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Tyra Banks is taking off her weave. Jeremy Piven has a proceeding hairline. And Phil Spector is just a train wreck. VIEW OUR GALLERY of celebrity weaves, wigs, and toupees.
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I'm glad to see this discussion and this trend. It's long overdue. I find it sad that so many women of color have chosen to go for hair weaves, essentially emulating caucasian hair in texture and length. I don't usually care for Tyra Banks but maybe her public rejection of her hair weave will motivate more women to examine and reject stereotypical ideals of beauty.
On a related note, I thought Brittany's shaving of her hair was possibly one of the sanest behaviors she exhibited during her acting out period. Nobody thinks a thing about seeing onion domed men anymore so why shouldn't women adopt this same styling option? Many women look beautiful in short and natural styles, or with no hair at all!
White women get weaves too. White women also tan despite the risk of skin cancer. Are they emulating blacks? What makes you think that black women wish to emulate whites? I straighten my hair (don't need a weave) because it's eaiser to manage and I like the way it looks. That's it. Mercy is right. Why is it such a big deal when black women do it?
No, white women are emulating Rapunzel. Or porn stars with bad wigs.
djanimaequeen, Yes, White women get weaves, too. And some palefaces choose to bake in the sun or get sprayed a yellow or orange color in order to conform to some cultural concepts of beauty. That these are stupid and dangerous practices done by some stupid white folks doesn't mean that other stupid and dangerous practices done by people of color should not be addressed.
"Tanned skin" for Caucasians being associated with beauty is a recent, 20th century phenomenon. Prior to Coco Chanel's popularization of this cultural ideal with a life of leisure and health in the 1920's, a tanned skin among Caucasians was not associated with beauty, but poverty.
But people of color, particularly people of African descent, have a long history of issues regarding straighter hair and lighter skin color. For most of their history in the Western world, any physical characteristics that resembled caucasians were considered "desirable" and offered some degree of acceptability by the larger culture. "Being able to "pass" as a Caucasian often meant the difference in being able to move from poverty to a better life. Unfortunately, this legacy continues.
"Straightening" one's hair, by any means, is damaging to the hair and is an unnatural process, usually involving lots of chemicals,heat, time and money. How could "straightening" your hair be easier than letting it go natural?
baptox
I know you are tying to understand my culture and for that I thank you. But please, do not profess to know what's best for me. My hair is extremely thick and course and on top of that I have an extremely sensitive scalp. Do you know what that means? It means that combing my hair is basically an exercise in torture. It has nothing to do with me wanting to be white. IT IS EASIER FOR ME. So please as others have suggested: Get off the soapbox and chill. You'll feel better I promise.
djanimaequeen, I know you are trying to understand my gender and for that I thank you. But please don't presume to know what's best for me to think and say regarding womens issues!
baptox
Huh?
The only problem here is your fixation on blacks as if we are the only ones who process our hair. Why do I have to be the only one to go au naturale? Why am I the one that's brainwashed into some ideal of beauty because I put a perm in my hair? What about other women AND men of all colors who do the same thing? Why aren't they brainwashed into some ideal of beauty as well? Do you notice how everyone posting on here is on the same page except for you? That's because YOU are the problem not the beauty industry. I was trying to be nice but if you want to take the gloves off then bring it. I can sift through your pseudo intellectual bs with perm in my eye.
It's a big deal because for century the standard for beauty in American culture has been the measurement of white skin, yellow skin, light skin and brown skin. Black skins have and continue to seen as unattractive, that is because Americans have been condition to believe race is a real human entity. The darker and kinkier your hair is the less likely you are to appear in a magazine, television, etc.
This psyche has also manifested itself in African Americans as well. If I'm lying, just look at majority of American Americans sit coms etc. Most are light skins or close to white. Sorry It's what its.
Also it can be argue that that kinkie hair is also manageable and looks very nice as well. I wish I could agree with you that the root of weave is about style and not self hatred. History has told me otherwise.
As long as race continues to be held by society as a natural human entity, instead of race being acknowledge as nothing more than a social construct. That means it is a myth made up by people who wanted power and supremacy of other human being. Period!
Girl Catfight! Guys, get the popcorn, grab a beer and settle back in an easy chair; this is going to be good!
baptox...please get off the soapbox...women in entertainment or in the fashion world...often need to have different looks and be able to be ready to go in a moment's notice...humidity, rain or just a bad hair day creates some real problems for black women who need to be camera ready ...so they use weaves...nothing to do with their culture, their blackness...it has to do with efficacy...so step down off that box and find something else to complain about.
anghiari
Thank you!!
