Maria Lloyd: Gabby Douglas Calls Hair Critics’ Thoughts “Stupid” and “Crazy”
Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas Responds to Her ‘Hair’ Critics
“I don’t know where this is coming from. What’s wrong with my hair?” said Douglas, the first U.S. gymnast to win gold in team and all-around competition. “I’m like, ‘I just made history and people are focused on my hair?’ It can be bald or short, it doesn’t matter about (my) hair.”
Douglas wears her hair gelled, with hair clips, and in a ponytail. It’s a style she has been wearing for years and she’s not going to change it. ”Nothing is going to change,” she said. “I’m going to wear my hair like this during beam and bar finals. You might as well just stop talking about it. I don’t think people should be worried about that,” she said. “We’re all champions and we’re all winners. I just say that it’s kind of, a stupid and crazy thought to think about my hair.”
I’m ecstatic to know this young lady has high self-esteem. What is it in our community that causes us to hate images of ourselves so passionately? Would ‘straight’ hair have made her perform even better than her performances that made history? I find it hard to understand why adults felt compelled to critique a child on her hairstyle during a pivotal moment in African American history. If you are one of her many hair critics, I strongly encourage you to embrace every coiled strand of hair on your scalp. Free yourself of the years of mental conditioning that have taught you that everything about yourself is unattractive. You are black. You are brilliant. You are beautiful.
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