2-time Olympic gymnast champion – one for team USA and one for all-around individual – Gabby Douglas performing on the balance beam during the team finals.
Y’all, I’m going to be honest. I want to be Gabby Douglas’ friend. I’m not talking casual friendship. You know the kind where you bump into someone on the street and the both of you pretend like you’re not counting in your heads how long you until you can exit the conversation without looking like you didn’t want to leave the convo. I’m talking inside-joke having, clothes swapping, can-you-look-something-up-for-me-on-WebMD-and-tell-me-I’m-not-going-to-die-because-I-trust-my-uninformed-best-friend-forever-over-some-Harvard-doctor kind of friendship. Can we do that, Gabs? I know I’m standing in a long ass line of folks who also adore and wanna go halfsies on huevos rancheros sometime, but I’m putting out there. Let’s. Do. This.
Ok, #TeamBlaria. You got me. Clearly, I’m not neutral when it comes to the matter of Gabby Douglas and seemingly on Twitter, a lot of other people aren’t either. In fact, plenty of people are passionate about her. But the focus of their attention isn’t directed at her accomplishments, or her poise, or her skills as an athlete. It’s aimed at her hair. That’s right, her hair. WTF?! When I read the negative tweets about Douglas’ hair, I responded like this in my apartment:
All I could do was laugh because clearly these people trashing Douglas are being petty. Sidenote: when I was laughing, I wasn’t wearing gorgeous lingerie from La Perla and being lit beautifully. I was sitting underneath a GE light bulb and wearing cut up shorts, which made me think about my sad, sad checking account. So maybe I was laughing more about at how much money I don’t have than the nasty tweets. But the point is that I can’t laugh about it anymore. I gotta blog about it. After all, that’s the Blaria way.
This is the hair in question:
It’s chemically straightened and in bright lighting, you can see that her hair has been somewhat heavily slicked back into a ponytail with gel, so it won’t move while she is tumbling. For extra precaution, she also put some clips in to keep her hair in place.
that has caused some people to lash out and clown her on the internet. Let’s take a look at some of the rude ass comments from the ain’t-doing-shit-with-their-lives people of Twitter, shall we?:
@MessyMeil tweeted, “So for real though nobody wanted to go to London to do Gabby Douglas’ hair?
@MayaFantastic! tweeted, “Gabby Douglas need to tame the beady beads in the back of her hair. lol”
And this delicious little nugget:
@stephaniebabe93 twated, “I know every black female looked at gabby douglas’ hair and asked Why? Just why?”
UGH!!! Since I can’t go to each and every one of your houses and do this:
let me say the following: YOU ARE BEING EXTREMELY IGNORANT, SO SIT YOUR ASS DOWN, STOP USING YOUR WORTHLESS THUMBS TO TWEET NASTY SHIT, AND SHUT THE HELL UP.
Also, @stephaniebabe93, thanks for speaking on behalf of all Black people. Because not only do we just love when one Black person takes it upon him/herself to assume their opinion represents all of us, but it makes it extremely easy for White people to record Black history by waiting for a buffoon to queef out some nonsense and then quickly post it on Wikipedia under the section “All You Need To Know About Black People”, which includes things like “prefacing something they are about to say with the disclaimer ‘Real Talk,’ so the listener knows that the other shit they said was ‘Pretend Talk,’” “if two Black people are dancing at a work party, they’ll pretend like they don’t want it to turn into a dance off, but, c’mon, they really want the dance off ” and “water is scary.” Oh, wait, you didn’t like how I used my sarcasm to speak on behalf of all Black people? Then shut the hell up, @stephaniebabe93.
Secondly, if any of these nasty ass tweets came from a White person then e’ery Black person in America would’ve sent out the bat signal to get Al Sharpton (the signal being three old Black church ladies saying “Oh, Lawd” three times while staring at mirror and fanning themselves) on TV talking about how racism is rearing its ugly head again. But somehow since these Twitter folk are Black like Douglas that makes these comments, what exactly? Less disgraceful or shallow or inappropriate or shameful because after all these folks are only just engaging in some #RealTalk from one Black person to another?
But more than a race thing, this is a people thing because this type of garbage doesn’t just happen to Gabby. Michael Phelps has won more medals than any other Olympian in history and there will still be people who will go, “But his face looks weird.” And with Lebron James it’s, “Yeah, he won a championship, but his hairline is receding.” Why is that even worth saying? Oh, I see. You want to make yourself feel better, you’ll start a trending topic on Twitter clowning someone because even though we love building public figures up, we love even more to tear them down. And yes, I know it is just Twitter, so who cares? Except it’s not just Twitter. It’s the mentality that no matter what is achieved, some people must find a way to say something hateful to bring the person back down a little. To keep them in check.
