Projecting Our Anti-Blackness Onto Blue Ivy

[iammalcolmx]

I disagree (1) Bey can pass for most races (2) People aren't criticizing because they are anti-black.

ETA: I meant aren't

[NitaX]

Right - I was like Bey ain't passing for shit other than Glamourized Houston ratchet.

I will say that I tire of the COMB THAT BABY'S HAIR chorus. As the mom of a kid with hair that ain't ever gonna conform to anyone's rules, I feel Bey's pain. Blue's Hair has its own personality. And I'd love the day when black folks would STFU about hair being done right. Let that baby's head alone. Besides, that girl probably won't ever work a day in her life, so, who does she need to conform to? 

[meshaliuknits]

Who in the hell thought that baby wasn't gonna look black? Talk about setting yourself up for disappointment.

[iammalcolmx]

Oct 22, 2014 12:58:00 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Right - I was like Bey ain't passing for shit other than Glamourized Houston ratchet.

I will say that I tire of the COMB THAT BABY'S HAIR chorus. As the mom of a kid with hair that ain't ever gonna conform to anyone's rules, I feel Bey's pain. Blue's Hair has its own personality. And I'd love the day when black folks would STFU about hair being done right. Let that baby's head alone. Besides, that girl probably won't ever work a day in her life, so, who does she need to conform to? 

I think people do not understand the bolded and jump to conclusions. They think a little dab of Cantu or curl cream will do the trick , and this is not the case for all hair textures. The big problem is,  people on both sides of the issue are very defensive. I fail to believe self-hate is why all those folks are raising their eyebrows at that child's hair, meanwhile the eye raisers need to realize there are a myriad of factors here at play when doing the kids hair.

Finally as someone who general is herself harsh when it comes to this type of stuff I am officially SICK of hearing about the kids hair. As long as they don't trot her around with 1000 rubber bands in her hair, then LET HER BE.

[NitaX]

Oct 22, 2014 13:06:37 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Oct 22, 2014 12:58:00 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Right - I was like Bey ain't passing for shit other than Glamourized Houston ratchet.

I will say that I tire of the COMB THAT BABY'S HAIR chorus. As the mom of a kid with hair that ain't ever gonna conform to anyone's rules, I feel Bey's pain. Blue's Hair has its own personality. And I'd love the day when black folks would STFU about hair being done right. Let that baby's head alone. Besides, that girl probably won't ever work a day in her life, so, who does she need to conform to? 

I think people do not understand the bolded and jump to conclusions. They think a little dab of Cantu or curl cream will do the trick , and this is not the case for all hair textures. The big problem is,  people on both sides of the issue are very defensive. I fail to believe self-hate is why all those folks are raising their eyebrows at that child's hair, meanwhile the eye raisers need to realize there are a myriad of factors here at play when doing the kids hair.

Finally as someone who general is herself harsh when it comes to this type of stuff I am officially SICK of hearing about the kids hair. As long as they don't trot her around with 1000 rubber bands in her hair, then LET HER BE.

Why she can't 50 rubberbands and 50 barrettes? Y U HATIN'

[ttt]

I don't follow this at all - who are the people hating on this child? I mean, I'll hate on the name with the rest of them but beyond that, I don't get it.

[iammalcolmx]

Oct 22, 2014 13:08:33 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:06:37 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

I think people do not understand the bolded and jump to conclusions. They think a little dab of Cantu or curl cream will do the trick , and this is not the case for all hair textures. The big problem is,  people on both sides of the issue are very defensive. I fail to believe self-hate is why all those folks are raising their eyebrows at that child's hair, meanwhile the eye raisers need to realize there are a myriad of factors here at play when doing the kids hair.

Finally as someone who general is herself harsh when it comes to this type of stuff I am officially SICK of hearing about the kids hair. As long as they don't trot her around with 1000 rubber bands in her hair, then LET HER BE.

Why she can't 50 rubberbands and 50 barrettes? Y U HATIN'

Because children deserve better than a fate of eventually having the same hairline as Steve Wonder.

