stood up for him. But I felt bad nonetheless.
Exactly and I’m so sorry for your son, sadly that’s what many people do to end the harassment.
i’m feminist, and identify as a racial miniority. My issue here is Amandale is using corn rows as cultural apropriation and I think thats lame example. There are much bigger fish to fry than this when it comes to racism. It’s petty and childish to whine about how another CHILD (kylie) wears her hair.
amandale is dancing around it but she’s saying basically, white girls cant wear corn rows. Which is so ridiculous. Is it ok for white people to like Jazz and hip hop and rap? or are we appropiating their culture by buying and listening to black artists? should kylie pay some sort of toll fee to wear braids?
What exactly is Amandale suggesting Kylie do instead? NOT braid her hair? its so ridculous.
Having hair rituals and feeling shame about an aspect of your appearance isn’t exclusive to black culture. If corn rows have been such a source of shame and opression, why not reclaim them and revision them? i think you all are overreacting if you think a child wearing corn rows is appropriation.
Are corn rows sacred in black culture? is kylie mocking anyone with her hair? At the end of the day I look at it as two KIDS mean girling each other over a hairstyle. they both need to grow up
You see Amandale comment as mean girling? Ya No
“y issue here is Amandale is using corn rows as cultural apropriation and I think thats lame example. There are much bigger fish to fry than this when it comes to racism.”
I can’t with the rest of you comment but I will say this she talked about those bigger fish before. Here are just some of the topics she talked about Google for more.
http://www.blackcelebkids.com/?s=amandla+stenberg
While its clear the girl is intelligent, she is a CHILD and quite frankly I don’t understand why people are taking a child’s tweet on twitter so seriously. I am not going to get my multi cultural / cultural approptiation theory from a 16 year old hollywood rich kid on twitter. Come on people
they are both pretentious brats
Amandla might be only 16 years old but she has repeatedly demonstrated awareness, understanding and knowledge of very pertinent issues in a way people much older than her, as shown in this comment thread, have not been able to.
I see you decided to post more drivel. You really need to brush up on your reading comprehension.
What Amandla SAID was: “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #white girls do it better.”
Which in other words: Kylie and many others like and adopt many of the easier features of black culture in an effort to be cool. Yet when the next black teenager gets murdered they’re all silent and/or don’t feel comfortable co-opting that part of being black.
Kylie has a (I don’t know why) following. If she wanted she could get people talking about these issues. At the very least she could show a genuine appreciation of the features she’s adopting, but alas it’s just a phase, a very obvious one at that, and that’s why people are upset.
its not drivel its my opinion. I absolutely think cultural appropriation is real but by Amandala complaining about Kylie’s corn rows really trivilizes more substantive examples of cultural appropiation. Taking a shot at stupid uneducated Kylie Jenner is too easy, in my opinion. Thank you Amandale, captain obvious, for pointing out Kylie Jenner is an idiot.
Are you really saying only black people can wear corn rows? This is out of control ridiculous. Where does it end? I am mexican so please refrain for wearing aztec inspired patterns, because you are appropriating my culture and are white and couldnt possibly appreciate, only appropriate my culture. do u catch my drift AT ALL?
My lab retriever better not go herd sheep like my border collie because my lab is appropriating sheep dog culture
there is a point in which it becomes so ridiculous that it trivializes and undermines the bigger issues of the movement.
please, sit down and take a breath
Lynnie doesn’t sound like she needs to sit down and take a breath, she sounds calm and perhaps a bit frustrated that she has to spell something so clearly spelled out originally to a minority woman. It’s one thing to not understand or agree but don’t try to paint her as hysterical.
The problem with your question is it would take pages and pages of text for you to simply read about the role and relationship of black features in this country. You have to come to this discussion informed about what’s happening, it’s not ‘just cornrows’ but it is a symptom of how this country still denigrates and abuses AA.
i hear it, i get it. Id really like to know what you all suggest Kylie should have done? Should she not wear corn rows EVER? How can she show YOU her appreciation for the plight of black people? So that she can braid her hair and make you happy about it. does she need to ask permission? how do you know that she doesnt have compassion for black issues? just because she’s white?
Her boyfriend is black and her niece is half black. Amandala is barking up the wrong tree with Kylie. If there ever was a white girl who probably does have compassion and feeling for black issues, it would be this girl. she’s in an inter racial relationship for christ’s sake and her niece is half black! she’s clearly not part of the KKK
“If there ever was a white girl who probably does have compassion and feeling for black issues, it would be this girl.”
WAIT LOL you can’t be serious. When has Kylie EVER spoken out in support for black people and black issues aside from appropriating black culture, paying for black features and parading her black boyfriend around? Khloe has made KKK jokes before, all of them were silent when the black community were protesting against police brutality, not a peep but yeah. The black boyfriend and half-black niece is good enough right?
Seriously. Are you listening to yourself?
…oh honey no.
Having sex with a black person does not make you compassionate to black issues. I mean…this is what I mean by you have to come to this discussion informed. Slave owners used to rape black women all the time, they certainly weren’t compassionate to their struggles. One of our former presidents had illegitimate black children, it certainly didn’t make him end slavery.
The Kardashian Klan is well known for insulting and mocking black women as well as using them for street-cred, hairstyles, etc. Now what should Kylie do/have done? Probably stop insulting black women, surgically enhancing their features in a mockery of black beauty, and not post selfies of corn-rowed hair with captions like “Woke up like disss”. It’s a small start.
That’s where your wrong Stacey. Kylie and her family belong to the school of superficial black appreciation.
They LOVE the clothes, food, hair, language, not because they actually like these things, but because they are controversial, give them street cred, and cater to their audience.
Conspicuous consumption is in right now. Street/Urban trends are in right now. That is the only reason you are seeing this family with their Yeezys and rapping along to rap songs. As soon as street/urban trends fade out and the 90s revival/boho luxe/whatever Vogue tries to shill comes to prominence you’ll see them go that way.