And I am on "a soapbox" because you don't like my views? Perhaps you should think about what you have just written. What is "camera ready"? "Camera ready" means you can't look like an African American person? And surely you jest about weather affecting hair. There is plenty of "weather" in Africa and women don't stop looking beautiful because they don't have chemically treated or fake hair.
And if women in fashion happen to have different looks, how come one almost never sees African-American women in fashion sporting their "natural" hair? Why aren't styles that feature short, dark African hair the prevalent styles?
This controversy is very similar to the one about African-American women not being featured on the covers of most national beauty magazines or well-represented on high fashion runways. Until an African-American woman in the fashion industry addressed this issue, much of the industry was in denial that this was even an issue.
baptox
you are on the soapbox for creating issues that are not there. If you are so much for racial equality, then go to the inner cities and help address the problem of black poverty, or the criminal justice system where blacks are incarcerated at an exponentially higher rate. I think that you focus on this as a way to satiate a need to actively do something but you are doing nothing but stirring issues where they do not exist. Black women have never had issues with self esteem. I've seen plenty of plump black women carry themselves like they were Angelina Jolie. What ever we do when it comes to our looks we do because we like it, not because someone else does.
djanimaequeen, I am on a "soapbox" for creating issues that aren't there? Aren't there for whom? These issues are there for the vast majority of the women of the world as long as skin lightening, eyelid procedures, hair straightening, nose jobs and and breast enlargements (not to mention female genital mutilation) are promoted as acceptable means of achieving a culturally imposed ideals for women.
Because western cultural ideals of beauty are so influential around the world, people in western cultures have a particular responsibility in promoting healthy, inclusive ideas about the importance of all beauty -from the girls and women of Bedouin tribes to the girls and women of Inuit tribes- being accepted and honored.
djanimaequeen, I've worked with almost every ethnic group in this country during my long life, but I have worked a lot with poor African American women in the south. "Black women have never had issues with self esteem" you write? Yeah, tell that to the many, many black women I've known and worked with who have been raped, abused and exploited. And how dare you presume that my strong opinions are not a result of having had a lot of experience with people of color? If you disagree with my opinion or don't like it, perhaps it's easier for you to see me stirring up a bees nest rather than stirring something in you that is painful and difficult to address.
Ingoring the big elphant in the room will not make it go away. Weaving one hair is , I repeat emulating European physical apperance. It a form of race be held by society as a natural human enity. Weave is a symbol of social construct.
Such words as exercise in torture is code for ugly! God gave you your hair not so it would be an exercise in torture for you. No, it is beautiful it's a uniqness, that uniqness that each human being were bless to received. Some uniquness are big brown eyes or blue, some are pin straight hair, some are bull legs etc. But instead you been led to believe that exercise in torture is the only way to manage your hair, that is if you believe in superficial myth.
Sory to say but weaves are a testament to the mental frigilty of society as the impact of race as a natural human enity.
ok djanimaeueen needs to not take it so personally. is she famous chances are not even close. you either. and i agree with baptox im biracial (white and black) and understand both sides you two need to stop thinking that ones opinion revolves around you.
Baptox...camera ready means you decided to try to make a living in an industry where white women have set the standard...and until this society starts to get a clue that beauty really comes in all colors, you follow the standard, not unlike whole bunches of people who want certain careers and have to adjust and acclimate to a situation with which they are unfamiliar. I am tired of black folks always being told they are the victims of something..even themselves. The world is getting smaller, you seen any black women straight out of Africa getting perms or are they hating on themleves too?It's a little tiresome to have you slapping a black woman's wrist because she does not reflect your view of HOW SHE SHOULD BE OR THINK? I HAD A FRO in 1964-65...and it was as labor intensive as any perm. For me it began as a political statement and ended up as a pain in the butt hairstyle(for me). And I don't know who told you about perms, but I am in and out in an hour and 25 minutes and I am usually getting at least two inches trimmed off my hair and honey there is no breakage. You condescend to other black women. You talk as though you are the only with self esteem..what you find sad is your problem, but please leave me out of your very narrow view of how black women find their path to their own authenticity and truth. Glad you found yours, but leave mine to me!
anghiari
Girlfriend tell it!!
anghiari, You and I agree more than disagree. I addressed African American women because I think that what Tyra Banks is doing is log overdo for ALL women. But if you read through my comments, you'll see that I am just as opposed to Asian women getting eyelid surgery to look more caucasian or white women getting their lips and faces puffed up with fillers to look younger or more ethnic.
