by
Portia
Since posting about “boxer braids” a few months back, I’ve come across similar cultural appropriation hair tutorials and photos. Usually, I just roll my eyes and think “here we go again”. I don’t spend too much time dwelling on the blatant hijacking of black culture, because let’s face it, it’s not going to stop anytime soon. However, when that cultural appropriation turns into me asking “did they just steal a natural hair vlogger’s tutorial and pass it off as their own?!” something has to be said.
Yesterday, Cosmopolitan posted a video with the unfortunate caption, “You’ve NEVER seen a braid like this before.” In the tutorial a straight, blonde haired white woman gets her hair cornrowed into a style Cosmo dubs a “mohawk braid”. A video for the style was also posted on Cosmo’s YouTube account back in April.
Naturalistas might notice that the style looks VERY familiar. That’s because Naptural85, who currently boasts the largest natural hair following on YouTube, did a tutorial almost exactly like this back in January under the title ‘Edgy Twisted Office and Gym Protective Style’. Notice any similarities between Cosmopolitan’s ‘never before seen’ style and Naptural85’s?
Let’s see some stills.
So, at worst, Cosmo jacked this style from Naptural85 and re-branded it (for their mostly white audience) as a hot new look. At best, they came up with the style themselves, and branded it a hot new look despite the fact black women have been doing variations on it for ages. Either way, it’s the same tired ‘Columbusing’ of black hair.
37 Responses
Actually I’m brown. Indian. And no you don’t own braids. But if it makes you feel better, knock yourself out. lolz
Cute… I guess. Whitney’s is better of course, but nice effort…
OR both black people AND white people AND brown people have been braiding their hair for centuries and no one culture owns anything. I have been braiding my hair like the girl on the left for decades…but of course its only a black thing. Yeah.
We’ve been braiding our hair for centuries. The problem is Europeans taking something which we have a cultural connection to and re branding it as theirs without giving us due credit for our creations and deliberately disregarding the origins. This happens with almost all of our cultural practices.
Preach! Everything y’all got you got from us, if we took back everything that was ours you’d be naked, with matted hair, malnourished children, bland food and no music whatsoever. We own braids, there I said it. We are a creative people, deal with it. Y’all can’t have our men, our braids, our lips, our butts, our food, our lives!
Every race and culture has been braiding their hair for centuries, yes, HOWEVER the type of styles are distinctive to each culture, race and hair type. It’s easy to spot when a non-black person does a black person’s hairstyle on a white person’s head.
Can I assume you’re white? Why come to a Black centric website to complain, when we discuss issues pertaining to Black people?
Cosmo has to post their own because their readers aren’t going to pay attention to Naptural85’s video. They don’t deem it noteworthy or important until it’s given the correct endorsement. We’ve been corn rowing for centuries and now it’s new. It’s the messenger / model who counts. Same message different model.
this comment lmaoooooo
I’m convinced they stay on black naturals youtube pages to find their “new hairstyles”.
Yep, I’ve said this a lot. A lot of people fail to realize that messes with people’s money.
As hard as I roll my eyes when I see white people rocking cornrows and other traditionally black hairstyles, I must point out that hairstyles aren’t copyrighted. There’s only so many ways you can style your hair and to suggest that particular hairstyle should be off limits simply because someone else did it first is ridiculous.
But I do agree with your overall point about white people taking what what is ours and rebranding it without giving us credit. Worst part is, these “new, hip, cool” hairstyles they’re introducing to their white audience are the same ones that we’ve been derided as “ghetto” for wearing, even though we wear it to protect our hair and not just to “look cool”. Kinda like how rock n roll music was “jungle music” before white men took over the genre and made it respectable.
Is it me? I don’t even like the Cosmo style. They don’t look anything alike to me.
Well that Mohawk looks trash so I’m not pressed about it.
People feel it matters because they can wear cornrows without being called “ghetto” or made to feel “ugly”. I get where you’re coming from..trust me. It’s not about the hairstyle, fashion choice, and/or body shape , it’s about attacking a person’s image/ self-esteem.
Like I said, I get where you’re coming from and are going..trust me. The biggest thing to worry about right now is our unity as people within our group. We have to take care of our backyard first before anything else. Once we achieve unity there will be no penetration of our force field .
