Blogger DailyCurlz submitted this clip from a recent episode of Desperate Housewives. Renee, played by actress Vanessa Williams, is upset that her hair is ‘fro’ed out’ due to a missed relaxer appointment. I see what the writers were going for, but throwing jabs at natural hair to get a laugh is really lazy and unimaginative. And I personally think the fro is quite cute!
Ladies, what do you think! And be sure to check out DailyCurlz.com for more hair news.
102 Responses
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Sherron clearly you haven’t seen how white people are flocking to tanning salons because they hate their pale skin. I don’t take offense at all I’m just not sensitive that way and they have made fun of straight hair you just haven’t seen it yet. I’m not dismissing it I have afro hair, and I laugh every time when it just isn’t doing what its suppose to. It happens. Mexicans tend to make fun of their short comings on television and its not that big of deal. Other ethnicities are buying up wigs and weaves just as much as we are, so stop acting like its just us. Its a personal decision and no one has the right to judge or get on a soap box about it. watch Asian shows and see how they talk about how dark skin is not a good thing so they buy bottles of bleach to bleach it a lighter pigment. We all complain about stuff that we don’t like we’re human and it really isn’t all that racist, its life and their are people that react to themselves that way. We don’t have to like it, but we have to accept that people are like that. Not everyone hates our hair. All of my friends who are non-black love my hair! They think it is the coolest hair! Me myself I don’t really think so cause I’m the one doing it, and it can be tiresome when its not doing what I want it to, but its my hair and whether I choose to wear weave, straighten it, cut it, color it, braid it or cover it up with a wig, I LOVE MY HAIR and no one is going to tell me different.
No I don’t think so. I think that they are portraying real women When they miss appointments. When I was relaxing I always scheduled as early as possible. It wasn’t that I didn’t like fros, but my hair is difficult when its extremely curly.
I don’t think the producers or whomever put the afro wig on Vanessa William’s hair was truly trying to dis natural hair. This was an exaggeration of someone who wanted a touched relaxer. I think the exaggeration of the afro was suppose to be funny even though only black people would have recognized it. Non blacks don’t know this truly CANNOT happen to someone with a relaxer. That fro would have taken years of transitioning…LOL! I would say, don’t get too mad about it. We all know plenty of women, (ourselves even, back when we were relaxing) that you didn’t want the afro (nappy look :(, hate that word). This is what was happening here. Thank God many of us are changing our mindsets about the way God created us and blessed us with our curls and coils and this will slowly be accepted..eventually 🙂
The fro does not suit her. It may suit some girls, but not her.
I honestly can’t believe all the comments from people who ‘weren’t offended’ lol Hey massa didn’t offend ALOT of the other house negroes either huh?
Look, at the end of the day, THAT IS OUR BLACK HAIR. Most of the people who aren’t offended claim to be au natural. Well hate to break it to you but natural hair doesn’t always translate into conscious thinking and this is a discussion prompted by just that! When you know your history and the effects that subliminal negative media messages have on our CHILDREN (yeah remember them) and some of the already self loathing people who are raising them, THEN and only THEN will you realize why discussions like this are important.
The documentary ‘A Girl Like Me’ makes me know that their little corny take on Black women’s hair is not okay and I will not be supporting this wack show anymore.
Lord, are you kidding me? This seems kinda racist to me actually, the whole debate that is. I am extremely Swedish, but with WHITE (natural blonde) afro hair, yes that is possible. I am 42, there were no flattening irons, or brazilian blowouts etc until I was a grown up and dang I have had problems with my hair. It is an aquired taste, but yes – I laughed at her in that episode as much as I laugh at myself every morning when I wake up looking like I’ve slept with my fingers in an electrical socket.
Think it’s Eva Longorias natural hair too, since she is latino?
wow.you said that you are a white woman,BOOM 2 negative votes.it seems that only black women have the right to have afro hair,complain about the pressure of the perfect ”white hair” when we white girls are naturally born with perfect hair and no struggle.guess what?not every single white person has straight hair.actually most of the white people i know have frizzy,wavy or curly hair and they straighten them all the time.the pressure for the perfect hair applies on everyone.i know many black women going on natural,i know no white woman leaving the house without curling or straighting their hair.and i found this scene funny.not everyone on this world stays up at night thinking ”oohh how i’m going to humiliate black people today?”.sarcasm is sarcasm.relax.