You seem to be taking my statements very personally and as if they are about hair or one particular race. They are not.
What I'm suggesting is that our focus on what is an acceptable appearance is very limited and proscribed when it comes to women. It is past time for that to change.
really though if you were of another "race" and had different hair would you agree with her or are you agreeing because you are African American also. Which leads to the "elephant" mentioned earlier.
Beyonce is Jay Z's wife not his girlfriend.
Clearly, there are dos and then there are don'ts. For stylish guidance, check out the wisdom of Comb It Over on Soundclick.com. Why cry when you can laugh?
I am glad we can have this discussion. I was just talking to a friend of mine that people of all races gets weaves and extensions. Its not just black women! White women and men have been doing it for years. It shouldn't be a big deal when a Black women does it.
Actually, I don't know of any white person who has weaves or extensions, other than some celebrities who ostensibly have them. T
Look at all of the major black female celebrities, however, and almost all of them have weaves. If this is such a "choice" issue, why don't African American women emulate the beautiful women of Africa by wearing various cloth headdresses, to use one example, or more natural hairstyles traditional in African cultures?
I think straight, long artificial hair, whether by wigs, weaves, hair straightening or hair extensions, is an outmoded beauty concept, like skin lightening or having plastic surgery to obtain more Caucasian-like facial features.
Why should AA women emulate African women, and will they not be making a choice if they emulate African women? more natural traditional in African cultures? what are those? have you been to Africa? weaves are popular in africa!!
nkadzi, Yes, weaves are probably NOW popular in Africa and this is a as a sign of assimilation and adoption of Western European cultural beauty standards. I doubt many African women can afford them, however, given the level of poverty in Africa. Wigs that simulate caucasian hair used to be popular, too, in African women who could afford them.
You ask, "Why should African American women emulate African women?"
I think a better question, given that most people of African-American decent are of African RACIAL decent, is : "Why DON"T African -American women choose to emulate African women?" In other words, what is WRONG with the natural beauty of people of African decent?
I'll answer that one for you: nothing. Africans are beautiful. African hair and skin color is beautiful. African facial features are beautiful. Nothing needs to be lightened, straightened, lengthened, or changed in any way. What needs to be changed, however, is our attitude toward beauty. You seem to think that the world of beauty (particularly as it pertains to women) is about "choice." But you seem to have no inkling that the "choices" that people make occur within a political and historical context. To pretend otherwise is like denying that slavery,oppression and colonial exploitation never occurred.
LOL, actually baptox, i work in retail, and we sell those little fake ponytail clips for whites and people do buy them...in hawaii asian girls frequent the beauty store for extensions. of course it while never equal how many blacks where hair weave because it's not just a matter of looks it's a matter of time saving...it takes FOREVER to style our natural hair every day and it doesn't for whites unless they have that unruly curly hair that has to be flat ironed every day and even then going natural for that girl isn't the same as going natural for us. i'm not leaving the house looking like a bomb went off on my head so society can think i'm in touch with my african roots,lol. white females are the ones by far getting the butt implants and injections into the lips...and who is more known for having big butts and full lips??? you don't see an article exposing all those lip injections now do you?
baptox
Your words are truthful and to the point. The replies from your post are evidence to that. It's hard to discard the truth. People don't understand or better yet, there are large percentages of the U.S. population that refuse to visit the past, because they are ashamed of it. People don't realize that if you face your past, what ever obstacle in your future will be conquered.
beptox I appreciate your knowledge and honesty
It's unbeweaveable!!!
Never mind Tyra's weave.
Is there a more dislikable self absorbed
person than Banks ?
She's pretty limited in her perspective. I have to give her points, however, for taking on issues about women and culturally determined beauty. She was right to address the issue of being called "fat" when she put on weight and she's very brave in taking on this "hair" issue.
-baptox
" she's very brave in taking on this "hair" issue. "
C'mon baptox. Tyra is " Brave ? "
Did you forget "courageous" too ?
