See Why This Site's “Short Cut” Natural Tutorial Caused A Hot Mess
If you thought Black Twitter was a force to be reckoned with, then get familiar the Natural Hair Community.
@Refinery29ShortCuts is getting plenty of side eyes (and a slew of comments) after proposing the question: “Do you have kinky 4C hair and are looking to define and preserve your curls during the hot summer months?
Naturally (no pun intended) we were nervous what the outcome would be. See the video below for yourself:
Ummm, yikes! We have many questions—the first being, is this really the best representation of natural hair Refinery29 could drum up? We know plenty of YouTube hair vloggers and hairstylists who could slay a mini-tutorial like this one. #justsaying.
Also, if you peep the comments there were many women NOT of color, sharing their personal do’s and don’ts. Let that marinate for a second.
It’s not the first time a good hair video went bad. We know you remember the “60-second summer hair” disaster on the Today show that went viral last year.
Here’s a refresher in case you forgot about the infamous clip:
Thankfully, New York City–based beauty expert and Today Style Tastemaker Deepica Mutyala took the media firestorm in stride and released a video featuring three natural hair gurus (Kamie Crawford, Akilah Hughes and Tiarra Monet) to teach her their ways.
@Refinery29ShortCuts has released a statement on Facebook apologizing for their major faux pas:
“Hey yall, We're seeing your comments — and in hindsight, this was not the best representation of a twist out (as Mominatu noted, this probably is better labeled as a moisturizing technique). With that being said, we want to make it clear that this was never our intention, but we are dedicated to using your reader feedback to do better next time.”
Listen, we are all about representation and diversity across the board, but it’s frustrating when the mark is missed. And it begs the question: Were any people of color (other than the model) involved?
Hopefully other outlets will take heed for future beauty tutorials centered around Black women.
Hint: Include us from jump!