That’s why I quit coming to this site, naturals are always getting offended by something. Get over it! It is just hair.
it is not “just a joke” people say that when “the joke” is about us but i have NEVER in my 34 years of life seen a joke made about/against straight hair (a natural feature of MOST nonblack people) and since most of US do NOT have hair that grows from our scalps as straight hair it is very obvious that this joke is indeed offensive, racist and mean
why dont they show a white woman calling her pale skin “a mess” as a joke?
or why don’t they show a woman with long, straight hair calling her hair “a mess” because it’s not short and curly?
black people are the 1st ones to defend an insult directed at them and too many of you all are trying to dismiss it
if it were “just hair” the black hair industry wouldn’t be a BILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS
and we wouldn’t see so many black females walkin around with fake hair thinking that they are UGLY without weaves and wigs just because their own natural hair is NOT long and straight like a nonblack woman’s hair
SMH at all the ignorance especially from my own people
everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion
it’s just sad for black women that the majority of us and everyone else hates our hair and thinks we should change it into something it isn’t
PREACH! Just remember that we are a work in progress and those who don’t know any better will always exist unless we voice how WRONG some of this bullcrap is.
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Haa! HA!! That was funny!
It is that serious and part of the bigger problem we have as people of African origin concerning our insecurities about ourselves. It’s serious when we have little girls wanting long straight and blond hair like their european peers and believing that they are not as beautiful as them. Don’t you think that as adults we have a responsibility to our youngsters. It’s up to us as adults to instill confidence in our youngsters especially when it comes to our image because lets be honest its always been the the butt of European jokes, it’s not even confined to Europeans anymore.
I saw this episode and my boyfriend kept asking me (a million times) “what’s wrong with her hair….I dont get it.” I’ve been natural now for going on 7 years…He and I have been together 2 years. He loves me no matter what looking Im wearing for the week lol
straight, afro, wigs, half wigs…. He loves it all.
I wish that they would have had Renee, who is a Diva show thatt she could be a diva no matter how she rocks her hair. But we have to be honest with ourselves there are stil many sisters who would still conduct themselves in that manner if they missed their hair appointment ( believe me I know my mom is a hairstylist and Im a nail tech.) I see it everyday.
IT’S SAD!
I don’t watch the show, but I watched that clip and I didn’t find it offensive at all. I don’t think it’s that serious either, it’s just hair and it’s a joke.
I think people are over reacting a little bit. Yes it is a slapstick storyline to make fun of someone with curly hair who usually straightens it have some reason that they end up with a fro, but I have seen this exact same idea employed with white people. Years ago there was an episode of Friends where they’re all in the Caribbean, and Monica, who’s hair is apparently naturally straight, spends the entire trip with her hair expanding because of the humidity. Now I wasn’t a fan of either of these story lines because I thought both of the actresses looked great with their hair curly, but this isn’t really a race thing, this is a curly hair/straight hair thing.
*applauds*
My point exactly and I was planning to add that in my comment lol
exactly..@Kami
riiight not a race thing just because they put a yt woman in that scenario. Even though we KNOW for a fact that curly hair is more prevalent in certain races (darker) than others. Keep rationalizing how these people feel about you and maybe just maybe you will convince yourself that they really like you deep down inside. lol CLASSIC!
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Not at all. I didn’t take it as a dis at all. I think that if Renee were white and went to a salon and they messed up her hair out of anger (the storyline), they would have matted it on her head as well.
I really think some naturals are taking things way too personal. If you enjoy your hair, enjoy your hair. Everyone isn’t going to love it and that’s ok but to look for a negative message in just about everything is a bit much. Just my opinion.
I think her reaction to her hair is part of her character’s personality, her character is stuck up and big on her appearance and so her reaction was within the way she would react…
Back when I did get relaxers, if I missed one, my hair sure as h*ll did not look like that. If it did, I would have gone natural a loooong time ago. It just goes to show that ignorant white people write the scripts for DH but that’s not anything new.
This is a tough call. Vanessa’s *character* is the type who would get all bent out of shape over this kind of thing – the kind who wouldn’t find her natural hair beautiful or acceptable…at first. I’ll be interested to see what (if anything) is done further with this style choice.
