White women, beware! If you like hairstyles popularized by other cultures, don’t succumb to the urge to imitate them. Doing so might burn you worse than a flat iron.
So learned reality TV star Khloe Kardashian after she posted a picture of herself with a “Bantu knot” hairdo. The fateful Instagram post, dated August 10, read “Bantu Babe” as the caption. Shortly after posting, Kardashian deleted the post and replaced it with another, whose caption read: “I like this one better.”
But some fans did not like that better. In fact, many followers were incensed, calling the hairstyle – usually worn by southern African women – “cultural appropriation.” Cosmo fashion and beauty assistant Maya Allen explained: “People aren't taking issue with the fact that she wore the style but more so that she didn't at all acknowledge what the style actually is called.” US Magazine contributor Khalea Underwood admonished Kardashian’s post, writing “No no, KoKo.”
Mic writer Rachel Lubitz noticed a trend among Khloe’s family members, penning an article entitled: “When Will the Kardashian-Jenner Family Stop Appropriating Black Hairstyles?” Khloe’s younger sister Kylie Jenner faced backlash in 2015, when she debuted cornrows over Instagram. Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg testily responded to Jenner’s post: “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter.”
Just over one year ago, women’s mag Allure landed in hot water for an afro hair tutorial for white women. The controversy was discussed on CNN’s New Day, where white co-host Alisyn Camerota seemed confused and black co-host Michaela Pereira stuttered a bit in her explanation regarding where the problem actually lay.
Examples like those above appear to be the new ultimate sins. Check out these nine incidents of alleged cultural appropriation to see just how far our society has succumbed to the PC police. And it’s not just hair. After all, according to Lena Dunham, that sushi you had for lunch was cultural appropriation too.