“So what?” you’re thinking, “Everybody grows up and changes their style,” and that’s true. I feel if that was the only thing this family was doing it would be much easier to take than what they do now which is: co-opt these features while simultaneously putting down the people from the same culture they’re trying to emulate.
One member of their family said a while back that they’re “slumming” when they get with black guys.
Another member said something to the effect that they’re size queens and see black men for one thing only.
Kim said she likes “the look” of interracial couples and babies. “The look,” mind you.
When Amber Rose called out Kylie and Tyga’s relationship (which is not a good example of a relationship, never mind an interracial one) Khloe tried to throw Amber underneath the bus with her stripping past, and liked leaked nudes of hers with the intent of shaming her to her fans.
That Cheban guy (who’s only job is to be their attack dog) called Blac Chyna and Amber “ghetto and street bullies.”
Kylie’s said to Kim “Thanks for showing me how to turn from a good girl to ghetto.” I’ll let you digest that statement on your own.
During the Trayvon Martin moment of silence at the VMA’s Kendall, Kylie, and Kim were ON THEIR PHONES.
There’s so much more where that came from, but this is enough to show many that she doesn’t have compassion for black issues.
“Her boyfriend is black and her niece is half black.” Ah yes, the classic “But my (insert here) is black therefore I’m not racist!11!!11!” Not to mention that just makes all the stuff she does even more appalling.
No she’s not part of the KKK, but I would argue she’s worse. At least with the KKK I know where I stand.
TL;DR Lol at Kylie has a black boyfriend. Still doesn’t negate her past and current actions that shows she’s using blackness as a phase.
Stacey, is there a centuries long history of Labradors enslaving, subjugating and exploiting sheep dogs that I missed? If not your comment is full of shit.
@Neonscream-LOL. Exactly. The false analogies that come up with on these threads are so embarrassing.
no no no. You want change? Its not going to come by shaming white girls or white people who braid their hair or “appropriate” black culture and expecting them to make public commentary on race relations. reality check! Dont expect other people to fight your battles.
A black girl spoke out against appropriation she saw in her world, how is that expecting others to fight the battle? Or do you believe the world will change if no one says anything and everyone pretends it’s okay?
Black People have been fighting their battles, including calling out a privileged teen for playing at their culture when she clearly has no interest in learning more about it beyond what’s cool. You clearly don’t pay attention to BP because if you did, you would see how they’ve been protesting against police brutality for, oh i dunno, the last year and a half.
You wanna play black? You better not run home at night to take those braids out when the heavy stuff come rolling around.
A well informed child is better than an adult fool.
Learn your lessons from a wise mind, not someone with the same age range as you.
I’m with you Stacy although we are obviously in the minority.
@Pandy- Maybe that should tell you something.
What’s Jaden got to do with it? I know he is/was a mutual friend of both. Kylie used to hang with Jaden all the time. There is no way she can put Amandla down. She is an actress and has a REAL career. Kylie does nothing other than pose for the camera and live on instagram. These Kardashian/Jenner girls think they are so tough.
I know! What type of clapback was that?
“Ooh, go hang out with somebody that’s our age, and I used to date, and is arguably a cool person.”
Like ??? Must have gone to the Khloe School of Weak Retorts.
I know enough to know that there are many, many societal issues here involving African-American hair, and that white people as a rule (there are possible exceptions perhaps) can never fully appreciate them. Privilege is blinding. I understand the topics of microaggressions and cultural appropriation. I just have kind of a dumb-sounding question. Please understand that this comes from a place of truly wanting information and wanting to do the right thing. My question is, is it ever okay for a white woman to wear cornrows?
I’m thinking about Chris Rock saying (paraphrased), “You want to say the n-word? Let’s switch. You can say the n-word, and I’ll raise interest rates.”
If the answer is no, a white girl can never wear cornrows, I’ll accept it. I’m so white I probably glow in the dark, and I have wild, thick curly hair that has been the bane of my existence for a long time. I don’t like having to wear it short, and I think from time to time about how nice it would be to do cornrows or even dreads, just to keep it sort of under control. I never have done it, but I have thought about it. The last thing I want to do, however, is offend anyone with it. I’d just as soon keep fighting the hair before that.
My reply is, yes, as long as your hair is not thin. I love corn rows and dreads.
Yeah you can wear cornrows as long as you appreciate the history behind it, and understand what it means and all the controversy that surrounds it. You might offend people, that’s inevitable, so I would be prepared for discussions with both black and white people. Keep an open mind. Also continue to keep learning about these issues. Understanding race relations and everything that comes with it is a life long course.
Good luck with your hair! =)
Thanks!
YES you can! My mom used to do my hair (I’m black) and my best friend’s hair (she’s white) at the same time every summer as kids.
The issue taken here was more the comment with the picture more than anything. That and this is not the first time Kylie has adopted a black hairstyle and had it labeled “cool” by fashion mags as if black women haven’t been doing it for centuries
This is stupid. People have been braiding their hair for thousands of years in every corner of this planet.
I’m so annoyed at standing up for a kardashian jenner (since she wants to be Kim apparently).
Kylie has no guidance in her life and is a high school drop out setting herself up for a career of selfies on instagram. Lets focus on that instead, Amandla.
To be fair, Amandla focuses on plenty of other big issues, too. This one happens to get more news coverage, and I wonder why.
Unpopular opinion (ready for the tomatoes) but as a child of two black parents I kind of view half White girls like Amandla and Zendaya wearing braid or fake dreads in the same category as full white or non-Blacks wearing them. They pretty much look the same and it looks like a costume similar to Rachael Denzoe. And they too are usually celebrated over a full on Black woman wearing her kinky natural hair in braids or real dreads.
And as with Zendaya, it’s like an “outfit” for an event. Then taken off soon after. I have been wearing my hair in braids since I as little. So in my opinion Amandla calling out Kyle in this manner is like the pot calling the kettle black and reminds me of mixed girls who try to overcompensate my being Blacker than Black. JMO, not trying to offend all mixed girls but it’s a pet peeve of mine.
