The fallout from “Slap” at this 12 months's Oscars continues. Last week, Will Smith Resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.after the academy issued an announcement Condemnation Smith's Acts.
There have been countless stories within the media concerning the “slap”, including . However, “fun” has received less attention. “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2 can't wait to meet you“This is what The Rock said to Jada Pinkett Smith and the Oscar night audience before Smith got up and slapped him.
is a 1997 fictional drama starring Demi Moore concerning the first woman to coach within the United States Navy SEALs. Moore's “feminine” character, is Jane O'Neill. selected By a lady politician attempting to make some extent in her war against Inherent sexism in the military. “To hang on,” O'Neil “removes herself from any trace of femininity” and He shaves his head.
Although shaving the pinnacle for a lady ought to be nothing but that. Choice of stylePinkett Smith's shaved head can also be because of alopecia. In 2021, he shared a video on Instagram. Explanation Complaint of disorder.
Regardless of the reason for Pinkett Smith's hair, The Rock was still funny Another swipe at the black woman's hair.. We black women have learned to like our hair despite a wider culture that has historically not embraced its diversity.
In fact, black women have been fighting the court system for 40 years to be protected against hair discrimination.
Alopecia disproportionately affects black women.
In my 2019 book, I checked. Dermatological research on hair loss. Two US studies, in 2009 and 2017, found that Central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA) is usually underdiagnosed; By some estimates, 17 percent of black women have the condition.
Some of the explanation why black women are more affected by CCCA are tight braiding hairstyles, long hair wear, lace front wigs and chemical relaxers.
While Rock was unaware of alopecia in a 2009 documentary by Pinkett Smith. She spoke to black women about their hair, specifically Chemical relaxation.
It was a success for Rock, but that doesn't mean he grew out of the project.
Black hair discrimination and the Crown Act
Of September 2020 Cover Story Dedicated to 6 black women who endured discrimination at work due to their hair. This feature showed how much curly, “kink” or big hair meant to black women.
For example, a A messy topknot is considered chic. on a white woman, while a black woman with natural hair comparable to a big afro or locs can be considered ineffective and It led to reprimands in the workplace..
Passed by the US House of Representatives on March 18, 2022. The Crown ActBanning hair discrimination in private workplaces, federal programs and public accommodations. CROWN stands for Creating a respectful and open world for natural hair.
2019 Pigeon Study It found that black women are 80 percent more prone to feel pressured to vary their hairstyle to slot in on the office. Black women were also 83 percent more likely than other women to report being judged on their appearance.
The CROWN Act shouldn’t be yet official law. Yet President Joe Biden expressed strong support for the bill.There will not be enough votes to pass it.
Rogers v. American Airlines
In 1981, American Airlines fired ticket agent Renee Rogers for wearing cornrows. They Filed a discrimination lawsuit difficult an airline policy prohibiting employees from wearing all braided hairstyles, claiming that such a policy violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Has been discriminated against as a lady and as a black person.
Legal scholar Paulette Cladwell Explains how and why the US Federal District Court in New York rejected Rogers' claim that the style evoked his African heritage.
The court said that her hair style was a results of seeing. 1979 movie Acting Bo Derek who appears wearing long braids. with beads on the ends. It became referred to as “Bo Derrick defenseIt was a landmark case since it set a precedent that sanctioned the firing of black women based on their hair.
In 2016, the eleventh US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a lawsuit Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Disaster Management Solutions (CMS) for firing Chastity Jones, a black woman.Because she wore her hair in locks. The case has so much in common. Jones' lawyers also argued that his firing violated civil rights law.
The appellate court pronounced this decision CMS's “race-neutral grooming policy” was not discriminatory. Because while hairstyles are “culturally associated with race,” they’re “not immutable physical characteristics.” The court ruled that hairstyle could also be closely related to at least one's culture, but since it is changeable, it shouldn’t be protected under the law and employers have the best to make use of it as a reason to refuse employment. Is.
(AP Photo/Jay Scott Applewhite)
Hair has also been discussed. Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court Because the legal occupation has often discouraged natural hair. In 2007, an editor at a “Do's and Don'ts” fashion event at a New York law firm Locus is said to be “really scary”.
Why Black Hair Jokes Aren't Funny
When black women are in legal and cultural battles for the best to wear their hair nonetheless they need, jokes about our hair aren't funny. gave The beauty standard of straight hair has been called toxic. Not only for black women, but for ladies basically for the ways through which it valorizes the white, Western ideal of beauty.
One could argue that public figures ought to be open to criticism. For example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson often shows off his hair in an untidy fashion. Which is ridiculed in the media.. The difference is that there is no such thing as a threat to his livelihood.
Unless black women can wear their hair down without risk of ridicule, reprimand, or dismissal, jokes targeting black hair aren’t any laughing matter.