Firemen, Police, soldiers, are brave.
sophia5, Yes I do think it's rather "brave" of Tyra to take on this issue as it brings up a lot of painful history for women of color when issues like preferred ideals of beauty are discussed.
"Bravery" in expressed thought and ideas is as significant as bravery in action, my friend. Just ask anyone whose been imprisoned, tortured or killed for speaking out.
That having been said, I have no doubt that "revealing" her real hair is a great public relations gambit for Tyra. Nevertheless, I think anyone challenging our increasingly conformist, bizarre and unhealthy attitudes and practices toward women and cultural beauty ideals is undertaking a thankless and somewhat revolutionary act.
Given the social and economic forces used to "keep women in their places" regarding their lives, bodies and behavior, I appreciate a good revolutionary jolt!
-baptox
"Just ask anyone whose been imprisoned, tortured or killed for speaking out."
Rosa Parks, Tyra is not. We're talking about FREAKING HAIR !!
Tyra's not limited in her perspective. She is a player in the marketplace and she plans to be successful, and please...Tyra isn't being brave, Tyra knows what will pull women to her show and that is very bright indeed. All talk shows have some aspect of the old Jerry Springer format to them. Less or more of the manipulative programming depends on your budget, your audience and your ambition.
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No, you were critical of Tyra Banks. I defended her, stating that she has taken some surprisingly brave stances of late regarding women and unrealistic beauty ideals. You chided me for using the term "brave" to describe Ms. Banks' outspoken views. I then pointed out to you that there are different types of bravery and the expression of controversial ideas has, historically been associated with bravery because there are always repercussions associated with that expression, some of them very serious.
I agree that Tyra Banks is no Rosa Parks but then I never claimed that her type of action was comparable to that of Rosa Parks. BTW, many people who act courageously in a situation will tell you that they are not "brave" because they acted upon instinct and/or training, not upon thoughtful action. I tend to disagree with this point of view, but do find it intriguing.
Rosa Parks was brave, courageous and amazing because she acted upon thought and upon contemplation. She well knew the consequences of her actions but acted anyway. But you probably wouldn't get this because you think this is all about "hair."
Sophia5...show me another black woman on the way to her Billions like Oprah...you don't have to like Tyra...and self absorption comes when you are attempting what few others have attempted to achieve. I'm always surprised when other women always tell what they don't like about Tyra...but rarely take the road talking about her successes. She wll laughing all the way to the bank totally absorbed with her bottom line and the OPTIONS in life it buys her!
i totally agree with you sophia5
Are you attempting to give the allusion that only black women wear weaves? Puhleeze...daily beast..your red neck is showing...get some calamine lotion and some truth!
Not true! One doesn't have to be racist at all to address topics like this. I think you need to read up on the history of African Americans and the concept of "passing" in America.
BTW, it's illusion, not allusion, in this context, and I think you actually meant to say, "give the impression."
I say must the miseducation of blacks continue! Egypt is in Africa this is where you will find wigs, weaves and extenisons buried with some of the most powerful and richest Kings and Queens of Africa that ever lived is gold and wigs!!! Colorism in this country amongst blacks is thriving because we again are miseducated! The lighter skinned negro was favored by the slave master and dwelt in the house, while the darker skinned negro was in the slave. It was NOT the light skin the slave master favored it was the fact that the negro was his biological child. Why must we continually twist reality and then attack one another?! We put one another down concerning everything this is the true oppressor
Baptox,
I am much older than you and probably know more about passing than you since I have whole bunches of folks in my family who did pass, coulda passed and who would never pass no matter how white they looked. Daily Beast is a political animal trying to reach the top...and racist behavior is often as covert as it is overt. I have for years hated how the fashion industry has treated Naomi Campbell, probably one of the best supermodels going..and to slap her picture on this article was an insult which this magazine and Tina Brown knows. Britney Spears who makes millions walks around with the trashiest tackiest weave I have seen on any person man or woman could have easily been on that page. Instead they put two highly successful black women. Go get a dictionary honey and come back...I meant what I wrote, i.e. "to refer to indirectly or by suggestion." By putting two black women up there...they are allude to the idea that only black women use weaves.
Spoochetta, Wow! I don't know where to begin! You need to read more about Africans and their roots (forgive the pun) as you have some serious misconceptions about African and American history.
Truth based on fact is not a "putdown." This is not an issue of "miseducation" but of propaganda and speculation. Trying to base one's understanding of the world by building it on a foundation of myths and fantasy is not going to change the facts of history, nor the realities of the present.