That’s interesting. From an outsider’s perspective I would have thought a girl with an African-American parent would get a pass for wearing braids. After all, the world is probably going to see them as black anyway, so why not. I sympathize with them if they’re just trying to find a place to belong and being shunned by both sides? I think I see your point though, as it seems light-skinned people tend to have more advantages in society than darker ones do.
This is a different perspective I wouldn’t have thought of. As I said, I’m an outsider in this issue, so I’m interested in hearing all perspectives.
@AMY TENNANT
Like I said it’s just my personal opinion and most other disagree with me. If Amandla is as Black as me, she is equally White as Kyle. And no mixed race girls don’t suffer more because “they are not accepted by either side”, that’s a myth referred to in African-American circles as the “tragic mulatto”, you can google it. Yes half Black/White people do face racism by Whites and distrust by Blacks. However they also have more privileges than Black people. No matter how much flack they get in the Black community their White half with the European features are instinctively viewed as better than traditional Black features and their hair viewed as superior. They are chosen by Black men easily over a Black sister.
They are viewed as the safer by Whites in positions of power. As you can see when it comes to hiring they are hired before an equally or more qualified Black person. Amandla and Zendaya are the ones hired by studios when a part calls for a pretty Black girl. Because our features and kinky hair is “too Black”. You don’t see entertainment or gossips sites praising the William sisters when they wore their nature hair in braids or braid extensions. Woopie gets on my last nerves but would her natural dreads ever be defended as beautiful like Zendaya’s was? I can see the difference when a mixed race girl wears braids or cornrows and it definitely has the similar silky fake look as Kylie Jenners.
I personally don’t have a problem with either mixed or non-Blacks wearing braids and cornrows, I just find it hypocritical for someone who shares similar genes to Kylie calling her out for appropriating “her” culture. I look forward to Amandla and Zendaya writing a piece on why Hollywood chooses to hire mixed race girls over Black girls for glamours roles or female leads and saving parts like slave girl, servant, ex-con, drug dealer etc. for Black girls. I won’t hold my breathe. LOL. Everyone likes their little bit of privilege. I do give credit to Amandla for bringing up non beauty related societal problems though.
I get what you’re saying Original, I also agree everyone has their own little bit of Privelage but I disagree these girls don’t have a place to speak.
I agree lighter skinned black girls/women have it easier (but still not as good as whites) but they’re not removed from the issue. I also disagree that they don’t face discrimination or exclusion from blacks (I’ve seen it myself). Zendaya spoke firmly that one reason she spoke up was because her own Father and brother had dreads as well as other girls she knew. This is someone who is aware of the hypocrisy of something worn lovingly by her Father being adored on a white girl but mocked on her. If it’s mocked on her with her complexion then what’s the logical conclusion to how her Father will be judged?
Now while she may share half biology with Kylie, she also has something Kylie doesn’t. A parent who’s teaching her about black issues and her role as a representative in this world. Same with Amandla. These girls didn’t have a choice in what skin tone they were born with and like you said everyone enjoys a little more Privelage than someone else because of things out of their control BUT they’re not blind to black issues.
A lighter skinned person may be liked ‘more’ than the darker skinned girl but as Fashion Police proved in the end you’re still black (one drop rule). If the black people who are in a position of power and having their voice heard don’t speak up then who will? Ironically I’ve seen more public defense from lighter skinned blacks than from darker skinned blacks in the media. Maybe those that are darker skinned don’t want to lose their fragile grasp of success by angering the power structure (because the backlash from challenging the ‘it’s alright’ mentality can be vicious) but I haven’t seen enough from them to challenge the issues that exist.
What I have seen of Zendaya is she puts her money where her mouth is, she’s producer of her own show on Disney channel and the people she cast to be her acting family are all darker skinned blacks including a young black girl with her hair in natural Afro puffs.
amen, finally a reasonable person. who cares what these two hollywood brats think?
@TC
I didn’t mean to imply that mixed-race girls suffer more. In fact I don’t even think that. I was just thinking that they might have that difficulty (again I wouldn’t know). I definitely agree that they have advantages over darker complexions in this society. I’m sorry to have given the wrong impression
I Definitely don’t think they suffer MORE. I think the opposite is more likely. I just try to think about where everyone might be coming from, and I tried to think of how a mixed-race girl might feel on the one hand facing discrimination because she is seen as too black (as much as I fervently wish it were otherwise, that old racist one drop thing still applies to too many people), but yet on the other hand being told she is too white to wear cornrows or braids. In an ideal world, she’d be able to embrace both sides of her family equally, but of course if it were an ideal world none of this would be an issue, and it definitely is.
I do seriously appreciate your giving me your viewpoint because it is one I hadn’t heard yet, and of course it’s completely valid. But if in my considering what the mixed-race experience might look like (again something I can never know firsthand), if I ever gave the impression that they suffer more than a darker skinned person, it was in error. I know they have more advantages.
It seems there’s some great thought-provoking comments up there that my kids are too needy today for me to absorb.
What I can put my limited focus on is what the heck is up with that blue wig with built-in roots? I feel so old right now. It might be the dumbest hairstyle that someone ever had to conceive, make, sell, buy and wear. I am OUT of the loop!
I grew up with a black best friend in a community of 98% white people. There was 2 black kids in my high school of 1500 people. My friend used to braid her hair because it was the only manageable way she could do it. She could braid it and leave it for a week or two. I always thought of braids and corn rows as black culture thing. Years later my friend and I had drifted a part and I had a job with another girl who was a nice enough white, part native girl and she had just gotten rid of her corn row braids when she started the job. She talked about the corn rows non-stop, how she needed to buy new clothes because most of her wardrobe ‘went with’ her corn rows. I didn’t get it until months later we were chatting and she said that her clothes were more “rap chick” inspired when she had her corn rows. I never thought about it again until I read this post and I realized that WOW she totally appropriated the black culture and now I also wonder if because she was party native and dark skinned she perhaps wanted people to believe she was black. That’s kinda messed now that I’m thinking about it!