[meshaliuknits]

Oct 22, 2014 13:10:12 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:08:33 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Why she can't 50 rubberbands and 50 barrettes? Y U HATIN'

Because children deserve better than a fate of eventually having the same hairline as Steve Wonder.

LOL!

[heyjude]

"The people who wanted Blue Ivy to be their racially ambiguous dream-child..."

Are these the same people who wanted Suri Cruise to be the second coming of L Ron Hubbard?

[NitaX]

Oct 22, 2014 13:09:33 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't follow this at all - who are the people hating on this child? I mean, I'll hate on the name with the rest of them but beyond that, I don't get it.

Chile - the whole of the Black Interwebz. There are people who spend an inordinate amount of time talmbout how Bey needs to comb that baby's hair. 

[iammalcolmx]

Oct 22, 2014 13:12:40 GMT -5 heyjude said:

"The people who wanted Blue Ivy to be their racially ambiguous dream-child..."

Are these the same people who wanted Suri Cruise to be the second coming of L Ron Hubbard?

I seriously have NO IDEA what the writer is talking about in regard to that. The writer lost street cred when they said Bey could pass for any race.

[ttt]

Oct 22, 2014 13:12:39 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:09:33 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't follow this at all - who are the people hating on this child? I mean, I'll hate on the name with the rest of them but beyond that, I don't get it.

Chile - the whole of the Black Interwebz. There are people who spend an inordinate amount of time talmbout how Bey needs to comb that baby's hair. 

I had no idea. I thought this was referring to white people who don't understand black hair. 

[meshaliuknits]

Oct 22, 2014 13:12:40 GMT -5 heyjude said:

"The people who wanted Blue Ivy to be their racially ambiguous dream-child..."

Are these the same people who wanted Suri Cruise to be the second coming of L Ron Hubbard?

I thought Suri was supposed to battle Shiloh for humanity's souls?



Might have just been my twitter.

[heyjude]

It's really interesting to me how "we" never obsess over the male children of celebrities. But the female ones are fussed over so much and then discarded as soon as the next female one is popped out.

So watch out little Lively-Reynolds. For your sake I hope you are a boy.

Maybe Shilloh is on to something.

[meshaliuknits]

Oct 22, 2014 13:36:03 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

I think Blue and North are cute. They are babies!

And who thought Bey was passin'?!!!

North has an epic side eye.

[KB]

Oct 22, 2014 13:12:39 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:09:33 GMT -5 ttt said:

I don't follow this at all - who are the people hating on this child? I mean, I'll hate on the name with the rest of them but beyond that, I don't get it.

Chile - the whole of the Black Interwebz. There are people who spend an inordinate amount of time talmbout how Bey needs to comb that baby's hair. 

They can go sat down. Seriously? people have too much damn time on their hands. 

[KB]

Oct 22, 2014 13:29:55 GMT -5 heyjude said:

It's really interesting to me how "we" never obsess over the male children of celebrities. But the female ones are fussed over so much and then discarded as soon as the next female one is popped out.

So watch out little Lively-Reynolds. For your sake I hope you are a boy.

Maybe Shilloh is on to something.

God help William & Kate if Baby #2 is a girl. The press will be merciless. 

[Velar Fricative]

Oct 22, 2014 13:36:03 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

I think Blue and North are cute. They are babies!

And who thought Bey was passin'?!!!

I keep coming back and reading this sentence because Blue and North are actual people. Actual people with those names. My goodness.

Blue is still way better than North (West) though, but still.

[Deleted]

Oct 22, 2014 13:49:35 GMT -5 KB said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:29:55 GMT -5 heyjude said:

It's really interesting to me how "we" never obsess over the male children of celebrities. But the female ones are fussed over so much and then discarded as soon as the next female one is popped out.

So watch out little Lively-Reynolds. For your sake I hope you are a boy.

Maybe Shilloh is on to something.

God help William & Kate if Baby #2 is a girl who takes after her father. The press will be merciless. 

Any baby who takes after Kate is going to be juuuust fine.  I hope they do have a girl though.  I want to see little princess dresses.  (I am part of the problem.)

I need to add that I think Blue and North are both adorable.  So is little George.  Leave the babies alone!

