Gabby’s Goal Was Gold… Not the Best Hair
Yesterday when I heard of all the controversy surrounding Gabby Douglas’s hair, I needed to write something about it. As I sat down at my computer last night to rave about the gold metal winning young lady, I thought I may not be the best qualified person to articulate exactly what I wanted to say.
I asked one of my best friends, who I have known since childhood to write up a guest post, from the perspective of a single, childless African American woman. Monique Emery. is one frank, to the point, and doesn’t pull any punches and what she had to say hit the nail right on the head.
I hope you enjoy her take as much as I.
Oh, I see there is talk about Gabby’s hair? The critics must be black women. What else is new? Yeah I said it. Do somethin’!
I should be disgusted. I should be upset. But ladies and gentlemen, this is nothing new. This isn’t unheard of nor am I surprised. African American’s focusing on Gabby’s hair after she has won a gold medal for our country. I will ask all of my fellow African American women, are you surprised?
This is another example of African Americans butchering other African Americans. It is sad, but nothing new. I would rather see Gabby’s hair in a bun away from her face than Ree-Rees bump-n-curl straw set. Her performance would have suffered due to too many “curls” in her face. Gabby’s goal was Gold. Not winning “Best Hair” in the Olympics. And before you try to google if there is a category for “Best Hair,” there isn’t. She is an athlete ladies and gents, not a model. And when athletes perform or compete, hair is the least of their worries. Ladies, think about the most brutal fist fight you have ever been in……did you care about your sewn in with Remy Hair being pulled out…or were you focused on whoopin that girl’s ass for throwing dirt on your name?
Oh don’t worry…I’ll wait until you ask yourself that question.
If African Americans would focus on things that matter, like I don’t know—- heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, HIV, education and paving a positive future for our youth rather than focusing on hair, we would be one powerful race. I have seen African American women that are overweight and would pledge faithfully to go to their local salon for a wash and set, but would refuse to pledge at least a half a day at the gym.
In all fairness, I know the struggles of African American hair. Hell, I have been natural since February and I’m going out of my mind! But it is not my main focus. My education, my overall health and maintaining home ownership are my priorities. Those are small accomplishments compared to what Gabby has done for our nation and our black community. Mind you, I’m just a plain Jane from Stratford, Connecticut… this chick is a Olympian and we STILL are focusing on her hair? Come on people. Enough…is enough.
I remember the Essence magazine had Jada Pinkett on the cover. It was an amazing article about her accomplishments, her marriage and her children. One of the comments about Jada wasn’t praising her as being a successful African American woman—-instead they questioned why they put weave extensions in her hair for the cover as opposed to her being natural. By the way ladies and gents, that WAS Jada Pinketts hair in the magazine.
Why are we so critical towards one another. She has done the unthinkable. This amazing girl was placed in a home away from her family, was only able to see her mother through Skype, she trained hard, cried hard. Sweat and blood she gave. Discipline and diet. Drive and dedication to not only represent America, but our BLACK COMMUNITY. And what do we give her? Hair critics. HAIR CRITICS!
I want to thank the fellow tweeter’s and facebooker’s for again taking a positive accomplishment and single-handedly destroying it due your ignorance and ghetto-fied views. Just please do me a favor and just analyze everyone else’s hairstyles while they were competing and tell me if Gabby’s hair was any different.
Hair will die, but Gabby’s accomplishment will live on until the end of time.
Thank you Gabby. I am truly proud sister.
Monique Emery is a single African American woman doin’ her thing.
She is a homeowner, billing specialist for a large Hospital, and the adopted mom of a Cocker Spaniel.
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Tags: african american hair, controversy, gabby douglas, guest post, hair, women
I remember seeing the tweets during her first competition at the Olympics and I was rather surprised, because I didn’t see anything wrong with her appearance. I saw a few more tweets, but I figured it was twitter just being twitter.
At this point, I am very surprised to see this discussion hasn’t died down yet. smh
One day, we as a society will improve, but as long as media continues to tell us beauty is more important than accomplishments/talent, we are doomed to more hair judgment tweets and less congratulatory tweets on historical event making moments.
I didn’t see the specific tweets although I read that people were criticizing her hair. Didn’t know why, since all the Fab Five had the same half in/half out ponytail (very much ‘the thing’ these days). What most strikes me about your post, Monique, is that it reveals a side of African-American women that I didn’t realize existed. It’s rampant in the white world, so why did I think it wouldn’t be in the African-American world? I guess it’s a gender thing, this need to eat our own merely for succeeding.