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Women of color are the top consumers to use haircare and skincare specific beauty products. First, allow me to wipe away any cute and cuddly perception you have of me. Enough of the, “Dani is so nice” shit! It’s BULLSHIT! I’m caring and empathetic but nowhere on my forehead does it read: D O O R M A T! You tried it!
A few weeks ago I was targeted by an Instagram troll that made a comment on one of my Live video posts saying that it didn’t matter if I just had a baby or not — my hair was always matted and unkept.
This morning while checking my business emails, I noticed that there was a Facebook notification where a comment had responded to one of my team members saying, “her”, meaning ME “hair looks awful”.
When we searched the page and for the individual to ban them from the page we could not find them. There was no trace of the comment at all. We still to this moment cannot locate the comment on the morning live video and it doesn’t matter. We are here now and it’s about time to address some things.
Naturally Nixon is known for being an inclusive and diverse community and safe space. Granted, we cannot control social media trolls.
I must be doing something right because that’s the only time when they come for you! These two isolated incidents have triggered something within me and something must be done. We need to speak out against it! This is NOT okay! This is bullying!
Eurocentric beauty standards scream one thing to me — WHITE SUPREMACY!
You don’t get to tell me, a Black woman how to wear my hair and you definitely don’t get to make heinous comments about the characteristics of my hair.
I’ve grown up with many comments about my hair texture. For some, I had “that good hair” to others, “you need to do your hair” — my hair is DONE.
When you uphold Eurocentric beauty standards you are: shaming, teasing, suggesting to people of color that they should move away from their ethnic backgrounds and features. That these features are NOT acceptable, okay, beautiful, the norm, great.
Our children are growing up in a society where white supremacy and these Eurocentric beauty standards are still present.
Growing up, all I saw was European (White) models, Tv and movies stars, etc. the Black ones were slaves, house sitters, CRIMINALS and more!
European beauty standards have made me uncomfortable and ashamed of my plus sized body, thick, textured curly hair. They want you to have bone straight hair that never frizzes, a body that doesn’t curve and white skin. That ain’t me. It never was.
As a kid, I use to lie and say my father was a white man to pass as a biracial woman. I was ashamed of my African-Caribbean features. I’m actually an Ethiopian, Senegalese, Trinidadian woman.
We are all FINE THE WAY WE ARE! I wanted to “kindly” say to every person who has something to say about BIPOC people and their hair … FUCK YOUR BEAUTY STANDARDS! Respectfully.