Tyra also wears "lace front" wigs! So the weave is nothing new. I think white women are threatened when dark-skinned women figure out they've been "cheating" on the sly with hair, fake boobs and their lives.
Are white guys going to drop their white girlfriends because they spend sooooooooooooo much time tanning? Are black girls going to stop getting weaves, extensions or wigs to keep up with their Caucasian counterparts?
What about light/white girls with African/Jewish/Rican hair (needs a serious blow dry) or dark-skinned girls with straight hair (straight out of the shower wet)??? People, we have to learn to work with what we've got.
Get the Dr. Seuss book, "Stars Upon Thars" and you'll see in the end, whatever the other person has, is not that important.
My favorite Dr. Seuss story is about the Star-Belly Sneetches.
Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars.
The snooty Star-Belly Sneetches decided that they were better than the Plain-Belly sort and would purposely exclude them from "frankfurter roasts or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts."
Wise to this stargregation, Sylvester McMonkey McBean entered the scene and "put together a very particular machine" that put stars upon the bellies of the Plain-Belly Sneetches for three dollars each.
So what do we soon have? All Sneetches with stars upon thars!
Clever McBean didn't end there, for he realized the original Star-Belly Sneetches became distinctly aware... with all sneetches now resembled alike, their upturned noses and sense of betterment could now take a hike!
What did entraprenuer McBean offer to the upper classes? A new opportunity to separate the masses. For ten dollars eaches, his new Star-Off Machine would remove the stars upon the upper-crust Sneetches.
(You see what's happening here, don't you?)
So in and out of the machinery all the Sneetches would go, to add stars, to remove stars, to forefront the show. Meanwhile, McBean's money pile continues to grow, and when the Sneetches would realize their folly, nobody would know.
(This went on for some time: the Star-Bellied Sneetches would get their belly stars removed, while the Plain-Belly Sneetches would get stars added. The snooty Sneetches attempt at one-up-Sneetchmanship just wouldn't work. McBean exploited this, preying on this familiar Sneetchy nature.)
"They are doomed to this cycle!," the reader must think. That is... until Seuss mirrors McBean as a wonderful fink. As McBean drove off with his money and machine, Seuss restores our faith in the Star- and No-Star Sneetch regime.
"I'm quite happy to say
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars
And whether they had one, or not, upon thars."
A lovely lesson in human Sneetchy nature.
Love it! Dr. Seuss was a genius! everyone wants to be better than everyone else & we spend fortunes trying to do it...when blacks started driving Mercedes all hell broke loose and every time even one of us can afford to live in the same neighborhood of affluent whites, they cut down more trees and build bigger homes...instead of just learning to live together, they want to make sure that a status difference is always kept...there are private schools very high up that let in who they want, hint hint not any other race but theirs... this hair issue is just one small issue to make us feel lesser than. even the bible says a woman's hair is her glory or something but, God never said we couldn't where hair weave. we are just a society now that can have what we want-long hair, nails, boobs, butts, FULLER LIPS, eyelashes, no wrinkles, no fat...etc etc...we can have it all! That's why i love Nip Tuck- it shows how people can change anything they don't like about themselves. hair weave is not only beautiful it's a life saver if you have thick hair that wold take 2-3 hrs a day just to straighten & style...NOT!
And I forgot this bit of new info . . .
Since Michelle Obama does NOT use chemicals to straighten her hair, just a good blow dry & some product, chemical straightening is out!! And I'm glad because that's showing those that use chemicals, it's not necessary to use them just to look good.
Ladies, invest in a good blow dryer, products and brushes!
I'm skeptical that her hair is natural but it is possible IF her hair is fine enough. What you fail to understand is that what might work for Michelle may not work for every black women. Do you know what a brillo pad feels like? That is my hair in it's natural state. In fact because my hair is so thick it takes a chemical straightener pretty well. Michelle may not be able to chemically process her hair because of it's consistancy but an iron works perfectly. The point is every person has their own hair care needs.
Wow. I find some of your comments rather disturbing and reeking of self-hate. It is clear you have bought into the "good hair/bad hair" myth that most young black girls have been indoctrinated into.
Having hair like a brillo pad must be a great source of shame for you. Too bad no around you knew anything about taking care of natural hair.A good conditioner and a wide tooth comb can work wonders!