That being said my friend growing up with the braids, that was her thing, I loved what they looked like but I knew I would have looked silly with them.
Thanks for sharing and yeesh for that girl you mentioned, sadly that’s seen a lot especially on social media.
For those who feel uncomfortable or unhappy or that this ‘cultural appropriation stuff’ has gone too far let me just say no, this ‘stuff’ has gone exactly the way it was supposed to.
There has been a long simmering anger about the treatment of AA in this country. Do not mention black men being shot as a form of deflection when you didn’t even realize it was happening till videos on the 6 o’clock news literally had to spell it out for you. You do not MAKE a culture hate their hair, hate their skin, hate their bodies and features for HUNDREDS of years and then get to washe your hands and hide the rocks. This mess was made and it is here now. Now is the result of an angry, more well informed, more political, more outspoken generation of AA who no longer want to sit back and just let it happen.
If you’re surprised that children (Zendaya, Amanda) are so outspoken and angry then guess what? Children learn from a YOUNG age about the hypocrisy and cruelty of the country they live in. So all that ‘racism will disappear if we stop putting borders between us’ nonsense that people spout doesn’t stop young black kids from seeing the truth even when it’s not spelled out directly to them.
You know what will disappear? Me, us. We will disappear because you will take and use everything of us, write your names in, wear our ceremonial robes on you bodies, style your hair like ours and then GIVE US NO CREDIT OR RESPECT. Why do your magazines keep wanting to gush about dreadlocks, box braids, and corn rows and yet REFUSE to use even one black model? Do you think that doesn’t effect a young black girl’s brain?
So once again if you’re uncomfortable with the expanding use of cultural appropriation guess what? You’ve taken a LOT from us over the years and now you’re going to hear all about it.
We’re no longer going to be quiet.
The hallmark of privilege is that the privileged class never has to think about it, but those without privilege have to think about it every day.
I have no idea what it feels like to grow up in that atmosphere. I can imagine, but that’s all, and probably not enough.
I’m glad your generation is forcing us to look at it. Maybe we can really begin to have this conversation, as painful as it may be for all sides.
And if someone speaks up here for white people and says that this was all done a long time ago, and people who are now alive never owned slaves, and people commenting here may have never fought for segregation, et cetera, we still benefit from the situation that was created years ago, and we need to own up to that. I doubt any amount of “reparations” can be made to change that.
Exactly Amy Tennant, so well said. It’s amazing to me people are so quick to forget history and what role it plays in the world of today. So many of our issues are a direct result of decisions made hundreds of years ago that have not magically vanished. I wish people work inform themselves but I’ve accepted many won’t, it’s more comfortable and safe to be ignorant. The good news is the world is progressing and these fights are becoming more and more prominent.
You’re a cool person, Amy Tennant 😀
YES YES
THIS x 1000.
I actually think it’s a good sign that the teenagers of this generation are starting to speak up and refuse to be cowed into submission any more. We got rid of the Itchy Areola but it will take a stronger tide of public opinion to root out this particular brand of Kartrashian.
That was Bruce Lee-level cool.
http://www.oprah.com/entertainment/Chris-Rocks-Good-Hair-Documentary
If you read Amandla’s comment again, it doesn’t seem like she has any problem at all with Kylie’s hairstyle. In my opinion, her issue stems from the fact that Kylie and the rest of the Kardashian’s appropriate black culture ALL of the time but have been completely silent on all of the issues regarding race that have come up lately.
She does talk about how Kylie has a public platform, as weird as that is. I agree.
Sad but true, rather than post a million pictures of her fake lips Kylie could post one comment about the situation in this country. Even something as shallow as ‘it’s messed up how this country treats its people’ but no she doesn’t want to risk her endorsements or appealing to the people who sign her pay checks.
She’s like Iggy in that way, just someone else using us for profit but quick to hop back to their side once it gets dicey.
Uh oh. Kylie’s getting way more comments than Kim now a days. Kim is going to do something drastic to get her back to the top…just watch !
A few weeks ago I went to a birthday party for my upstairs Nigerian neighbour. Everybody was invited and it was lovely – a real testament as to what a lovely lady she is.
Anyway all of her direct family were dressed in Nigerian tribal dresses, all the same pattern- including her white sons & daughters in law. Because they were all family and invited by them that was absolutely correct. They looked amazing.
That sounds beautiful.
absolutely – there’s nothing wrong with participating in a culture when invited. I’ve been to Indian weddings where non-South Asian guests chose to wear Indian clothes, and were often helped by other (Indian) guests to choose and wear them, especially saris. And it was never taken as anything but a sign of respect for the occasion.
but what you and I describe is a far cry from what these Kardashians are doing. I wonder if Kim Kardashian puts half as much energy into connecting with her own actual Armenian roots as she does to black culture, which she is only a part of thanks to the men she married/dated.
Kim doesn’t seem to put much effort into her child’s black heritage… Why doesn’t she let Nori’s curls run free? If she were a curly headed little blonde, I suspect she would. Instead, she pulls that poor toddlers hair into a tight little bun. I only see Nori with her curls out when she’s with her dad.
There have been a lot of great comments explaining why this is cultural appropriation and why it is offensive. I will just add that in addition to having an online following (why I don’t know) and being an influence on teens, through her relationship with Tyga, Kylie has assumed the role as a mother-figure to his BLACK son.
For her to be so tone deaf as to the issues that black American’s face and insensitive when called out on offensive (purposely or not) behavior, while helping her black boyfriend to parent his black child is sad to me. But additionally, I feel like it makes her silence on the many relevant conversations about race and society’s treatment of black men in particular even more egregious.
