“Just taking a moment to rant against natural hair police” ~Solange Knowles
Solange had a lot on her mind last night as she took to Twitter to speak against naturals who have questioned the authenticity of her big chop and criticized her for rocking “undefined” looks all the time. Check it out;
I cut my hair ALL off 4 times in my life all for very different reasons….I only reiterate this because this is nothing new for me.
I’ve never painted myself as a team natural vice president. I don’t know the lingo and I don’t sleep with a satin cap…
However, I did noticed when I picked out my hair, I kept seeing feedback about needing a “twist out”. Connnnfesssioonnn: I HATE twist outs.
I dont want to talk about no damn hair…..no mo.
So what got Solange all fired up? A post on natural hair Tumblr blog Moderne Meid, which was itself summarizing a post from a DIFFERENT natural hair website that attracted some very uncomplimentary comments about Solange’s hair, including that it is not unique, and looks dry and unkempt (aka, not always in a twist out).
I think it’s very unfortunate that Solange is getting flack for DARING to rock her hair with the curls undefined. There are still quite a few women who feel that the only “acceptable” way to wear natural hair is to painstakingly define every ringlet, curl and coil — stretched styles and undefined fros be damned. I love that Solange prefers an undefined look. It fits well with her overall look and attitude, and frankly it’s quite beautiful.
What are your thoughts on all this ladies? How do you feel about women coming at Solange for not having (or attempting to have) curls in her hair?
Solange’s full twitter rant is below (start at the bottom and read up). Click to enlarge the photos:
she’s a spokesperson for a natural hair company and she’s a public figure. she’s going to get criticized. that’s what comes with being a celebrity AND being beyonce’s little sister. BUT, yes her hair looks a little dry, and if she likes it, then she likes it. there’s fault on both ends. don’t be a spokesperson to a specific category if you’re gonna bitch about getting comments. and as common folk, we shouldn’t criticize people cause it’s not our “norm” ps, i LOVE solo BUT what barbra said was kinda true…this whole “poseur hipster” thing is getting a little old. NEXT.
Well said
How does her hair look dry? That’s the way her hair looks!
Just because she’s a spokesperson doesn’t make her not have human emotions. No matter how famous you are, when someone’s all over your case over something like this, of course you’re going to get upset. Expecting her to just keep that to herself is unhealthy for her, and, quite frankly, unfair. Like, we can talk about her all we want, but she can’t defend herself?
I like Solange’s hair. I think it fits her style and personality. Why can’t folks just let folks be. Why has the wearing of natural hair become a religion to some people and they act like there are natural hair sins. I don’t like twist outs either. I mean, they are cool, I guess, just wasn’t my go to style when I was a loose natural. But it doesn’t change in the loc’d community either. Remember the sister loc vs.traditional loc debate?
I understand where Solange is coming from. I occasionally wear my hair undefined, because i love the whole 70′s vibe of rocking an undefined afro look, but I can’t tell you the amount of hate I get when I do. The thing that amazes me most is that it is hate from my fellow black people, white people always love the look but many black people become openly hostile toward me.
It’s hair people! Can people stop finding new ways to judge each other, please?!? It’s not enough to be natural anymore now that “Natural hair” has gone mainstream. Now you have to have a twist-out or some other acceptable form of hair manipulation to be an acceptable member of the natural hair community? Ridiculous!
Not everybody is trying to be an ambassador for natural hair. Some of us just want to have healthy, chemical free hair. That is all! Not everyone wants to part of a community. Some people are just individuals who want to do their own thing. Just let them. Is Solange’s kinks hurting anybody? Um, No!
As the natural hair community grows, the “Natural Hair Snobs” community grows.
+1000. It’s hard enough to have naturally curly/kinky hair in a largely Eurocentric society, but now we have to contend with inner-community division too. The fact that she’s a spokesperson for Carole’s Daughter IN NO WAY means that she has to justify how she chooses to wear her hair. The operative words here are “her hair”-it’s not ours. Sure she’s a celebrity, but she’s a grown woman, too, and can do what she wants. To each her own. SMH.
It’s JUST hair…people need to calm the eff down and just let people do whatever they want with their hair. It’s really not that serious!