As for your thick hair that takes lye relaxer so well, this isn't the healthiest thing for you or your hair. I shudder to think about the long term health effects of using a caustic chemical on your hair/skin every 6-8 weeks. All so you can have bouncing and behaving hair. I'm pretty sure you're cursing the weather on a rainy or humid day and probably haven't ever gone swimming for fear that it will ruin your hair.
Aside for the money and time you spend on chemicals, hairdressers and flatirons, it doesn't surprise me that you are skeptical of any black woman that does not do the same, including Michelle Obama. I think it was Alice Walker who said "oppressed hair puts a ceiling on the brain".
Why do you care what other people use on their hair? Also I prefer (and this is not a criticism of the First Lady) not to have to put my hair in a knot on top of my head over the weekend. That flat iron is not my idea of hair care that works for me. But I have no problem with people making their own decisions.
To djanimaequeen: Michelle has raised this hair issue throughout. And the fact that she does not use chemicals simply says "to each her own". I am fortunate to have the option of either blow drying or going with its natural waviness.
Chemicals work for some but not all. What Michelle has done is finally brought it to the foreground so "all", regardless of race/colour/DNA, can finally realise, they don't all wear weaves, extensions or use chemicals. Whites with "Brillo pad" hair can admit they get it blow dried in the black/Rican neighborhoods and those with straight hair can admit they just buy what's on sale.
Michelle's hair is natural because when mine is blow dried, it looks likes hers, but it takes a lot longer with a flat iron & blow dryer.
Apres ski...do you know that perms were originally created for Jewish women with Kinky hair in the 1930's????
Hair transplant for sure on some of these men. I've seen the procedure a few times on TV. I'm a woman with thinning hair. I am all for advancing hair technology. I'll probably need it one day whether I go the weave route or surgical. BTW, I think there are far more white women getting weaves than most people would imagine. Lots of Asians get their hair chemically straightened too. So you never know. If it's done well, you'd never think hair intervention.
You guys overlooked a high profile celebrity couple - both w/ obvious hair enhancement:
David Bowie and Iman!
What I don't understand is with these celebs they have a s**tload of money, seems like they could get decent hair transplants, or invest in finasteride and ditch the fake hair as if the rest of us can't tell-GOT NEWS FOR YA, YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN IT'S FAKE! Real hair grows out after a while, fake hair doesn't (or not yet anyway)
lol, wearing hair weave is used by all cultures but yes, mostly by black females. i lived in Hawaii for a few yrs and asain women were at the beauty stores buying hair as much as we were...it's not about trying to look white, it's about looking whatever way you want...tanning makes whites LOOK BETTER, not to look black...botox helps you look younger & when i'm old enough to need it you better believe i'll be get it & the new teen dreams of the world will criticize us for trying to look like them & want us to just grow old and wrinkly. i think a spotlight is being put on this now because it's just a way to try to embarrass us into wearing the afro again-too bad & get over yourselves. my bff is white and she went through a faze where she HATED her naturally curly hair-her boyfriend joked that she had "N"hair (not even close but it bothered her) so she straightened it every day until her new b/f saw it curly one day and told her how beautiful her hair was...so, are whites trying to look asian by straightening their hair or just not look black??? we sell just as many flatirons as we do relaxers where i work.
Baptox, your reply confirms the truth concerning anghiari's post this is racisit propaganda! Eygpt is in Africa baby, google it, pick up a book. Yes, folks want to come off like Eygpt is its own continent, nope it is on the continent of AFRICA. King Tut and his people loved them some wigs and braids, in that time you were royality if you had a high quality wig.Again google it, study Eygptian history read what white archaeologist have been discovering for years! Then study how your rich white men versed in knowledge and establishing laws wore those powered white wigs hey George Washington our first president wore one now they, wig wearing ( white men) were considered intelligent. Oh, but to wear some "fake" hair now is only a disgrace because a black woman wears it. Bull.....
Oh, because I don't think royal ancient Egyptians have negroid characteristics, I am a racist? I am well aware that Egypt is in Africa but not all Africans are racially similar, nor have they been historically. Go to North Africa, any nation, and try to explain to them your historical assumptions and they will laugh at your concepts.
