After reading this post recently on BGLH, the idea of the one-time natural-haired celebrity occurred to me. Since the naturalist movement started, there have been a few female celebrities jump on the natural hair band wagon for a little bit, and then jump right off. While a few members of the community applaud such gestures and are appreciative of the fact that a celebrity acknowledged that she evolved from African roots, some critics have condemned such acts, calling it nothing but a PR stunt and an exploitation of a genuine cause to redefine standards of African/African American beauty.
Social media makes it easy for such celebrities to show their solidarity with the naturalist movement, by taking selfies and posting it to their social media profiles. The debate poses the question: should celebrities who do not really embrace and rock their natural African hair publicise one-off pictures of themselves on social showing their natural hair and then go back to their weaves, wigs and sew-ins?
The natural hair community has questioned the motives behind such 'one off selfies' and whether these women only feel comfortable embracing their natural hair in a somewhat playful manner on social media but do not want their natural curls to be seen in traditional media like TV and magazines.
Keke Palmer showed off her real hair selfie and so did Wendy Willams. Brandy is also famous for showing off her afro on her instagram page, but it is celebrities like Nicki Minaj who are thrown under the bus for putting out selfies of their real hair, even though she is well known for her love of wigs, lace-fronts and sew-ins.
The natural hair community is a very accepting one, especially of celebrities who choose to rock their natural hair unapologetically, whether after a big chop or as luscious afros like the famous naturalist Tracee Ellis Ross. While the community applauds women who unfortunately do not go around with their natural hair publicly all the time but are proud to flaunt their hair every once in a while like Taraji P, the community does not condone hiding under the guise of showing off your real hair on sites like instagram, as it is seen as publicity stunt. When Nikki Minaj put up a picture on her instagram page and tagged it #natural, the community went into a rage questioning her motives and the idea behind it.
Here's my take. It was a highly suspicious move on Nikki Minaj's path to see a celebrity with such strong brand association with the artificial and plastic outlook, suddenly post a picture portraying her as 'natural'. The 'barbie' persona which has spent the last five or so years building should not be confused with a sneak peek authentic -self. Would you agree?
The natural hair community is a very accepting one, especially of celebrities who choose to rock their natural hair unapologetically, whether after a big chop or as luscious afros like the famous naturalist Tracee Ellis Ross. While the community applauds women who unfortunately do not go around with their natural hair publicly all the time but are proud to flaunt their hair every once in a while like Taraji P, the community does not condone hiding under the guise of showing off your real hair on sites like instagram, as it is seen as publicity stunt. When Nikki Minaj put up a picture on her instagram page and tagged it #natural, the community went into a rage questioning her motives and the idea behind it.
Here's my take. It was a highly suspicious move on Nikki Minaj's path to see a celebrity with such strong brand association with the artificial and plastic outlook, suddenly post a picture portraying her as 'natural'. The 'barbie' persona which has spent the last five or so years building should not be confused with a sneak peek authentic -self. Would you agree?
Are there any one-off natural celebrities you know?
Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
Love,
One natural hair lover
xx
Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
Love,
One natural hair lover
xx