Strategically Communicating

“If we do it, it’s ugly or ghetto. When other people do it, it’s cool.” –BP

I asked 4 Black women at very different stages of life a question, and not shockingly, everyone came to the same conclusion. “Lady Gaga wore faux locs, so did Rihanna. A website compared the two and stated they were ‘not sure how to feel’ (capitalfm.com) about Rihanna’s locs. Thoughts?”

During #NewsEngagementDay, I stumbled upon a picture and a discussion of Lady Gaga and Rihanna wearing faux dreadlocks at different times.Underneath the two pictures were captions asking if we loved Lady Gaga’s dreads, and in the next caption, they gave an under-handed review of Rihanna’s hair.

Historically, Dreadlocks can be dated all the way back to biblical days, Africa, and even ancient Greece. Dreadlocks are not specific to one culture, neither are braids, big lips, or large derrières. However, they are more prominent in the Black community.

The problem lies with society’s habit of shaming Black women for having all of the above, while celebrating those very same qualities on other women of a different race. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we the media, are consistently telling Black women and girls something is innately wrong about them.

Is it possible to lift up a woman without tearing another woman down? We can start by acknowledging there are biased views on Black beauty and culture, in addition to, checking our intentions when attempting to set beauty standards that promote cultural shaming.