It’s also not just Twitter because of the race thing. So let’s go back to the race thing for a quick second because the Black people who spewed this garbage about Douglas’ head on the internet KNOW how touchy the subject of hair is for Black women. For centuries, Black women have made to feel less than, ugly, unworthy because they don’t have “good hair” aka straight hair like White people. When I had dreadlocks and single for a little bit, the majority of Black dudes were supportive of this look, but I was told by a couple of Black dudes that I would have a man if I just didn’t have my hair like that. Nice. Or how about when TV personality Wendy Williams said that Viola Davis going to Academy Awards with her hair naturally curly was inappropriate because Black people shouldn’t go to formal events looking like that? Looking like what? Yourself ? Okay, Black woman are not to wear their natural AND if a Black woman chooses to straighten her hair, let’s still attack her if her straight hair isn’t looking perfect. Enough is enough! Jeez, take the day off from deriding someone for not meeting your standards. Maybe you can then find it in you to support your fellow Black person for achieving something that no doubt is inspiring little Black girls around the country. Be less shallow and maybe you’ll also achieve more with your life. Get your priorities straight.
Because there are so many other things that you could have tweeted about Gabby Douglas like the fact that she is well-spoken and charming in interviews:
Or how about the fact that she won two gold medals, one of which is the all-around gold medal, which no other Black person has done in history? How about the fact that she poured her blood, sweat, tears, and hair grease into the past ten plus years of her gymnastic life so she could fulfill her destiny to become an Olympic champion? How about the fact that she is sixteen fucking years old and when you were a teenager and your classmates said even 1/10th of the vitriol you have spewed in Douglas’ direction, you would’ve run home to your mama and ask her to tell you’re beautiful. And she’ll do it because she knows that despite what the world says about you, you are beautiful AND because she’s not an asshole like how you’re being right now. So knock it the fuck off. Gabby doesn’t need some dick cheese, or labia brie for the ladies out there talking trash, to try and ruin her moment because her Black hair is not YOUR ideal (which is basically society’s ideal) of what you think her Black hair should look like. Stop being an asshole.
But what if you like being an asshole? In that case: congratulations! Congratulations, you’re an asshole for picking on a sixteen year old through the safety of a fucking computer like a chump even though she has probably accomplished more in her short life than you have thus far in yours. Congratulations, you’re an asshat because you equate tearing someone down for no reason as the same as “it’s just jokes” so relax. Congratulations, you’re an asskerchief (sorry, I’m running out things to combine with “ass”) for pretending that none of the complexes that each of us has about ourselves isn’t the direct result of people making you feel like shit about the supposed flaws or actual imperfections you have. So to quote Kanye, I’m toasting to the douchebags, scumbags, and the jerkoffs. Cheers, asskerchiefs!
**You know the deal: I’m headlining Carolines on Sunday, August 19th at 10pm. To make reservations, go to http://www.carolines.com/comedian/phoebe-robinson/ and use the code “COB10″ to get $10 tix. Enjoy your weekend!!!**
She’s so awesome I want to protect her from all the asskerchiefs in the world who tweet snot. That is how I would be her best friend. BTW, I’m totally going to be her best friend. She lives an hour from me (not lying). Do you want me to take a best friend/stalkerish picture of her for you?
!!!! You live near her?!?!?! OMG, yes, please take a best friend/stalkerish picture of her!! So jealous!!
The only things that crossed my mind as I watched Gabby’s final performance were 1) OMG I need to stop crying like a baby but I’m so happy 2) Girls got skills 3) She has a really pretty face and she is beaming with excitement. WTF do people want?! She was throwing herself in the air and hanging from bars! Her hair looks appropriate for such acts. Smh, Geeze. Women are terrible to each other.
I agree. The cattiness is so horrible and it’s only gotten worse with the internet. People are just tearing each other left and right and I hate it.
LURVE this blog Phoebe. Being mixed, I got hair-shamed from both sides growing up. I’m sure she’ll go get her hair redone after she finds somewhere to stash her GOLD MEDAL. FROM THE OLYMPICS. Come on people.
Aww, thanks, Shanin!! Hopefully, you’re not getting hair-shamed anymore. Your hair is beautiful and bitches need to recognize that.
