Gabby Douglas' Hair Sparks Debate: Why?
by Free Britney at .American teenager Gabby Douglas has been wowing the world with grace, style, and of course, the women's all-around gymnastics gold medal.
Nevertheless, much of the chatter on social media and online platforms has been about the upkeep of her hair, and not all feedback is positive.
Douglas, one of the few African-American gymnasts ever to compete in the Olympics and the first to win all-around gold, is an inspiring story.
Time and Sports Illustrated have her on their covers. President Barack Obama called to congratulate her. So why do people care about Gabby Douglas' hair?!
“I love how she’s doing her thing and winning,’’ says 22-year-old Latisha Jenkins of Detroit told The Daily Beast. “But I just hate the way her hair looks."
"With all those pins and gel ... I wish someone could have helped her make it look better since she’s being seen all over the world."
"She representing for black women everywhere.’’
According to reports, the 4'11" Douglas appears to have chemically relaxed natural hair, to which she adds a human-hair ponytail for height.
The Olympic champ then apparently slicks it all back with a heavy layer of gel to help it stay in place during her high-energy performances.
Hair has always been something of a hot button issue for African-American women culturally, but in the case of Douglas, isn't the criticism a little much?
Douglas’ accomplishments speak for themselves ... for the conversation to turn to a teenager’s physical appearance and upkeep seems a bit unfair.
Do you like her hair? Does it matter? Tell us what you think.
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Comments (371 Total)
To my knowledge at this point, Gabby has not made any money. Her is struggling to provide for her. Yes everyone in America see's her but she is who she is, why live above her family means because someone else doe snot like her hair. She is an athlete and it would have been messed up anyways, that's a waste. Whomever started this should have offered to pay for multiple appointments to upkeep during the olympics.@johnpauldietz-I agree with you. I believe people were making comments on twitter and making jokes like they do with anything else and people put it in the news to make conflict. I don't believe that anyone who made those comments were purposely being malicious just joking around, I'm sure they are proud of her accomplishments, now it's been tarnished and her feelings are hurt in the process. Jewel
NO ONE SHOULD HAVE RESPONDED TO THIS QUESTIONS. NO ONE. IT IS NOT AN ISSUE. WHITE PEOPLE WANT THIS TO BE AN ISSUE. THE COMMENTS ABOUT GABBY'S HAIR WOULD NOT HAVE EVEN MADE NEWS IF IT WEREN'T FOR WHITEY. WHITES ARE THE ONES BEHIND THE CAMERAS AND DIRECTING SHIT AND PUTTING BLACK PEOPLE'S COMMENTS ABOUT GABBY'S HAIR IN THE NEWS. WHITES, WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. IF THE COMMENT WERE ON TWITTER, IT SHOULD HAVE STAYED ON TWITTER AND NOT MADE NEWS...PERIOD.
This is an intelligent ,cute young athlete.Her hairstyle is just like the other girl's ,just a diffrent texture.Gabby is representing the USA,and has done a fantastic job.Can you say "Gold Medal".Its not like she an advertisement for Shanequa's ghetto fab styles.They're more important things than a "do"
It is so sad that people are so worried about this young woman's hair. Lt me ask you this is your hair ALWAYS done for a photo shoot? 99% of the ones who has something to say will tell you NO. She is still a child who did something most adults will never do in a lifetime. People need to stop looking at the cover of a book and read whats inside. Her hair did not win the golds she did. That's all that matter. Forget what people think and let her be who she is. The media has everyone's mind twisted. She is a black young lady we do not have straight hair or hair is thick and coarse. Anyone who has something bad to say about this young lady fit the title of a HATER. Until you do something better keep your damn mouth shut. Give credit where credit is due. Not by what YOU think it should look like. We teach our kids to be strong and unique, stop using what magazines say what a woman or girl should look kile. Most g them are Photoshoped before they are published.
I really don't think her hair is a big deal. I dot think it looks bad, I don't think she needs to worry about it and I don't think other people do either. I honestly think her hair is absolutely fine the way it is! This young lady is amazingly talented and all people are worrying about us her hair? We should probably think about whats important.