I am not quite sure where you're getting your African history (some Eddy Murphy movie, perhaps?) but I assure you, Africans of Negroid decent, the majority of tribal people in Africa, have fascinating and complex histories of dress, facial painting, scarification rituals and adornment. I am often amazed by the fact that more people don't adopt some of these more unique ways of personal beauty enhancement instead of the more conformist Western practices. African prints, for example, are extraordinary and quite varied, but very few (other than the recently popular Kuba cloth) find their way into high fashion runways.
And so what if ancient Egyptians royals weren't racially related to the majority of Africans? Isn't the counter argument (one you introduced, BTW) that is equivalent to saying, certain cultural/racial groups (in this case ancient Egyptians) are superior to the majority of black Africans, black African tribal leaders and black African history? Perhaps it's you who harbor racist views, my friend.
And yes, wealthy, educated and upper class Western Europeans of both genders have a history of wearing elaborate powdered wigs. But they constituted probably one tenth of one per cent of the population of that time. Need I say more?
Baptox...methinks Africans predated the use of the term Negro....wikipedia has this to say "Around 1442, the Portuguese first arrived in sub-Saharan Africa while trying to find a sea route to India. The term negro, literally meaning "black", was used by the Spanish and Portuguese to refer to people. From the 18th century to the late 1960s, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the proper English term for all people of sub-Saharan African origin." So the negroid feature you speak of is black skin???
anghiari,wikipedia is not really considered a valid, objective reference source. It is a handy quick reference but often has misinformation and gaping errors.
Notice that I used the term, "Negroid," not negro. This term has historically been used as an anthropological term or classification. Even though I'm not a big wiki fan, there is a good discussion under both "Negroid" and "Africoid peoples" that may clarify my use of the term and provide insight.
BTW, I love the fact that genetic data is now being used to explain the history and cultural development of humankind. It's a lot more objective and a lot more accurate than traditional anthropology.
Negroid features? Listen Baptox, only folks I've ever heard present this argument is whites that refuse to believe American Blacks could have ancestrial ties to the ancient Egyptians why? Because they claim the Egyptians were too intelligent. Being they were mummified, oops no way to really tell skin tone. So, they test the mummies natural hair strands and declare the ancient Egyptians are European! Typical, well the one thing that is clear in all this: the wigs and braided hair pieces recovered in those tombs are replicas of what African American women have come to embrace here in America today. Coincidence? Me thinks not, Heriditary? Oh yeah. Why ignorantly rant black women are trying to copy Europeans when ancient Africans for a fact embraced and esteemed highly wearing "Fake" hair before any others!!!
Regardless of the % there is no denying the white race from Queen Elizabeth to George Washington wore "Fake" hair and they all wore it and wore it proud and have never been accused of trying to be anything or anyone! Racist and Sexist is hammering a black female for making the same choices, no where in history will you see anyone criticized for wearing "Fake" hair but a black woman! Now explain this .....nobody else but a black woman gets put down for it, makes me say this is some bull....
It's about convenience. I have long wavy hair. I am considering get a wig for short runs to the store. No racial or cultural reason there.
All people of all hair textures and cultures modify their hair.
Going for the straight look got me more jobs and more money many years ago when I worked temp. Today it not so critical. The process of getting straight hair today is a lot safer for black hair because products and techniques have been developed to assist the process.
It's not that serious folks.
den123, sadly enough your statement " It's not that serious folks" is a powerful reality of just how ignorant many blacks are! Why are we so easily tricked into fighting and putting one another down for wearing fake hair the sheer fact that the " Fake" Hair business is a multi- million if not billion dollar industry is completely lost on who? black folks!!!! Blacks and the welfare system, broken communities and overwhelming poverty could be greatly eliminated if the "Black Diamond" of our day was realized! Not crack but weave, hey!!! It's serious, very.
Black folks in America need to wake up!
I'm ignorant because of one opinion? Way, way over the top. Blacks and the welfare sytem? Huh?
Eight years of post high school education, including black history did not prepare me for your mean-spirited reply.
den123, please let's not get it twisted, you trivialized the conversation by interjecting " it's not that serious" I simply responded to THAT statement if you choose to define your whole self behind one statement that's on you, however to suggest I'm mean spirited for speaking the truth is outdated and you missed the point. Yes, your stumbling over my welfare interjection with huh only confirms my position! I'm sorry if you can't comprehend what I'm saying with 8 years of post High school education plus black history ....not preparing you for someone's opinion wasn't the only thing lost
I am a whitey, and i find that black skin is just so much more beautiful than ours, it doesn't get freckled or spotty, that's why we want to be tanned; it just looks better.