It’s exactly THIS kind of behavior that leads people to think that the K-klan fetishizes black men as trophies rather than just happening to meet men from a different race and falling in love. They show NO interest for these men, their histories, their heritage or even their communities (see: Khloe’s despicable behavior on the episode whereshe visited the “ghetto” where Lamar grew up and has Kim ever even been to the South Side of Chicago?) they seem to think that ” being black” or appreciating black “culture” is just about clothes, makeup, music and jewelry (see: Kim wearing a “grill” for that Caroline Roitfeld photoshoot)- as if it’s some costume that gets put on and taken off. Which for them it can be- must be nice to have hip hop without injustice, braids without judgement, and (fake) curves without ridicule…
wow, so much deliberate obtuseness in this thread about the actual issue of appropriation of black people’s culture. It’s “divisive” and you’re “tired of hearing about it”? THANK GOD some of you bitches are smarter and more articulate than I am, in the face of it.
And people making excuses for Kim Jr. being ‘young’ might want to note that Amandla is even younger than her…..and far more intelligent, well-informed and coherent than she can ever hope to be. (also that weak attempt at a clapback is giving me actual secondhand embarrassment. It could not be more patently obvious that she literally did not understand a word Amandla was saying).
The cultural appropriation here had more to do with her entire look, borrowed attitude/look/speak…. but Amanda pointed to the braids specifically. The braids, the slang, the Beyonce lyric, the pose, twisted lips, outfit… she’s definitely emulating a culture she clearly thinks she knows from music videos or her boyfriend but doesn’t understand and its insulting. And whoever brought up Bo Derek, prime example of how other races wear braids but don’t try to emulate a group of people who wear them a specific way, mocking a culture – Kylie was going for a Janet Jackson/Bey Poetic Justice throwback like she’s in the film “White Girls” and unfortunately she’s not. Its real life for her. The worst part of culture appropriation thats lost in the conversation is – its not just a look you put on like a costume at the party store… downcast stereotype, then return when you have to deal with the people who you’ve insulted with lack of knowledge or understanding. If you play with someones culture then deal with consequences: Amanda. At the very least Kylie show some knowledge of this black culture that you like to dress in or disguise your own identity wearing. Because you clearly didn’t “wake up like diss”.
Forgot to add: When did it become ok for a 17yr old to “wake up like diss” – included surgery, heavy make up, sheer outfits and dating 25yrolds man with kids while still in HS? Im not that old. Im so confused – where and what happened? I’m lost. Forget speaking in ebonics from a rich cali girl. I mean its not just her, because that Miley, Taylor Swift video or Katy have done it. ITs all too far esp since if you asked them any questions about the african american experience, history, lineage, and culture i’m sure they’ll be stumped. The selfie era of emulation through celebrity is of course forcing misappropriation because its all seen through a selfie lens with no historical context.
Oh heck noooooo. I have a very ugly and personal experience directly related to THIS EXACT HAIRSTYLE, and I will admit that it is a trigger for me and I truly have ZERO FKS to give about someone else’s opinion over it because it doesn’t change what happened to me. Back in college, my now SIL and I were friends and she had just come back from a cruise to the Bahamas with her hair styled in a half-cornrows do that she paid to have done on one of the islands. A few days later, a group of black girls about our age began to harass her about them outside of a campus bar we were at. We did not know them and because it matters, SIL is Indian & Muslim and I am Latina. SIL just rolled her eyes and ignored them and one of the girls grabbed her by the hair while the other began assaulting her. I had to jump in to break it up and SIL never fought back. I got hit in the back of my head and side of my face…OVER A HAIRSTYLE. I did fight back and IRONICALLY at some point I must have yanked out one of the girls’ INDIAN hair track (Ha!). When the campus security started coming our way, they started dispersing and I picked up the track and threw it at the girl and told her she can thank my friend’s “cousin” for it. I was very angry that happened and it still boils my blood when I recall it because we were minding our own business and weren’t bothering them. And before anyone tries to lecture me on prejudice and struggle, she and I are both minorities who have experienced racism, you know, because she’s apparently a “terrorist” and I’m an “illegal” (sarcasm). She never again wore that hairstyle (in case that satisfies some you) but she did end up marrying a black man and had biracial children who she also refuses to put that hairstyle on and I think that is pretty f**ked up. So yeah, I don’t think anyone should be harassed over wearing their hair in any way they like if they are not doing it to be offensive… and if I liked the hairstyle, I would wear it myself any time I wanted to, but I don’t so I probably never will OUT OF CHOICE.
Do you really think anyone supports or is happy your friend got assaulted? Those girls made a terrible decision and were absolutely wrong for laying a hand on you or your friend. It’s totally unacceptable.
Now if those girls had pulled up a chair and explained their issues I could defend that because there is an issue there and it’s the issue of black women and how they’ve been told to feel about their natural hair for hundreds of years but fighting is unacceptable.
We were BOTH assaulted, by the way. And even if they had “pulled up a chair and explained their issues” it was still THEIR ISSUES, not mine and not my SIL. SIL really loved her do and thought she looked cute in it, she had no ill intentions to anyone whatsoever. There is no reason that obligates her to give up her time to any stranger that wants to “sit her down” to explain THEIR OWN issues. She did nothing wrong and she didn’t owe those awful girls a damn thing, she is an innocent human being who thought her hair looked pretty. That is all.
You wouldn’t be expected to tolerate a stranger coming up to you and lecturing you on how your striped shirt is inappropriate and is affecting them because that’s what they were made to wear while they were wrongfully imprisoned for X amount of years. Although you could appreciate and respect their experience, you’d simply explain that you meant no harm and that you just like this particular pattern, would you not? Or are you telling me that you’d profusely apologize and promise to go home and burn all your striped shirts and help condemn everyone else you see wearing them from now on? Because I don’t believe that.
you are missing the point here. I get it. Its just a HAIR style. How dare people imply Kylie is racistly appropriating black culture just because she wore corn rows? I think thats jumping to conclusions and apalling. Because that is the implication by Amandala and others here.
so many people are acting like if you are white and wear corn rows, you might as well be draped in a confedrate flag with a white hood on. its childish to think only black human beings can wear corn rows. JLO did it many times, no one dare called her a racist.
Its HAIR and BRAIDS are NOT unique to any one culture, therefore this cultural approp is blown so out of proportion.
live and let live. everyone is so PC these days, a kid cant even braid her hair for a few hiurs without being accused of racism.