That being said, it is a character who was put into a situation that was created by the writers. Does Vanessa Williams speak for all black women everywhere? No. Is she the SOLE representation of African-Americans on that show currently? Yes. Is this part of a larger cultural narrative about how we view beauty? Maybe. If this had happen to Teri Hatcher’s character – which it easily could have, think bad 80’s perm – it would have been funny, and wouldn’t have carried such heavy connotations, would it? ALL women can sympathize with situations where we have to contend with unruly hair. I think the humor comes from that shared frustration – but I still think it was an unfortunate choice of character from the writers.
I don not think the fro is great looking it’s a bit weirdly shaped tbh however I recognise the below the belt jab at natural hair for what it is: ignorant people talking about something they know little about. I’m not surprised.
I have never seen black hair look like that from missing one touch up.Okay, I’m done.
I don’t think it was a diss on natural hair. I think it was a relaxer gone bad. I didn’t see the episode so I could be wrong. However, even now, if I paid to have my curls/coils straightened and walked out with the total opposite, I’d be a little pissed.
Relaxers don’t go bad by going curly and poofy; that might be a curly perm. This indicates that these are undoubtedly White writers guided by misinformation and playing on the ignorance of their audience.
There have plenty of times where I would walk out of a salon after getting a touch-up and soon after my hair would be not so far off from the clip above (part of the reason I decided to stop perming). Now granted, IMO they over-exaggerated the hair for televisions sake. My point is, I don’t think its a diss on natural hair. In poor taste? yes. Diss? no.
Y’all really are making a mountain out of a molehill. It was funny especially in the context of the episode and Renee’s characters. Find something more worth while to be up and arms about.
I can take a joke like any good-natured woman yet I certainly am tired of being the butt of the joke. Afro hair = bad hair; “black” woman only beautiful if she’s closer to the so-called “white” aesthetic was the point of this-period. I’m sure a slew of beauty ads came on as soon as commercial break hit with computer enhanced non-POC models swinging their tresses. The proliferation of natural-haired beauties amidst the staus quo forces the machine of white-privilege to fight back in whatever innocent-looking way they can. For in this generation, if one is not being physically lynched, psychological lynching doesn’t seem to matter. One can simply say, “Black people are so sensitive”.
BTW, being fat is something typically under one’s control unless pregnant, ill, or on meds- I was born with my 4abc-z hair and I am not a joke neither were my ancestors nor are my fellow brothers and sisters who are trying to get their minds back from this incessant brain-F**k that’s been going on for centuries by whites and other brainwashed POC. Don’t be fooled by soft-racism.
u must b an intelligent educated & most of all CONSCIOUS black woman who KNOWS what media messages (visual or otherwise) are really TEACHING people
when a child (or adult) watches TV he or she is ALWAYS LEARNING SOMETHING
many times what is learned is a lie or something negative
anyone watching this particular episode of Desperate Housewives would have learned that curly hair = a mess (ugly, bad, unwanted) and straight hair = beautiful, good, desired
period
it’s a very simple message
well ask yourselves, WHO has curly hair? and WHO has straight hair?
in other words once again the message is BLACK WOMEN ARE UGLY
the media agenda to portray black women as ugly, loud, ghetto, fat, bossy and undesirable has been going strong forever
just another reason why MOST black men won’t choose a black woman to marry
it’s called divide and conquer and its ben working against our race for a very long time
most of us are just too stupid to SEE (& recognize) the truth, the reality about racism and hate
OK, this raised a couple of questions:
First: Just because you miss one relaxer touch up appointment, your hair turns into a big perfectly round afro (and a great looking one at that)?
Second: Desperate Housewives is still on the air?
Exactly!
The impossiblilty of missing “one relaxer touch up appointment, your hair turns into a big perfectly round afro” is what makes me think this was a purposeful (but sloppy) jab atnatural, afo-textured hair.
+1000
They were playing on the ignorance of people and their audience. It is a one thing when a predominantly Black show makes fun of things that are related to Black people (hair, skin, vocal tone, etc.) and another thing when a show dominated by whites make fun of Black people.