Either you care what people think or you don’t. So, Which one is it?? She needs to grow-up and take the high road (if that’s what she’s really about). The whole Twitter-thing is so damn childish. These people act like they’re so ‘devil-may-care’ and their so cool — but they are so insecure and fake.
*they’re
So for all those who keep saying she needs to do a TWIST OUT….SHE HATES TWIST OUTS!!
But, its a shame she had to defend her hair, and folks wonder why so many woman hate all the drama associated with NATURAL HAIR!
I always thought it was funny that people “define THEIR curls” with twistouts…umm news flash…THAT IS NOT YOUR CURL PATTERN. Secondly, I find it strange that in the natural world, many of us still will not wear our hair in its true, natural state. We will spend countless hours manipulating our pattern and stretching our hair. We are still blinded by the images of white beauty…soft curls and length over tight coils. SHM.
Very very true.
Food for thought (at least based on my personal experience): although we are “blinded by the images of white beauty” at times, how many white people are actually giving us negative comments about our hair compared to black people?
^^^^This!^^^^^ Co-sign. There is an assumption that white people are worrying about our hair. Anecdotally, I have been in predominantly white environments with natural hair for 6 years. I have been naturally for about 7 1/2 years (8 years in the fall). White people have not given me negative comments about my hair. If they were thinking it then that is something else and something I am not aware off. The negative comments have always come from Blacks, particularly Black women (natural and relaxed).
I also don’t think that stretching your hair or braiding/twisting it to stretch is being “blinded by the images of white beauty.” I have thick and long tightly coiled hair. Unless I want to rip out pieces of my hair trying to untangle the coils (which I have had to do on several occasions) because they get so intertwined it saves me time to stretch the hair a bit with braids or twist. I have no problem rocking my twist, braids, a puff, curly coils but for ease I tend to keep it somewhat stretched to avoid tangles. Not a quest for whiteness. When I first went natural this idea of defining your pattern and what not wasn’t on my radar and something I hadn’t even heard from because the natural community was small and from what experienced mainly locs. I just liked the way my hair looked when I took out the twist or braids so I rocked it. It wasn’t that serious. I liked the style (in the early years I called them crinkles because the word twistout or braidout were not words that I had heard of). I think some people are making this a bit more complicated than what it needs to be.
Even when our hair is long, stretched or manipulated it looks nothing like white hair and the texture is still there, thats the beauty of our hair, just my opinion.
i don’t sleep with a satin cap either solange. lmao.
i’ve never regarded solange’s hair as “unkempt.” that’s funny.
i like her hair.
The only reason Solange has been able to parlay her 15 minutes of fame into 30 more minutes, is because of her hair. It started when she appeared on Oprah after Chris Rock’s documentary “Good Hair” after cutting her hair off. SHE is the one who decided to appear before the public talking NOT about her music or fashion or parenting skills, but her newly shorn HEAD.
This TV appearance led to her getting MUCH publicity, solely based on her natural hairstyles, and subsequently led to her JOB as a HAIR SPOKESPERSON for Carol’s Daughter. Their latest campaign featuring her is pushing transitioning products, though her hair is completely natural.
If I were Carol’s Daughter, I would be quite concerned that her representing the company’s products for natural hair while stating “I don’t wanna talk about Hair no mo’ ” and “My hair is not very important to me.” That might very well be the case, but she should have the good sense not to say it while she is being paid to promote HAIR products. I don’t buy this company’s products, so makes me no never mind.
If she doesn’t want chat about her hair online, pick another line of work. Stick to pretend DJ’ing and let your HAIR gig go. Other Naturalistas such as Ledisi, Badu, and Esperanza Spaulding don’t have the public focusing on their hair because they promote their art as opposed to their looks. Does Solange have any artistic endeavors to promote?
+ 1,000
“I’m not a natural hair ambassador” BUT
I am getting paid hundreds of thousands as an ambassador /spokesperson for a natural hair brand.
“I’m not a natural hair ambassador” BUT
I do routinely grant interviews on natural hair blogs discussing my natural hair.
