EXHALE
Finally. A celebrity … A CELEBRITY speaks out and encourages our little girls to BE EVERY BIT OF WHO THEY ARE!
Jada Pinkett Smith, the outspoken and strong better half of actor Will Smith and supermom to Jaden and Willow Smith speaks out and addresses the critics who have scoffed at her daughter Willow for her “nontraditional” hairstyles and for poking fun at the laid-back parenting style of the power couple.
Critics have asked why Jada would “let” Willow change her hair to various colors like hot pink or why she would let her cut her hair bald. But it seems to me that Jada is the forward-thinking one here. In a culture where girls are ridiculed for having a body size larger than a Barbie doll and black girls are teased if their hair is natural or “nappy” Jada rebukes society’s backward-minded imprint on young girls. Here’s the letter Jada published:
A letter to a friend…
This subject is old but I have never answered it in its entirety. And even with this post it will remain incomplete.
The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women,girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It’s also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother’s deepest insecurities, hopes and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be.
More to come. Another day.
J
I am so happy that someone GETS it! It’s not about pleasing everyone else, it’s about our girls learning to love and appreciate all that they are.
Actually because of Willow’s boldness I allowed my 8-year-old to dye a portion of her hair back in May. She wanted to be like Willow and loved the song, Whip my Hair. And since Mikaela is my child who is expressive and dares to be different I allowed her to be her. She asked if she could put some color in her hair and I allowed her too. I never even wrote about it on this blog until now.
Mikaela (on the left) has her front ponytail dyed honey blonde. She loves Willow Smith’s style. And her hair color is mom-approved!
And I remember the response was harsh at first when I went to her school and a school administrator said, “Why would you do that to your child’s hair!” I said because I’m letting Mikaela BE Mikaela and she is different and creative and that’s that! I didn’t get mad or taken aback. I was just MATTER OF FACT and nobody was going to determine HOW I was going to raise my child NOR would they dictate what was RIGHT or WRONG in my house! My daughters are beautiful and precious but their beauty can’t be determined by the latest trends or fashions or numbers on a scale. If they take ownership of their value and worth then NO ONE can take it from them. And that’s VERY important in today’s society. But you know, there are many women who have issues with themselves and therefore cannot support their daughters being free-spirits who don’t conform to everyone else’s beauty rules. 
Kudos to Jada because she is in the public eye and gets much harsher criticism than I every would. But everybody needs to take a cue from the other Smiths because THIS Smith family certainly does! (BTW… Hey Willow I hope one day you can call and talk to Mikaela. She really looks up to you 😉
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