Last night I barely caught any of the Oscars’ red carpet program. In a rush to check out the big event, I was too busy keeping my pizza from burning. But as I checked social media on my phone, I couldn’t help but notice that a minor storm had erupted.
More than once, I came across a post featuring Chase Infiniti. Rather than celebrating her talent or gorgeous outfit, some individuals were upset. The issue? A reporter on the red carpet said that Ms. Infiniti had “undone hair”. (You can read a summary of what took place over here.)
For the sake of having an image to accompany this post, I’m going to use the photo below. I’m not here to exploit anyone. If you’d like to see how gorgeous Chase looked last night, here’s a link.
On the red carpet, Chase’s hair was in a lovely, loose, braided style. Boho braids, done by celebrity stylist Coree Moreno. Her dark hair flowed down to her waist, as she stunned in a designer dress and jewelry.
At one point while observing her, a reporter chirped, “…And let’s think about this awesome, like–almost like undone hair–with the [indecipherable] dress. Actually it’s mirroring the ruffles on the dress. That beautiful hair, with the DeBeer’s choker…”
Now, “undone” is open to interpretation, as seen in the reactions to posts featuring this clip. And from what I saw, most Black women have been interpreting it negatively.
At first I was puzzled about why.
In the moment, I interpreted the reporter’s use of “undone” as meaning that Chase’s hair wasn’t up in a high bun or otherwise fancy style. It looked down, loose, and free to me. So yes, in that sense, it was undone–as in, not overly-structured.
Instead, several people seem to have interpreted it as “undone” –as in “not done”–which is, in many Black circles, one of the worst, most taboo things a Black woman can wear: Hair that isn’t styled or “done” properly. Many of us take great pride in looking good and put together. Our hair is, as one of my ancestors loved to say, our “crowning glory”.
Hence, one of the most insulting things you can do is talk about one of our hairstyles–in particular, a style that took great effort and care–in a way that’s blatantly disrespectful.
However, as I turned the negative interpretation of “undone” over in my mind, it didn’t make sense to me. There are white people who flaunt their racism. They use nasty, hurtful words about all aspects of Black women’s appearance, including our hair.
Yet as far as I’m concerned, the average white person doesn’t know enough about our beauty practices to refer to a member of our community directly, and comment on whether or not their hair is “done”.
I’d also argue that typically, white people don’t know how long an intricate braided hairstyle takes to do, how much labour is involved in one, or how much it can cost. Not unless they were privy to that information via a friend or family member.
Meanwhile, among the replies after one post about the reporter’s perceived insult, I saw various comments mentioning at least one of those factors.
Interestingly, I also noticed that some replies that disagreed with the negative posts suggested that “undone hair” referred to a specific aesthetic.
So I went to Google and typed “what is undone hair”. And what I learned is exactly what I expected.
In certain white or non-Black beauty spaces, the term “undone hair” refers to a specific trend.
Consider articles like this one. The embedded Instagram posts feature hairstyles with a texture similar to Chase’s. Ignore the fact that she wore intricately crafted braids. Instead, pay attention to the overall silhouette. Her hair’s a little loose, rumpled, and textured. Gorgeous, absolutely, and making a statement–but not overwrought or too fancy.
Other articles discussing “undone” hair include the following:
How to Create the Undone Hair Look the Natural Way…
and
Undone Means Casual and Classy
And I’ll be damned if I quote AI. But if you don’t want to read those articles, the summary at the top of my Google search explained essentially what “undone” hair means. Think “bead head” or “beachy”–but it’s cool, ‘cause it’s stylish.
When that reporter called Chase Infiniti’s hair “undone”, I seriously doubt that she was paying attention to the fact that Chase’s beautiful braids could have taken a whole day to do. All she saw was a free-flowing hairstyle.
Why am I writing about this..?
In this day and age, way too many of us let social media and celebrity news coverage stress us out for no good reason. And I want people–ESPECIALLY Black women–to free ourselves.
Humanity as a whole needs to liberate itself from being pressed or annoyed over things that aren’t worth it. But that collective action can only begin on an individual basis.
I say all of the above very seriously. And I say that as someone who doesn’t take heinous behaviour lightly. I absolutely hate it when people try to deflect from words and actions that are obviously racist.
Let me be clear: I’m not here to tell anyone that we can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. I don’t believe in telling people not to get upset over seemingly small things that are blatantly wrong.
Wrong is WRONG.
We can hold people accountable for both subtle and blatant acts of bigotry and injustice. But as far as I’m concerned, this “undone” incident was neither of those things.