So basically “I’m not a natural hair ambassador” unless I’m getting paid or given compliments and being fawned over. The minute the lauding ends, it’s eff those nazis!!! Co-me-dy.
Is it difficult to understand that its just business for her and Carol’s Daughter? its a win/win for both of them. Whats wrong with that? why shouldn’t both of them prosper, if you are gullible enough to want to buy the products that define your curl, whilst they make money off you? Its business. Natural hair products are commodities, which Solange happens to represent. Who said you had to care about anything you represent if your making money from it? I say respect to her and Carls Daughter, if they can capitalise on a trend and peoples desire for curl definition!
Bwahahaha! +1 I thought it was strange that she would be representing an expensive natural hair line yet saying that hair is not important to her.
I find it funny that in her rant she says she hates twist outs but in her interview she claims she does twist outs and loves the way it looks after sleeping on it for a few days. Whats the point of even doing them at all if you so called HATE them? That seems like an awful lot of time and work for someone who doesn’t like them. Lol the thought of me sleeping on my hair without a sleeping cap for 5 days makes me cringe, my hair would be so tangled, knotted and drier than it already is. I’d have to bring my hair scissors into the shower with me.
I don’t like the way fresh twist outs look on me, but I do them so that when I take the twists out the next morning, I can fluff my roots with my fingers. Doing that gives me a more textured ‘fro.
I understand that because fresh twist outs do not have as much body but to claim you hate them all together is weird to me. I think my twist outs look better the second day but I’m not going to rant about how much I hate it when I told people in an interview that I did it to my hair. She just seemed a little hypocritical and childish to me. Like I said, she can do her hair anyway she likes but don’t deny the fact that you are putting yourself out there as a natural hair icon when you are a spokesperson for Carols Daughter. Her rant was unnecessary, if I were Lisa Price I’d be a little upset that she’s saying she hair isn’t important and she doesn’t want to talk about her hair when she’s representing a brand.
Thank you for posting this BGLH, that is my blog =)
Natural hair is the choice to do you!No one else should try change that.This isn’t about uniformity and everyone looking teh same as that would be scary! LOL
Natural hair is someone who is free from mainstream opinions and expectations and trying to care for their hair as it suits them.
I have worn my hair undefined as i was away from home and i loved it,however due to the dryness and knots issues i cannot do it ALL the time.I don’t likw twist out and prefer braid outs so i wear them as it keeps the dryness and knots to a minimum.
I’ve stated hear before that I don’t care much for those who want to police another persons natural hair. I have to say I can’t stand this generation I live in because people think that everything that comes out of their mouth is important and that we all need to listen to them.
I loved Solanges rant. I really don’t like people telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing with YOUR hair. If it works for me and not for you fine. If it works for you and not for me fine. Its no big deal.
Some of these people need to find something to do to entertain themselves instead of sitting on the computer and telling people sh** we don’t want to hear.
These people (they know who they are because I’ve seen them on here) need to grow up and learn how to leave people alone.
I wonder what people really think of my hair. I have “wild” wiry strands that are never tamed. My hair looks similar to Solanges but a bit more stretched. I do the best that I can do with my hair. I don’t want to put a hot comb through it. I wish people would undertand that not all kinks and coils behave the same. My hair hates to be twisted, it begins to tangle and I lose hair.
i suggest you not concern yourself too much with what others think.
*sings that Taylor Swift song that I don’t know the name of but it has something to do with people being mean*
That is all.
I think her little twitter response was petulant and immature. Folks really don’t need to respond to every idiot that posts some anonymous comment online with a twitter rant. By responding to that silliness she made herself look stupid. The problem with her rant is not responding to those who don’t like her hair. It’s that in doing so, she also belittled women who embrace their natural hair as something more meaningful than a style choice.
For some of us, natural hair is more than just a look. It’s an embracing of our complete selves. And that can be very powerful when you’re in a culture that has nothing but hostility for our black femininity. With her response to a few idiots, she took the attitude that natural hair as a personal journey is somehow stupid. And women who seek a community of support for that community are somehow stupid. Nobody elected her vice president of anything, and belittling people who may have sought inspiration in her choice to wear her hair natural is graceless and low class. Period.