Also, to all you whiners out there- there are many black people who are COMPLICIT in profiting from your so called cultural appropriation. Beyonce and Jay Z let white people buy their music. Do white people need permission to play beyonce? or is that just for black people?! The poster and her SIL likely PAID somebody to braid there hair …look in the mirror, you are prejuidice too in your own way!
I said you were both assaulted in my comment.
You don’t have to listen to anything, my comment was saying if they’d attempted to educate you on their feelings even if you didn’t like it then I’d have supported that. I don’t support those girls fighting you and your sil because of their issues.
…striped shirt isn’t at all comparative. It is literally a weak example you’re using to try and prove your point. What a comparative example is for the frustration black women feel when hairstyles they were mocked for for generations are used as something trendy and fun by other races is seen in many different cultures who fignt back against that form of appreciation.
To give you a better example in the vein of ‘striped’ clothing is if you wore a shirt with a star of David on it in a style reminiscent of the uniforms Jews were forced to wear in concentration camps and someone pulled you aside and tried to explain. Now I personally wouldn’t do that to someone for something that doesn’t have significance to me but carries a lot of painful significance to them. Would you?
I’m not missing any point Stacey, to you its ‘just hair’ because you consistently choose to not educate yourself on the significance of the treatment of natural hair in this culture. It’s ‘just’ to you because you are removed from the discussion.
You are so desperately trying to spin this in every direction but the discussion at hand. Do you believe Beyoncé and Jay as do not want their music to be heard? They do not want to be paid for it? What they want is for their contribution to the world to be respected. Not for a rapper of more than a decade to be pushed to the back because a new young white rapper is being given accolades that aren’t earned.
They want someone to be involved in the black culture, not merely steal and profit off of. You may pout and claim this is all too PC but it’s hard to have a discussion with you because you’re so poorly informed. You don’t think cornrows are specific to one culture? Great, show me the culture that had cornrows in its historical past.
Man, I really admire your patience, Side-Eye. I would have given up after Stacey went off the rails the first time.
I am not poorly informed. I am a latina, and am educated in feminist and multi cultural studies.
i just don’t agree with you.
I don’t agree that in 2015 a white kid cant wear corn rows without being slandered as a racist. We should be past that.
My point is artists Like Beyonce and Jay Z, fUBU etc package, market and sell hip hop culture to the world as a commodity. Beyonce and Jay Z put cash in their pockets when the Kylie’s of the world buy their concert tickets music and apparrel. Now you wanna cry racism when the white kids appropriate a culture that has been sold to them by people of that culture? Cant have it both ways.
You may not want a kid to be ‘slandered’ but do you want to address or discuss the issue or appropriation? You may be educated but it’s like if I went to a doctor and instead of referring to body parts by the proper terminology or being serious they called parts of the body ‘thingy’ and refused to believe heart attacks existed.
We ‘should’ be but we’re not, do you believe we are past it? Were you also surprised by the number of black men being shot by the police before it became a national topic? All the ‘should haves’ don’t matter if the reality doesn’t reflect it. The reality is there’s a very contentious relationships between black aesthetic and black people when it comes to which gets appreciated. Paul Mooney has a great quote about everyone wanting to be black, because we’re ‘cool’ and not wanting to be black (because we deal with a lot of ugly shit just like this).
So tell me…when did Beyoncé and Jay as package themselves directly to white people? When did they demand that their musical audience be only one race? Didn’t you just imply that saying only one race can enjoy something would be racist? Beyoncé and Jay Z sell their music, they don’t sell an identity, they tell their own stories. If you want to argue the point you could say being able to get money and accolades as a black person in a society that has battled against it would be the ultimate form of racial representation. Furthermore what is being sold to them? Did Jay Z sell them his Brooklyn background when he was a young drug dealer? Did Beyoncé sell her years as a girl she was competing on Star Search.
If I buy a book do I then get to pretend to be the character and as a result people would need to address me by Bella and help me find my sparkly vampire boyfriend?
@Kitten
Lol, some days I try it and some days I just throw my hands up and refuse to even click a link. Today apparently I’ve got the fire in me.
@Eternal. I disagree that my argument is weak, it is in fact way more similar than comparing a cornrow hairstyle to a discriminatory uniform that was FORCED upon 6 million people while awaiting execution. But sure, I’ll play along and question as to why you don’t seem to mind that the girls who assaulted my Indian SIL for wearing cornrows were themselves wearing Indian hair weaves. Is that okay? Because a MUCH GREATER concern than “appropriating cornrows” would definitely be the horrible way in which these hair weaves are sourced, yet a significant amount of black women (and women from other ethnicities) wear Indian hair weaves on the regular, while pointing the finger at someone who had “the audacity” to style their hair in rows or dreads. I’ll leave this here for you and Kitten too, who thinks you are a such a saint for having “so much patience” for a differing opinion than yours: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1036155/Why-Ill-wear-hair-extensions-pop-star-Jamelia.html
Can’t we all just get along?
@DTX
You refuse to admit corn rows are more than a hairstyle for many people because they aren’t for you. You don’t want to acknowledge the cultural or political significance of this hairstyle though dozens of people have told you so. You instead use a ‘shirt’ as a counterpoint and when I play along in the illogical comparison game by using the method a different group tortured another minority group of people for their natural qualities suddenly it’s shocking? You seriously tried to say a striped shirt is comparable to something women were raped for, not just one woman, but a group of women all belonging to one race of people who were also used as political and the economic fodder.
I’ve said so many times people should try to inform themselves in this topic because people keep holding up some poor examples as defensive points. I didn’t mention the girls wearing weaves because it’s all THE SAME POINT. If I have been saying in nearly every single comment that women were made to feel as less for wearing natural hair then what do YOU think the logical conclusion of that cultural warfare be? That the women then feel like they need straight hair to be acceptable? That their options become perming their own hair or buying straight weaves? That’s just logical.
