Posted on 08/31/2009 12:55:52 PM PDT by markomalley
Silky, straight hair has long been considered by many black women to be their crowning glory. So what if getting that look meant enduring the itchy burning that's a hallmark of many chemical straighteners. Or a pricey dependence on "creamy crack," as relaxers are sometimes jokingly called.
Getting "good hair" often means transforming one's tightly coiled roots; but it is also more freighted, for many African-American women, and some men, than simply a choice about grooming. Straightening hair has been perceived as a way to be more acceptable to certain relatives, as well as to the white establishment.
"If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed," the comedian Paul Mooney, sporting an Afro, says in the documentary "Good Hair," which won a jury prize at the Sundance film festival and comes out in October. "If your hair is nappy, they're not happy."
(snip)
Anyone who thought such preconceptions were outdated would have been reminded otherwise by negative reactions to the president's 11-year-old daughter, Malia Obama, who wore her hair in twists while in Rome this summer. Commenters on the conservative blog Free Republic attacked her as unfit to represent America for stepping out unstraightened.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Second, I don't recall people complaining about her hair, IIRC they were complaining about her inappropriate dress.
“”If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed,” the comedian Paul Mooney, sporting an Afro, says in the documentary “Good Hair,” which won a jury prize at the Sundance film festival and comes out in October. “If your hair is nappy, they’re not happy.””
These fools are still so fixaed on this petty stuff that it is no wonder they are failing in the important stuff, like staying out of trouble, getting skills to get a good job, and other things that people need in order to make a living.
I don't think that Al Sharpton has ever done anything to be "acceptable" to the "white establishment".
Al got his hairstyling tips from James Brown, AKA Soul Brother Number One.
Huh? I don't recall any comments about her hair. The big hullabaloo was about her 'chicken foot' t-shirt and its symbolism. (over-reaction imho)
I’d bet a year’s pay that no one on FR said that about her hair.
Is this word "okay" or not? I recall a certain liberal talk radio host being taken to task for using it.
They complained about her hair, about her shirts [which was merited], about her shorts and about the ‘guy’ who was beside her.
Go on the Michelle or fashion threads and you will see nasty remarks about almost anything!
She wore TWO different peace shirts on that trip and there is no child who goes on a vacation with the parents who gets to step out of the hotel wearing some shirt they don’t approve of.
Dreadlocks are not ‘twists’.
How many white women go blonde because it's perceived as prettier? How many women get lasix because "men don't make passes at girls wearing glasses"? How many breast lifts, augmentations, liposuction, etc.?
All women deal with this in one way or another.
maybe somebody will find the thread
I don’t remember anything about hair either
there have been a lot of comments about Momma’s junk in the trunk.......
Black men prefer their black women to have straight hair, this bimbo "journalist" neglected to mention.
I don't know why they pick on that dear girl and her $725. sandals.
IIRC, she was dressed like a little communist radical, and we didn’t appreciate it.
The charge has been made that MULTIPLE people made the comment ("commenters") and said that it made her "unfit to represent America".
If any such remarks were made about the hair, they certainly weren't the "take away" viewpoint if you had to synopsize the attitude of FReepers. More people were irked about the peace shirts.
This whole article is a complete stretch...
I believe you are correct. Here is one of the threads. Only two comments about ‘hair’, neither about Malia. The first is about ‘long haired hippies’. The second is someone speculating the person she was with was a cousin who was a hair dresser.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292091/posts
This thread only has one comment about hair, again, not about Malia.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292065/posts
This thread, the only hair comment is Jim telling Kristinn to get a hair cut.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2291698/posts
The big, original thread just has some comments about David Schuster’s nose hair and one comment saying Malia’s hair looked ‘stylish’ and the outfit was just a youth trend (ie, it was defending her)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2290625/posts
At that, the only negative hair comment I can find out of all these threads was posts by the KOS troll reporter who made up half the story..
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/search.html?query=By%20CATHERINE%20SAINT%20LOUIS
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