PRETTY BLACK PASTEL

It took me a few days to answer this because at first, I was so set to just reply to this with a bunch of reaction images but then I decided that I’ll take your bait (because that’s what this question is. bait) and I figured, why not. 

My opinion is that when white girls wear any hairstyle that is easily and traditionally identifiable with, naturally achieved and/or created by POC they usually do so with such ignorant and disrespectful disregard to the people who originated the fashion.

My opinion is that when white girls wear box braids, they do it for attention because they know, either consciously or subconsciously, that their skin color will grant them the privilege of being excused and revered for their appropriation.

My opinion is that when white girls wear box braids they further the dehumanizing and racist notion that Black hair is “bad, nasty and dirty” because they then turn around and complain about how “dirty” and “damaging” the styles are because they couldn’t wash their hair (for fear the braids unraveling or slipping out), or because their fell out or broke off (because their hair isn’t strong enough to hold the extensions properly), not realizing that the styles in question are not for them and never have nor will be (specifically due to their race and subsequently their hair texture) which is why they experience such extreme consequences.

My opinion is that when white girls wear box braids (and “locs” and twists, afros, et al), they do it to be “different” not realizing that in their quest for uniqueness, they are contributing to generations of oppression and dehumanization geared towards Women of Color.

By this I mean that Women of Color have been ridiculed, physically harassed and assaulted and even severely punished (jail or death) for simply wearing hairstyles that are traditional to our cultures. Women of Color, and more specifically Black Women of Color have had laws passed against our hair and hairstyles, laws that are still in effect today. Laws that are still being made today. (btw I’m not going to link any documentation of this because if you truly are interested you’ll figure out the next steps to enlightenment. )

So when a white girl, in her entitled and childish bigotry, attempts to force herself into and co-opt a movement and tradition that she has no place in, when she attempts to sloppily recreate the glory that we Women of Color naturally possess and she is then exalted as an originator of creative fashion while the very same Black Woman of Color is degraded as being ghetto or tacky for the very same hairstyle (which, to reiterate, she created), that white girl is benefiting from and adding to a society rife with misogynoir, racism, white privilege and, at the end of the very long rope, the effects of European colonialism.

My opinion is that when the general consensus from Women of Color is that white girls should refrain from bastardizing our style, traditions and culture, and that white girls should instead focus on their own unique beauty and try to contribute some slither of creativity to the fashion sphere by creating something unique to them and their only-important-when-refuting-their-whiteness cultures and traditions, white girls should listen and choose a different hairstyle that isn’t offensive, blatant appropriation and oppressive. 

And lastly my opinion when white girls wear box braids (or “locs”, afros or twists),