I don’t know why you think someone who’s this aware of black hair and culture would be clueless about the proliferation of weaves and where they’re gathered from. I do appreciate the link though because I’d rather read and learn then remain uninformed and clueless. It’s not being a saint, it’s just willing to learn.
What this whole article fails to mention is that Amandla wasn’t even replying to Kylie. She was replying to a girl who hashtagged Kylie’s picture #whitegirlsdoitbetter. A pretty important part of the story to be left out…
http://www.buzzfeed.com/iramadison/kylie-jenner-got-blasted-on-instagram-by-hunger-games-star-a#.fpxw1gP9Z
yeah, that is a major, major detail!
It truly is because people are using this as another excuse to create a divided society and that’s such a shame.
Wow, that hashtag is an actual thing?
Man, there are days that I am so damn happy to be old.
For reasons I don’t understand it is a thing. I’m disappointed that CB left that tidbit out of their article to try and make it sound likes these two have some sort of IG argument going on.
J lo, who is NOT black, wore cornrows in her Love Don’t Cost a THing video. Nobody said anything about that……
Kylie wears cornrows and the internets expolode………….
I guess Puerto Ricans get a pass?????????????
And Juliette Lewis wore cornrows to the 1992 Oscars (her date was Brad Pitt!), sparking a brief little fad of braids on white girls at my university back then. It’s been a while since then and also since the J.Lo video, and issues of privilege and appropriation weren’t talked about as much. (I’m sure they were talked about even at the time, but it wasn’t as big a part of the “national conversation” as it is now). And I think it’s a good thing that maybe we know a little bit more now than we did decades ago.
Oh Lord, yes, but she looked awful in them, you have to admit.
Whoooooa, there is an awful lot o’ privilege on display in these comments.
Reading some of the comments on this post is a reflection of everything that is wrong with White privilege. Dismissing other people’s feelings because it calls out their offensive behaviour. How difficult is it to engage in a conversation about something without telling POC they are petty and they should focus on police brutality?
I am extremely proud of young Black women especially like Amandla who are unapologetically outspoken about such issues.
Yeahhhh…but some of us aren’t white tho. And some of us have been assaulted over it. It’s not a case of “White Privilege” if someone doesn’t agree that cornrows are for black people only and that any other race wearing should be up for open criticism. There are a lot of different reasons why people don’t see this as a wrongdoing and it has a lot to do with the state of people’s heart, perceptions and openmindedness.
YES!!! Some people on this site are using white privilege as an excuse to display their own bad feelings. Sorry, that’s how I see it.
This girl isn’t interesting enough to battle.
Says the girl who has no reservations dying her hair grey because–hey!–it’s super cool to have the hair color of an old person as a young, rich, healthy, Hollywood starlet.
Amandla, stop appropriating elderly culture!
/written-half-jokingly-but-half-seriously-because-the-elderly-are-actually-the-most-discrimated-against-group-in-the-world-according-to-the-un
Do you really think that’s equivalent to the issue she was bringing up?
#whitegirlsdoitbetter
To point out the very obvious, “elderly” is not a culture and if we’re lucky, all of us get to enjoy growing old and getting grey hair.
It’s probably not really a joke if you then went on to bring up elderly people being the most discriminated group….which I find hard to believe.
@kitten and @eternal side-eye
No, I do not think it is a directly equivalent issue. That is why I SPECIFICALLY say that it was half in jest. I also thought my sardonic tone was fairly obvious.
However, since you both are being purposefully obtuse, I will lay out the rather clear similarities. People discriminate against the elderly. Older people, especially women, often feel societal pressure to dye their hair. Amandla is a young, rich, healthy person “appropriating” something that is a marker of someone who is old, likely poor, and even likelier not in great health because it is “cool and edgy” to have grey hair–just not when you’re old. Is the situation exactly the same? No. Are there striking similarities? Obviously.
My point was simply that a lot of times people do things, like change up their hair, without thinking of the deeper implications. Is it ignorant? Sure. Is it the most horrible thing that ever could happen omg omg omg? No. Anyway, I hope you can think about this without returning any mean-spirited (and incorrect) comments or hashtags. Also, read up on elder abuse and discrimination. The levels of unemployment, homelessness, mental illness/suicide, and social disconnection reported throughout the world are stunning.
@vile
Lots of people have gray hair without being old. Being old is not based around any denigrated groups. There are plenty of rich old women with gray. Gray hair as it currently exists is specificately about making something reviled in culture (as you said women feeling pressured to dye their hair) and showing it is not a flaw but something that can be attractive.
There’s a lot of context to appreciate when you’re trying to think how to value this topic. Women weren’t raped for having gray hair. They weren’t publicly mocked for having it, I agree they were devalued by society but this is not something a ‘group or race’ of people were born with and used by another group as economic and power fodder.
Women with gray hair have their own issues that can be appreciated without having to make a different group of women into a punchline. Elder abuse is a serious topic and again should be addressed but elders aren’t belped by dismissing the issues other groups face either.
Give up – the purity police are out in their riot gear today!
Hmm I think this is all very interesting. That being said, I feel that this girl, Amandla, as an apparently mixed race girl, comes from a place of privilege herself. Hollywood’s black roles are mainly given to mixed women, anyway. Look how fair Beyonce, Rihanna and Ncki Minaj are. I’m a bit tired of these half black chicks hollering about how black they are and how hard it is for them to wear braids and dreadlocks. Most of them don’t even look black. They have straight hair, thin noses and fair skin. Basically as white as possible while still being able to call themselves black.
Also, as an African, I find it funny that so many AA are defending this hairstyle so passionately, when I was made fun of- by African Americans for my “nappy ass hair” and dark skin in school. I literally was told my several black people that my skin tone was ugly and I needed a perm. No white person ever commented on my skin tone or hair texture- at least not to my face. That being said, that was back when permed hair was in. Now that natural hair and pan African-ism is in, of course everyone just loves it lol. We’ll see how it is in 10 years.
