Jada Pinkett Smith on her daughter Willow's buzz cut

[neko_kawaii]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/jada-pinkett-smith-willow-smith-hair-critics-girls-should-not-be-a-slave-facebook_n_2198183.html?ir=Black+Voices


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.

My feelings exactly with the same being true for any length, color, texture, and style.

[rtree721]

Wow that is amazing and so true.

[Curly Hermione]

I also agree, I think it's great that a prominent media figure is helping to empower women, although it does bother me a little that she seems to possibly be equating long hair with sticking to preconceived cultural ideals. I'm probably just reading to much into it though, I doubt she really meant that. I wish more women,especially mothers,had that kind of attitude. :)

[millyaulait]

I totally agree. :)

Plus, Willow is really fashion-forward and trendy, not to mention *gorgeous*! :D

I think she's a great role model for young girls to have fun with their looks & not necessarily have to conform to what is 'acceptable' these days.

[MaryO]

Very open minded attitude, I like it!

She does make it sound like if you have long hair (and choose to) that maybe you're the 'bad' one? Or is it just me?

[patienceneeded]

Very cool statement.

I don't think she's implying anything negative about long hair. She's defending her daughter's choice to have very short hair. Sometimes I feel we (on this forum) jump-in to defend long hair where there is no need. She's not saying long hair = bad or old-fashioned. She is saying her daughter's beauty is not defined by her hair. Period.

[Wavelength]

I don't follow celebrity gossip but I suddenly have a LOT of respect for the Smiths. Good on them, and good to know there's some celebrities out there with their heads screwed on straight. :D

[Tota]

I wish I had a mom like that ;)

[melusine963]

Good for her! I wish more people understood this.

[jacqueline101]

I agree with her people shouldn't be judged by their hair length or physical attributes.

[shutterpillar]

Absolutely beautiful, and my sentiments exactly.

[mermaid-nina]

Aw I'd struggle with this one. Anyone else in the world, I'd be happy with what made them happy. But much as I would support either of my daughters cutting all their hair off, inside (and prob outwardly when they weren't around!) I would be crying. I found it hard cutting a fringe into my 8 year old's classic length. But as I say, they would 100% have my support.

[spidermom]

That was my philosophy, too. My children could do anything they wanted with their hair as long as it wouldn't get them expelled from school or cost me a fortune. I did discourage my daughter from getting a perm because her hair is very thick and I knew she'd hate it. I refused to pay for it, but she saved up her money and paid for it herself. And hated it.

[dmilton]

I think this is great! When I was a kid my mom let me chop off all of my hair to ear length (which is what I wanted). I learned from it completely! I hated the short hair and it was a terrible look for me, but the fact that I was allowed to do that was wonderful! :)

[lapushka]

Nice laid back attitude. And it's just hair, after all, so no big deal. It's still pretty innocent (not like she's out getting pierced or tattood at her age).

My mom let me cut my hair into a page boy cut from classic length when I was a very young teen, so... Same attitude, I guess. She did feel bad, though, but I had to live with the haircut, and I hated it the next day. But, oh well, it grew back. :shrug:

[Lostsoule77]

Saw this post on her FB page a few days ago and thought it was great!

My mom was close to this. Took me years to get her to allow me to get bangs. When I wanted a perm though she gave it to me and when I wanted purple hair she let me dye it. This was back in the day when normal people couldn't get unnatural hair color dye unless you were in a big city. I had to get the dye from a salon, but I loved it!

[ashke50]

Love it! Excellent parenting.