She can hate twist outs if she likes, just as people hate her hairdos. But just because she doesn’t like a few ill-advised ignorant comments doesn’t mean she has to sh!t on the concept of a natural hair community.
In any case, we get the message Solange. We’ll not be inspired by you anymore. Sincerest apologies for considering you strong, classy and beautiful. Didn’t know that made you the vice president of the natural hair fan club – because that would be the worst thing in the world.
Stay classy, Solange!
I agree. She also didn’t even acknowledge those who always say how great she looks, how much they love her style, and her hair. But as soon as someone says something bad, THAT gets a twitter response. Plus, I was on her side almost until someone pointed out she is a spokesperson for Carol’s Daughter. So naturals and other women who purchase CD should look to your style when it comes to spending money on certain products, but NO ONE can ever critique your style? I am sure some of the comments were mean-spirited, but if you pick up one end of the stick (being a spokesperson for a hair care line) you pick up the other end (people having all types of things to say, good and bad, about your hair).
P.S. It is wrong for people to say what hair style you SHOULD wear, but just ignore the haters and do your own thing. I just wanted to say that because that is my overall opinion. I wrote a lot of other stuff. LOL
+ 1
All I’ve got to say is well said. This was exactly what I was thinking and some.
I get that she’s upset about the comments she’s been getting. I even agree that she should be able to wear and embrace her hair in any state she chooses. HOWEVER…you don’t want to talk about hair no mo? I’m a big supporter of Solange but i just can’t get behind this 100%. If she didn’t want to talk about hair, the good,the bad, and the ugly…maybe should not have partnered with Carol’s Daughter as the spokesperson for the natural initiative! Sorry, Solo, you can’t have your cake and eat it to which i’m sure Carol gave you PLENTY of cake to be apart of her new endeavour.
I like Solange’s style. I also feel her for not liking the way twist outs look on her. After cutting my locs, I just KNEW my go to styles would be twist outs and protective styles. But after detangling, cleansing, conditioning, deep treating, and moisturizing, I saw styling as extraneous. I just washed and go’ed (washed and went?) Anyway, the only reason why people may not have tripped on my lack of twist out is because I have a tiny curl pattern. But that doesn’t make my hair better or worse. It’s just my hair. So many people were upset about my cutting my locs. But I told myself, they’ll be alright. Won’t lose any sleep at night because of them. My best friend even gives her unwarranted opinion EVERY time I change my hair. But I just ignore her. If I told her today how much I would like her to let go of her relaxer, would she stop getting them? Nope. I can’t even get her to eat a vegetable. She is her own person, I am mine. Now we have ignorant natural hair bullies who want to FORCE a certain natural hair style on people? Doing the most. I also learned to stop jumping bandwagons, especially product bandwagons. Aubrey Organics sucked for my hair. That thick ish can’t be worked through tightly coily shrunken hair no matter what, at least not time. Giovanni shampoos stripped my hair. Shea butter made my hair feel yucky. Herbal Essences conditioners made my scalp itch. To each natural her own. I finally found what worked for me, after trial and error. I found what style I like best. Wash to the Go. I stopped caring so much what people think. I got over PJ’ism. Solange should just do her and move on. The only “critique” I have for her is for her to realize that opinions are like you know what, everyone has one. Many aren’t afraid to use it. If you are a spokesperson for a hair care line, be ready for the comments and listen to your Brother-in-Law and dust the shoulders off. If you like it, not everyone will love it. But that should not stop you from being yourself. She should focus more on the many naturals who show her much love and respect and affirm her style and overall presence. If she focuses on just the natural hair police, it makes us all look bad.
+1
well said! Also are we hair twins? Cause My hair react the same way to those products.
Perhaps we are:) Giovanni can strip the mess out your hair. Just because a shampoo is sulfate free doesn’t mean it won’t dry it out. Also, Herbal Essences and those dyes and fragrances, I think that’s what made my scalp itch like crazy. My only natural hair advice now is Trial and Error. That’s the only way.
“I can’t even get her to eat a vegetable.” that made me smile! :)
Sometimes when I read the comments all I can do is laugh, shake my head, and continue about my business. With that being said, on to the next…