I don’t care about Kylie’s hairstyle. I wear cornrows a lot because its a simple hairstyle for me and I think I look good with braids in my hair. I understand that the Kardashians appropriate black culture, but they are a symptom of a larger problem, not the cause. People like black traits, as long as they are not on black people- we know this, but what does jumping on a Kardashian do? And just like many people pointed out, are non-blacks no longer allowed to wear braids and such? I don’t ask anyone for permission before I do my hair a certain way, and I don’t expect anyone to ask me for permission either.
As an African myself I’m going to say im sorry you had to deal with that ignorance but you know your history to know those people mocking you are victims of the world they live in. They were taught to think nappy hair and dark skin are the worst crimes someone could have, I’m more saddened by the fact they feel that way.
Self-hating is a vicious beast, there wouldn’t be a skin-lightening industry if half the world didn’t have the scars of colonization on them.
I personally think more people should be upset that it seems that just about every successful black man, seems to marry either a light skinned black woman or a white woman. The only exception I can think of is President Obama.
Why would someone’s choice of life partner upset you? In case you haven’t noticed, our Supreme Court just made a landmark decision about how everyone has the right to marry who they want. Or do you think we should go back to the old mentality, before Loving vs. Virginia?
DTX, every comment you make, you nail it. #impressed
She’s talking about a trend that occurs in some successful blacks/minorities. The idea being that the lighter the better and if you can attain a white woman then you’ve made it, there are a LOT of color struck losers out there. It also has its roots in colonization and slavery with white women being the forbidden fruit that got black people killed.
It’s a double-sided issue since obviously some guys will just love a girl and her race has nothing to do with it, while conversely some guys see a white woman as a prize. The opposite is what we see with the Kardashians, where they fetishize their darker partners and comment on their skin tone not mental or other qualities that they might love.
Amandla could respond “Go hang out with that plastic surgeon to try and look more like me” or “just because you like black in you don’t make you black boo boo”. *drops mic*
As a Sociology/women’s studies major I get the concept of cultural appropriation but im also confused by it. If you were to marry someone of a differed culture you would be expected to learn and probably take part in their traditions (I ubderstand that this doesn’t mean you start wearing your hair in corn rows). I grew up in a town with a lot of Hispanics and was friends with a lot of them, I went to many friends quinceanera and other things and it was never an issue. In fact last night my cousin and her boyfriend were over for dinner and I had corn on the cob and he was surprised I made it the “Mexican” way, which is how I learned to eat it growing up. He wasn’t offened, he was happy he didn’t have to get weird looks from people when he asked for mayo for his corn. Last semester I had a cross culture perspectives class which was to help social works in dealing with families from other cultures, it outlined traditions and values from other cultures so we would understand how to be respectful when dealing with them. So when does it cross the line from being respectful to cultural appropriation? Is it just in dress? Because that’s what I see most people having a problem with.
I think the line is willful ignorance and lack of respect and understanding?
I think that’s it Amy.
My BIL is Japanese. I went to Japan, was there for 3 weeks, and you leanr to love their culture. I got a Kimono, which I still wear and own. I wore it for Hallowe’en, along with chop sticks in my hair, that year because I absolutely loved Japan. I love their food, I loved Mt Fuji, I loved the bullet train into Shinjuku Station.
Was I appropriating? Gwen loved Harajuku ( and who wouldn’t? it’s so wonderfully different, so full of life there), yet she was accused of cultural appropriation.
did I?
my nieces are half japanese. they went to St Lucia for christmas and… got corn rows. looked adorable.
who knows? so many rules, what you can and can’t do, shouldn’t do.
was Kylie being disrespectful? does intent matter?
Speaking as someone who is “white” with very curly hair I can say that there is definitely a corporate accepted hair type and is has nothing to do with race. There have been studies that prove that people with curly hair don’t earn the same money, get hired for the same jobs or get promoted as much as straight haired people. I chose not to give in and keep my curly kinky hair but who knows where I might be.
BTW : I used quotes around white because I’m a very dark skinned Italian who was never treated as white by my blond frolirnds.
And that’s shocking considering the fact that most white people actually have curly hair! Very few white people actually have straight hair. Asians, both east and south, actually have the straightest hair.
You’d be shocked to know how many white women straighten their hair.
And let’s not even talk about blond hair….most white people do not have blond hair either! And if they do, it’s usually only a short period in their life in childhood. I should know! I have both!
Although I don’t discount that curly hair is seen as unprofessional in the business world but to say a White curly woman and a Black woman with kinky hair face the same prejudice if wearing their hair out is not true at all.
I have never heard of a curly non Black woman or even child being excluded, fired or receiving warning because of their hair.
I kind of wish Kylie were here to read this discussion, because at the end of the day, she’s probably going to go to bed no wiser or more well-informed about these issues than she was before. She’ll just think that she and the chick from the Hunger Games got into a fight about a boy, and that mean girl dissed her totally fly hairdo
Maybe one day she’ll wake up and realize there’s more to life than the sheltered ‘reality’ her family worships. Maybe. There’s always hope and she does have the resources, but truthfully she’s just another rich kid who doesn’t think about the broader world because they don’t have to. I do think it’s awesome that Amandla is doing so much with her position though, you can’t save em all but the ones you can and do educated can go on to do amazing things.
She’s got a price sticker on the bottom of her gold clompers. Was she planning on returning them?
That’s all I got for this artificial trick.
Amandla is NOT saying Kylie cannot wear cornrows, ffs!!!
She was answering someone on Kylie’s instagram page about appropriation.
is there a point at which the long, fake fingernails will stop being an “in” thing?
Girl it is just hair. Let it go!! As a black female I could care less.
It’s beyond sad between women being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in Syria, forced genital mutilation in Africa, and the continued slavery of women in the Sudan THAT THIS IS WHAT “CONCERNS” you all.
Progress my ass there is no progress in finger pointing. Nor value in Instagram and tumblr battles
Google any of the third and adjust your outrage meters to something worth being outraged about
She should stop dressing up like Kim, she looks awful in it (as Kim does). By the way, wasn’t she friend with Jaden Smith? What happened? #teenagedrama