Friday, December 6, 2013

Does Beyonce need to comb Blue Ivy's hair?

By Tenisha Mercer
www.HairNista.Blogspot.com

She's a celebrity baby, for sure. And she's as adorable as she wants to be in photos on Beyonce's Instagram account, but there seems to be a common thread about Blue Ivy Carter -- her hair.


Blue Ivy Carter, Blue Ivy Carter natural hair, black hair, black hair styles
Blue Ivy Carter and her Dad


Increasingly, commenters bash Beyonce's hair combing skills and criticize Blue's free form afro. We knew Blue would be subject to criticism, but really tho? These are some of the comments from a recent Huffington Post article: 

Huffington post article on Blue Ivy natural hair
Comments on Huffington Post




More comments about Blue Ivy's hair


What is the name for this mess? Hairism? Texturism? Kinkism? Because, essentially, these commenters invariably point out that Beyonce needs to comb Bey's hair and point out Blue's hair texture. They all seem to say the same thing -- that Blue's hair texture isn't "good" enough.

Oh, they may not use the words "good" hair. But you know that's what they really mean. This is a 2-year-old child. Who cares? You want to piss a Black mother off, then talk about her child's hair. I promise you that Black moms are judged so harshly for this.

And most of the time, it's from other Black moms, many of whom somehow expect childrens' hair to done without a hair in place before they step out the house. In a perfect world, maybe. But it usually doesn't always work out like that.

Our Expectations

This child is 2. Her hair isn't going to be perfect. And it shouldn't be. Most moms of active two-year-olds will tell you that all the hair combing in the world means nothing once they start running and playing.

Anyway, what's wrong with Blue's hair in a fro? Why is this child being chided for her hair not being combed? Just because her hair is kinky doesn't mean that it's not combed. It's natural -- and curling up is what natural hair does.


What's wrong with her hair not being the way you want it to be -- braided up or in ponytails? Because that way, it would "hide" her texture, right? So now we are projecting grown ass adults' definitions of what's acceptable and not acceptable onto a 2-year old child? For real?

I knew this would happen. And just like I thought it would, it did, less than 2 years after this child was born. She's a child. That should be off limits.

We still have a whole lot of work to do.

What do you think about Blue Ivy Carter's hair? 












2 comments:

  1. Ya know it pretty sad that it's even a subject of discussion. LET THAT BABY'S HAIR BE.....I read an article a few month back about how natural hair women can be so mean about how others choose to wear their hair. GET A LIFE! That's all I want to say. Peace and Blessing Sis!

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  2. You are so right, Alecia Hutton! And I think you've just given me inspiration for another post. Why are we so mean to each other about our hair -- how we wear it, the styles, how we maintain it, whether we are permed or not. It's mean girls to the 10th degree! And we start so young, talking about babies!

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