"It's cool when they do it, but it's a problem when I do it?": Black women and cultural appropriation.

 

Black women can be known as trendsetters. Most styles you see? A black woman most likely invented or came up with the idea. Great right? However, the reception they receive is not always welcome. A lot of hairstyles black women wear tend to get a lot of criticism, most of it negative. Essence states, “What’s difficult to digest is this “praise” of all things black – from cornrows and large booties to acrylic nails, door-knocker earrings, and tribal fabrics – only becomes “chic,” “trendy,” and “epic” when worn by white women. When these same cultural markers are on black women, they are “ghetto,” “urban,” and “ratchet” – meaning, unpretty.” Such as baby hairs or durags. Many black women have spoken up about how things are different when they are not the ones wearing the style. Many black models could rock these styles, but instead, they would rather have someone outside the culture do it. A factor in this could be that they do not have the proper hairstylists to do it. Many black models have voiced their concerns about not having a black hairstylist on set and they end up having their hair looking a mess. Hello, fashion industry? It is okay to hire black stylists for your models.

Looking at TikTok and other social media sites, people are taking old styles and trying to call them new trends. The influence of the internet is extremely strong. Could be why I see white women attempting to do their “baby hairs” or white men wearing durags. What’s next, black face? Essense continues stating, “Numéro magazine bronzed the body of a 16-year-old Caucasian model Ondria Hardin for a spread titled “African Queen” – back in early 2013. But a recent Facebook post about it went viral, bringing renewed attention to the irony: At a time when black models are fighting for jobs on the runway and in editorials, we’re putting white models in blackface.” Instead of hiring a BLACK WOMAN for the job, they attempted to “create” one? Interesting. Sadly, at the end of the day, the appropriators can take the durags off and the hairstyles down. Black women and people? They can’t stop being black.

Sources:

https://www.essence.com/news/mirror-mirror-when-style-ghetto-black-women-chic-whites/