Fake black person Rachel Dolezal has barely left the public stage and she's resurrected in a new form. Witness Allure magazine's tutorial on Afro hair -- for white girls. Why, Allure? Why?
Even before BuzzFeed reported on it, the Afro tutorial was causing an uproar among readers and owners of actual natural Afros.
Of course! Do we even need to explain what cultural appropriation is, and why this is offensive? In a nutshell, it's gross to help yourself to a hairstyle that is natural to a group of people who experienced centuries of slavery followed by blatant discrimination. It's definitely not okay especially because black women have been pressured by our culture to straighten their hair just so they can do things like get a freakin' job or appear on television.
So, no, you don't get to help yourself to the Afro like you're at the hair buffet table. You haven't lived the life.
Also, the hairstyle isn't even an Afro. It's a twist out.
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But who needs my explanation? Black Twitter, you tell them.
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Someone should have warned you, @Allure_magazine
Black Twitter comin'. Stop the foolishness.
http://t.co/t5mQ5HVR9Fpic.twitter.com/OUWXI4zbkf
— Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) August 2, 2015Allure defended itself in a statement to BuzzFeed:
The Afro has a rich cultural and aesthetic history. In this story, we show women using different hairstyles as an individual expressions [sic] of style. Using beauty and hair as a form of self-expression is a mirror of what’s happening in our country today. The creativity is limitless — and pretty wonderful.
Wonderful? Nice try. Here's why that statement is as ignorant and tone-deaf as it gets.
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Everybody want their hair styled...but don't nobody wanna be profiled
@Allure_magazinepic.twitter.com/4P22d4UIn6
— Erika Totten (@2LiveUnchained) August 2, 2015Right, enjoy the hair ... without some clerk following you around suspiciously at Nordstrom!
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Dear @Allure_magazine,
This is an afro. Don't cash crop my afro like you did my cornrows pic.twitter.com/KvVGTjdLsz
— Amani Furaha (@MeeRaeDoe) August 3, 2015"Cash crop" as in something you grow that gets sold to someone else -- you don't get to use it. (You know how metaphors work, right?)
I mean, maybe we should all just trade hair, right?
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I find it amusing that allure made that "how to get an Afro" post. I always get "you should straighten your hair" at work.
— Peachy vanzant (@Cajun_peach) August 4, 2015Maybe not.
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That Allure/Afro foolishness is a great example of how you can work in beauty & know literally nothing about black hair. Literally nothing.
— Cora Harrington (@lingerie_addict) August 4, 2015Yeah, seriously -- this article would have passed through a dozen hands. No one thought to speak up and say, "Ummm, this is a really bad idea ..."???
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When Allure does an article telling white women how to get an afro after being dismissive of black hair for decades. pic.twitter.com/ErSKJu8ber
— SNIPES! (@ChocnessMonsta) August 3, 2015Another good point. Maybe if Allure had done an article here and there about caring for natural black hair they might have a modicum of credibility. But no.
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What a missed opportunity by @Allure_magazine to actually talk about afro hair...to girls who actually have it. pic.twitter.com/qO6kOLoUDW
— Eileen ¯\_(ã��)_/¯ (@MissWhoeverUR) August 3, 2015Right?
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This is an Afro. Not....this. @Allure_magazinepic.twitter.com/hkdsMdNG1t
— Brandy with a Y (@BtSquared2) August 2, 2015Just in case anyone was confused. I mean, should you even write an article about Afros if you don't know what one is?
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Black women facing real life discrimination, having to fight to wear our natural hair at work/school but white women in Allure want afros.
— Cirque du SoBae (@brownandbella) August 2, 2015I know. It's an upside-down world, isn't it? And there you go. I think we all learned something here. That is not an Afro, and no, you can't just DIY one like that.
Image via Erika Totten/Twitter