Keep being surprised because I’m not. Been going on for centuries. The french braid was named not because the French created it but because French women had their female African slaves braid their hair and as usual they labeled it so. If you haven’t realised how much Europeans study us by now then you have a lot to learn.
YA’LL ARE REACHING! it’s not the same but i see why ppl are upset
Lol, I just find it hilarious that cornrows are okay on straight hair, but God forbid kinky hair have them. Aside from that, these styles are similar, and different enough for me to feel comfortable that they didn’t snatch and re-brand. But honestly, Cosmo’s style is ugly as fuck…they reached a little too far for “funky” and “unique”, lol.
Yeah… no. They don’t look the same at all.
I just wanted to say that the ChicNatural actually has the largest fan base for natural hair. She’s almost at a million subscribers
She does hair AND makeup. Her most views is her eyebrow tutorial. Naps is her twist out tutorial. See the difference?
Y’all reaching…..
These are two different styles, and I have never seen a style like the blonde hair chic’s. It’s pretty cool, actually.
Also, Not just African but Asian and European cultures have been braiding their hair for Centuries. And seriously I doubt the Egyptians would care that Koreans or Brits were braiding their hair. Why does it even matter. There are more important things.
They are right about one thing. I have NEVER seen a braid like that. Shit is trash. They need to stop.
I used to love coming on bglhonline years ago, about 6 years exact. This was my go-to when I just became a new natural. But now this site just nitpicks at eveything about cultural appropiation and all this and all that. I would like if they started bringing back things about different hairatyles and style icons. I don’t know…I just don’t know. Clearly these are two different hairstyles but bglhonline y had to sit down and write this senseless article.
*LBell wonders what happened to the photo of her Mohawk braid that was taken back in the 80s*
C’mon ladies…you’re really reaching here…
Either variations could be true, but at this point this is just dumb. We can’t patent hairstyles, so calling it out is all we can do and not much else. They’ll move on to something and we’ll just keep doing us fabulously. We got let these smaill things go and not work us up into a frenzy.
Errr- Naptural85 didnt have a middle braid like the Cosmo one did…Man it is not a crime if white people want to braid their hair as well. Lets stop this already. Its becoming daunting
#SighCommittee
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Okay, Lets see if i can explain this in the simplest way possible.There is absolutely nothing wrong with white people rocking cornrows/.braids if u will. The problem is claiming it as yours. In other words. Stealing someone else invention. NOT COOL, and if you know anything about past history then u should understand.
Lol first off. Keep your passive aggressive insults to my intelligence to yourself. Makes you look unbecoming.secondly, where in the video did they” don” this hairstyle as theirs and try to patent it as if they created it in its entirety?? …I’ll wait. He’ll none of the terms that they used can even be patent so calm yourself. Getting all uppity about a stupid hairstyle. Like do you not see how petty it is?? Mohawks and braids are WIDELY and UNIVERSALLY used, for centuries at that. Where do you get off trying to beat your chest like braid is only a black thing. Yes we have done it for years there’s no denying that but so have other cultures. So stop this. Dividing ourselves over petty Ishmael. hen
Love you, honey.
Slay that hating-ass dragon,J.Holmes.
*petty Ish. When the real focus should be who is about to be elected right now, trying to find way to stop police brutality and overcome this instutionalized injustice that happens with the U.S. system.
Sincerely speaking, I don’t think the two hairstyles are so similar. It’s difficult to be that original when it comes to braids as millions of women use the style everyday. Then…if it’s true that black women magnified the hairstyle…braids have been used in other cultures for centuries. I would be the 1st to stress a “cultural appropriation” but sometimes it’s just about cultures influencing each other, about contacts between cultures…
I’m so sick and tired of seeing our creations, our culture being stolen and co-opted for profit by white and non-Black people. Will we ever get credit? Will we ever be seen as humans with rightful ownership over our bodies, our creations, our minds?
http://www.khalilahkjcurls.com
I’m glad they got called on it. There is nothing new under the sun. When will they learn?…
Hola, Ima Afro-latina.
My englis isn’t too good.
Thank them for findin dis blanca hore whi approprated
braids.
Find her snd end her.
Soy el mismo.
¿Qué estás tratando dice?