Hair can add the finishing touches to any outfit. Whether you’re rocking a sleek straight look to tone down a busy ensemble or your locks are flowing through the wind because you’re going for an easy-going light look, hair can make or break your appearance. While hair can emphasize many looks, the one look many don’t want is that of smelling like “patchouli oil or weed,” and according to Giuliana Rancic from E! Network’s “Fashion Police,” that’s the look dreadlock wearers give off.
After the Oscars, Rancic and her witty crew teamed up and began doing what they do best: insulting celebrities. While some celebrities were commended for their lovely looks on the red carpet, singer and actress Zendaya was absolutely ridiculed for wearing her hair in dreadlocks. Rancic said, “I feel like she smells like patchouli oil or maybe weed,” which is not only highly insensitive but also racist and stereotypical.
Dreadlocks have always been a part of black culture. Black hair is different from other types as, without chemical processing or high maintenance, it has a distinct coil pattern. Society has a way of subtly telling black people, especially black women, that what we were naturally born with — eyes, nose, lips, body, hair, etc. — is not good enough — at least not for Western society.
Being ridiculed for wearing black hair in its natural state is completely absurd. Not only is it a jab at black culture, but it’s a jab at what that hairstyle represents in Western society. Dreadlocks are not just a hairstyle.
Black women have evolved tremendously over the decades because of the fear of inadequacy. We’ve gone from black Angela Davis afros and blonde Nene Leaks wigs to authentic Aretha Franklin noses and surgically enhanced Nicki Minaj snouts and from Pam Grier sun-kissed mahogany skin to bleached epidermises like Ciara’s. When is it going to stop? When is society going to stop trying comparing the beauty of other nationalities to the Western standard of a blue-eyed, blond-haired, straight-nosed, skinny white woman? Women are already beautiful, and we shouldn’t have to change to meet anyone’s standards.
But what I find completely hilarious about this situation is that a few weeks back when Kylie Jenner debuted her fresh pair of dreadlocks on Instagram, no one suggested about her smelling like oils and illegal substances. Her locks were deemed original and edgy. Maybe dreadlocks are original and edgy, just not on dark skin because if you have dreadlocks, it’s easily assumed that you either smoke weed or dabble in lots of oils, specifically patchouli oil, right Mrs. Rancic?
Like Zendaya said in her response to Rancic’s remarks, many notable, highly intelligent black people wear their hair in dreadlocks. Harvard professors, singers, actresses, authors and more, and none of them reek of patchouli oil or weed.
It was bitter to glimpse how some Caucasian people feel about black hairstyles. Obviously, if we’re unwilling to adhere to Western standards of beauty, then we are deemed unsightly and unlawful.