So believe it or not I worked with a black theater company in Chicago for three years, and I was an actor to boot. Too long of a story to get into but they needed a really white person and I was their gal. Anyway in the dressing room, packed with black women a couple of whom were of mixed heritage (one was half white, the other half Latin) I learned a LOT about the trials, tribulations and political stances a black woman can take with their hair. And strangely everyone in the room, including myself envied the women who were of more than one ethnic background. The mixed race women seemed to have the best of both worlds…but I digress. Anyway I think it incredibly depressing and sad that any black woman would attack this 16 yr. old superstar in this way. I mean she is competing, her hair should just be out of the way, that’s it. She can’t exactly have complicated hair when she is flipping around like that, and sweating on top of it. I think this venom comes from self-hatred, which is incredibly sad. The women are frustrated with their own hair so they lash out at Gabby. The Sherri Shepard comment kind of proves it, here is one black woman attacking another for having natural hair at a formal event. WTF? Does she think to herself, look I spend a fortune and a lot of time on my hair, how dare you go out like that? The whole thing reminds me of the pro-anorexia sites that trash swimsuit models for being FAT because you can’t see their bones. This really needs to stop. And can we just get over the whole hair as politics thing? One of my best friends has natural hair and she is black and she wears it like that NOT as a political statement, but just because she likes her hair that way and she does a lot with it. She gets completely annoyed when people assume she wears her hair as she does for any reason except that is how she is most comfortable. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! These things just make me crazy. Women need to stop hating ourselves or we will never get anywhere! OK my rant is done. Excellent piece, as usual!
Whoa! So cool. Didn’t know you did that!
When I first started wearing my hair natural, people thought I was doing it for political reasons. And I was like, “Maybe, but I’m just sick and tired of putting harmful chemicals in my hair. I’m just being practical.” Ha! But I feel that when people break away from the norm, people think you have some agenda, and while that’s true of some people, others just are being themselves and if that means not being conventional, then so be it.
Hopefully, this self-hatred with Black hair will end one day. Until then, it’s just sad.
Okay so since everyone wants to “blast” me about the ONE comment I said about her hair and make it seem like I’m “tearing her down, jealous, and not being supportive”….how about you dig up the 100+ tweets of me cheering her on since the olympic trials which was over a month before half of you even knew who she was. You don’t know how many nights cheering her on caused me to get in twitter jail so please stop harrassing me with all these news updates and mentions on twitter. Harassment is a crime, I didn’t realize ONE tweet would put everyone in such an upoar. Ohh and by the way, she has been in my bio since JULY 2ND! It says #teamGABBYDOUGLAS …tell me how many of yall knew who she was back then? Thank you, that is all.
Look, this is all I’m going to say about this to you. Anytime you use social media and put your comments out there, people are going to react to them. And if you cannot handle it then you shouldn’t participate in it. No one is harassing you at all. This tweet that got picked up by several outlets including Jezebel, myself and Huffington Post because you put it out there in the first place. Furthermore, I didn’t send you my blog post; I don’t even know who you are. Someone else had to send it to you. So how did I harass you? I didn’t, so stop casting yourself as the victim. It’s ludicrous. Also, I find it interesting that you have no problem trashing someone in social media, yet when people call you out for your nonsense, they’re the bad guys. No one would have said anything to you if you hadn’t spewed vitriol in the first place. Take responsibility for the mess you caused.
You can have #teamGABBYDOUGLAS on your Twitter, but it just justify or excuse your ignorant behavior. And it also makes me wonder why you, a “fan,” felt the need to trash her even for one moment. The fact of the matter is Gabby became the first African-American to achieve what she did. But more than that, she’s sixteen years old. If you’re an adult, shame on you for ragging on a teenager. If you are also a teenager, hopefully you will outgrow doing things like this. But back to Gabby, what she accomplished, she accomplished with grace, poise, and talent. That should be the focus. Not her hair. So you you really need to get your priorities straight. Putting gel in her hair doesn’t mean she looks a mess or is less beautiful.
I just hope that if you have a daughter one day, she never has to go through this kind of garbage. That she doesn’t come home one day crying because people are making her feel less than by trashing her. I hope you won’t have to go through that pain.
For one thing, I wasn’t talking directly to you. For another thing, I feel as though eveything you just said was purposeless because I’ve already justified it; but you (not literally YOU) wouldn’t know that because you only see what your eyes and mind allows you to see. I’m not an adult although you probably are. I did not call her the b* word, a hoe, a man, a hermaphrodite, or any of the other things anyone said to me. Honestly, it didn’t bother me because I know who/what I am and what I’m not. I just don’t want everyone thinking I’m the devil over a simple sentence. I could call you and everyone else all of those things because you’re doing the exact same thing I did, just in a different way. It doesn’t make it any better that you’re “bullying a bully” for lack of better terms. Anyways…I don’t have the time or the patience to keep playing tip for tap on these comments. I’ve said all I have to say.
Did you mean “tit for tat?”
This chic maya needs to learn her place and admit she\’s wrong. It doesn\’t matter if she\’s #teamGABBYDOUGLAS. It doesn\’t excuse her poor behavior. NOTHING justifies it. Maya, if you read this, consider: these are the consequences of your actions. you get called out and you get a little embarrassed. Maybe you\’ll learn to be a better person for it. But THIS is not bullying. THIS is being held accountable for the crap you talk.
#Preach!