There was an article posted on a website on May 17, 2015 talking about hair trends and things of that nature that has caught a whooole lot of backlash over the past 24 hours. There's not a problem with that kind of post because AK and I talk about trends and things all the time. It's no biggie right?!? BUT here's where it rubbed me and everybody else the wrong way: this hair trend is something that's all of a sudden cool when people of another culture have been doing the same thing for years!
IF you're the type to get uncomfortable with conversations about race and things of that nature, you might want to stop here. No, I am not being hateful or racist or anything like that, but what I am going to do is express my opinion as an African American woman on the issue and the way I and so many other women see this.
Here's a picture/screenshot of the "Twisted Mini Bun" from the article featured on the website:
Now again, the problem isn't found with the hairstyle itself. It's the simple fact that the article stated that the hairstyle trend was inspired by a hairstylist by the name of Guido Palau. What this article fails to mention is the fact that the style is really inspired by the Bantu knot that originated waaay back in Africa before anybody currently on this earth was born. I decided to do a little research on the history of this "new" hairstyle and here's what I found:
- Bantu (meaning "people") knots are also known called Zulu knots and it's origin goes all the way back to West Africa.
- Bantu is actually a culture of people in Africa and has more than 400 groups in the Africa.
There's so much more I could type in, but this isn't a research paper and in any of the history you find, you will not find Marc Jacobs or Guido Palau's name ANYWHERE in it. Now for those reading that hasn't done any of the research, here's what Bantu knots look like:
When I was transitioning from relaxed to natural, Bantu knots were my absolute go-to for maintaining my hair and creating a super cute style while my hair was going through such a drastic change. Some people choose to wear them as you see Rihanna wearing them on the left just as a protective style or to allow their hair time to set, but most will take them down to reveal a gorgeous wave or curly style that will last a few days or so. Click here if you want to see the results I'm speaking of.
There have been a lot of things happening lately that African American people have been doing for years that have now all of a sudden become cool because a fair skinned woman started to do it. I'm probably going to talk about it in another post as it pertains to hair and beauty so look out for it.
To touch briefly on it though. So many companies and magazines have been brought under fire for taking things from the subcultures of the world and "bringing them out" and "making them cool", "chic", "sexy", and "edgy" as if they were the geniuses behind the idea when they KNOW it's been something being done for years and don't even part their lips to give credit to the source.
So many times in the past have I with my own eyes seen the same things African American- and you know what? I won't even say just African Americans. I'll say any ethnic culture. Anyway, I have seen so many times where people of an ethnic culture would be ridiculed, judged, and made fun of for the same thing that is ripped off the next week, month, or even year(s) as the hot new thing to do.
The African American and natural hair community have set the article on fire. So much so, that as I went back to the website as I was typing this post, the article is NOT FOUND all of a sudden. I typed in the same keywords that I used earlier this morning to read the article for myself and I found NOTHING. Peep the screenshot on the right!
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