Baptox...please note the considerable differences of opinion on this subject....and this is why Tyra picked the subject and it had absolutely nothing to do with bravery!
And you know that because...Is that why she's spoken out on the weight issue, too?
I hold out hope for Tyra. She has potential. I do think she needs to become more educated and serious if she wants to be taken more seriously, however.
what nobody seems to understand is that tyra banks, beyonce, and others emulate an image of black beauty and success that is not rooted in actual afro-americanism.
by engaging in this acute form of self-mutilation, beyonce, trya and others are projecting the ideals of self-hate and self-degradation onto the young. if "black is beautiful" (which i truly believe it is) than tyra and beyonce should be boycotted in black communities (we'll see if there's enough courage there). How do we know black is beautiful? Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill, Michelle Obama, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson...
Oh please self hate and self degraduation on our young as you put it, would be best suited with the degrading disrespectful lyrics in Rap ! not weave or how about no on hands daddies for all the baby momas in the black community! this is the root of self destruction for our young, not wearing a wig! What is afro- americanism? Is Lena Horne any less black because she doesn't look like whoopi Goldberg, because her hair isn't naturally coarse, same difference with Vannessa Williams with her naturally green eyes now is she any less black than Lauryn Hill. Let's not leave out the men , are black men feeding into this self hate when they get the wave kits or how about the bald look are black men ashamed of their nappy hair when they shave it all off. Dreds are very in, yet not Afro- American so what does that make folks that sport those? Bottom line some black folks judge other black folks way to much. it is called Hatin! As far as your suggestion of boycotting them the success of these two women alone isn't even rooted in the black community. Having said that the black community has been boycotting the black industry at large for a long time it's called....... buying bootleg
The entire notion that black women are trying to emulate white women when they wear weaves is down right STUPID! White women wear weaves and some straighten their hair. Let's get beyond this silly talk. In the 70's whites had a form of afro's and in the 80's some got there hair curly like the jheri curl. People who say blacks are confirming for wearing weaves or straightening their hair are just not comfortable in their own skins.
to anywhone who thinks its okay for tyra, beyonce and others to project an image of self-hatred onto the black youth:
i gracefully recommend that you read anything by Cornel West or Michael Eric Dyson, the two most articulate voices when it comes to the matter at hand. no, i am not appeasing the rap community, but this article is about HAIR, and when it comes to hair, a black woman (who is blessed with beautiful hair) that chooses to paint her hair yellow is a living projection of black self-degradation (whether conscioulsy or not).
In addition, the reason the white women tanning themselves and trying to make their hair "blacker" need not be attacked is because caucasian pride is not under attack, whereas afro-american pride is.
Sons of the south and such Confederate organizations would beg to differ they are very concerned about white/Caucasian pride, upper class whites look down on them and refer to them as red necks or white trash, because of their ideology. yet you won't see red necks in this type of forum nor upper class whites slamming each other, unlike blacks which will clown each other at a drop of a hat and call it enlightenment. Not until reading blacks slamming other blacks for their hair choices have I concluded we have the same divide.
I never lost focused that the article is about hair I simply realize a blond weave is not causing the deterioration of blacks. As long as blacks feel the need to judge and hold each other to ridiculous standards we as a whole will stay down but as individuals we will rise such as Tyra and Beyonce have well illustrated. I endorse their right to weave in whatever color they choose 100%
I'd first like to clarify, if you're not of African descent your opinion as to why Black or African American woman wear synthetic hair, is void. Until you have the full experience of what coarse, kinky hair is like, you'll never understand. "Experience" doesn't conclude studying or observing the look of the hair of a black woman, it's much deeper then just starring and conjuring up a biased opinion... But thanks for attempting to have a voice for US ALL, and for coming to a set in stone reason as to why we wear synthetic hair...
As far as imitating European hair, again, negative...Theres different reasons as to why we relax (perm) or straighten our hair...When i wear weaves or extensions, the last thing on my mind is to imitate European characteristics. I go for the look...So for EVERYBODY that says black woman imitate European beauty...Think "what's exactly European beauty?"...Your beauty and my beauty may be completely different...Not only that what do you have to say for woman of color who wear CURLY or KINKY weaving hair? Are we trying to imitate ourselves? Think about it.
Straight Weaving hair isn't the only type, all styles vary in versatility...
Thank you.
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