[msmerymac]

Oct 22, 2014 13:10:12 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:08:33 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Why she can't 50 rubberbands and 50 barrettes? Y U HATIN'

Because children deserve better than a fate of eventually having the same hairline as Steve Wonder.

LOL, I just found this:

[heyjude]

When stupid white ladies talk on and on how they "want a black baby" (aka my friend (rage!!!)) they are usually talking about ones who look just like blue ivy.

BTW, she is the cutest. So is North.

[downtoearth]

Oct 22, 2014 14:18:14 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:10:12 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Because children deserve better than a fate of eventually having the same hairline as Steve Wonder.

LOL, I just found this:

I was going to ask if there is a concern on time of taming hair?  Maybe Bey has had enough of doing hair since her hair changes in public often.  She probably just wants to let the hair go and seriously most of the pics are still super cute, but I also don't even comb my boys' hair everyday so they often look like this at school...

[cattledogkisses]

All I have to add is that, as a white person who is absolutely terrible at telling when people are passing, I could tell you that Beyonce is black from a mile away so I don't get the "passing" part either.

[Deleted]

I can't lie, if Blue Ivy were my baby, she would be looking cute full time in a TWA and various headbands. That baby's hair routinely looks like a racist pickaninny advertisement from the 30's and that shit ain't right.



But she isn't my baby and Bey ain't me. No one is going to assume that baby is some unwashed, unloved ragamuffin being raised by yet another unwed, undereducated ghetto mess who can't keep a man, can't speak proper English, and can't even keep her baby's knees moisturized. So you do you, Bey.

As for Bey's color, who the fuck thinks she's anything but Black? I'm sure there are some folks who thinks she's Creole because Mama Tina playing at dumb shit and even dumber people think Creole is something fancier than it is. But everybody else knew that baby was going to be black. There isn't an anti-black bias. Honestly, I believe it's a product of every black person on this planet knowing they have to do better. Again, as I said before, ain't no black person without all that damned money taking their baby out looking like that. It would be like taking their baby out with ashy knees.

So black folks need to stop, yes because Bey is a special case. But you know, I kind of ain't even mad at them. That's two hundred years of conditioning right there, knowing your babies need to look right out in public lest people get some confirmation of their own biases.

[busybodyk]

Black women (the majority) are obsessed with hair. Obsessed! Period.

I don't have a problem with that Blue's hair and I think its crazy that people were so outraged by it. But I also understand that it's an old school black culture thing. Good black people didn't go out without their hair combed. Times are changing and people need to get over it.

I have a 15 month old daughter and it saddens me that society may look at her like this. She only has a few curls on her head and people I don't know (mainly old black women) insist on commenting on how long and how "good" her hair will be one day (bald babies' hair grows the longest, didn't you know?), "Ooh she gone have a head full of hair, don't you worry." I don't worry. And she won't keep a head band on. They get thrown down or around her neck about 5 minutes after I put them on.

[wrathofkuus]

I don't know how to ask this delicately, but... is there something weird here about assimilation and representation that's being foisted onto this poor kid because of white representation talking over everyone else in pop culture? I'm drunk and not explaining myself well; hopefully someone knows what I'm trying to ask.

[MrsAxilla]

Oct 22, 2014 13:14:00 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Oct 22, 2014 13:12:40 GMT -5 heyjude said:

"The people who wanted Blue Ivy to be their racially ambiguous dream-child..."

Are these the same people who wanted Suri Cruise to be the second coming of L Ron Hubbard?

I seriously have NO IDEA what the writer is talking about in regard to that. The writer lost street cred when they said Bey could pass for any race.

Wait!  Beyonce's BLACK?!?  I'm so bad at this game.  



lolol.

[pitterwoo]

Other stuff aside, I can see why people would comment about their disappointment that she looks so much like her father. I think that's really tough on girls of pretty moms in general. Like Demi and Bruce. Ideally people would STFU though because she's cute and she's just a baby.

[mx27]

Oct 22, 2014 12:58:00 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Right - I was like Bey ain't passing for shit other than Glamourized Houston ratchet.

LOL!

so true.

[readyin07]

I am going to see some more photos. In the one above she looks super cute and I think her hair is awesome. I am confused.