Let’s not forget that the other Black family they had on the show had a crazy guy in the basement who was a rapist and Alfre Woodard (who is a BOMB actress) played his loon of a mother with the other son that was trying to hide it all. Maybe, just maybe, that could have been a white or Latino/Hispanic family or even an Asian family (I don’t recall ever seeing Asians on the show). Yet, it was a Black family thus setting precedent in the show for having disparaging images of African Americans.
And while I’m commenting I may as well say, people who say that people are being “sensitive” about this subject may want to educate themselves about how the media impacts how people who do not routinely interact with Blacks view them. Consider that if you only experience Black people through television then you get a very narrow view of them; now consider if one of the few shows you watch is Desparate Housewives? Well, I’d bet any amount of money that you have a negative and disparaged view of Blacks (though one could argue which came first the point of view or the lack of interaction with Blacks). Just some things to consider 😀
Peace 😀
I seen this Sunday and was like “Hey! That’s not cool.(mad face)” Now it’s Tuesday, I forgot all about this until you guys post it. We’ll be label as the “Mad Black Woman” if we make this a bigger issue. Let’s wear our hair and be sexy with it. Yes this is setback but every day I see a different girl wearing her natural hair and that’s a win. At the end of the day it was a joke.
Desperate Housewives has only had 2 main black characters. The first one locked her son in the basement, and now here is an ex-basetball wife…such positivity (sarcasm). The writers may be white, but I am sure they are responding to black sentiment and natural hair still is not widely accepted imo. So none of this is surprising. And to be honest, if Vanessa had a problem with the script (which she reads before getting on set), she could of said something.
1. I don’t watch the show, so I don’t care.
2. I’m sure the writers are white, so are you really surprised this is in the script?
3. That’s a nice looking wig.
4. If you want positive representation of black women on the tv, you’ll have to do it yourself. No one wants to see a black woman who is comfortable with her skin, hair, eyes, body, or nails. Seriously, do you know of any well-rounded black characters that aren’t tropes or stereotypes?
Wow some naturals are too sensitive. It’s really not that serious.
What’s disparaging to me is what people (black and white) are saying online about it. While there are some compliments, some are howling laughing AT natural hair. The show should have just given her a messed up straight weave, tangled. That would have been funny. Making un of black natural hair…I’m done.
I can’t wrap my mind around some comments in this thread either stating that it’s no big deal. Has no one watched Chris Rock’s “Good Hair?” Are we aware that black women are often discriminated against in the workplace due to natural hair, so many avoid it? Are we not aware that many black women feel prettier with the hair texture of other races and therefore reject their own in droves? Imagine the Black Doll vs. White Doll test. Associate that with our hair and it seems we have predominantly selected the “white doll.”
It would be one thing if darn near 95% (okay, random number) were not wearing other folks’ hair weaves and textures. THEN make fun of naturals, and it’s a light hearted joke. But considering the social stigma and black women being reminded DAILY that we are not as desirable, especially if we do not look like Vanessa (and you KNOW what I mean), then it’s a sad, sad, effed up ‘joke’ for such a high profile show on a major network to make.
I am not laughing. Read some non-black comments and see why. They like their blacks dang near white, and they almost had that until she sported a fro, and looked a little too black for comfort. That’s the REAL sentiment behind people ‘laughing at’ the fro.
And what’s up with going from course hair to biracial curly? Who were they fooling? Obviously no black hair staff nor continuity person either.
That said, I ain’t mad at Vanessa. She’s an actress who could easily claim a variety of ethnicities but proudly claims black while some look like they can’t nothing BUT black and are steadily trying to claim something else. So for that alone, I give Ms. Williams mad props.
I only take issue with Desperate Housewives and ABC. Shame on them. I hope more blogs like this crop up. Say it LOUD! This makes me happy that they are cancelled!
It’s not that serious.
A lot of us had perms in our hair who frequently went to salons to avoid the “mess” Vanessa Williams’ character was talking about. Now that we’re natural, we embrace it. Cool beans.
But many people are still not down with the natural hair yet. STILL. The writers are familiar with black girls wanting to avoid the fro’d look, so they write what they know. And maybe her character doesn’t like her hair fro’d out because it’s not tamed to her control.
So there’s no need to feel dissed. You love your hair fro’d out with the kinks and curls, cool. Leave it at that.
No need to make this into something big.
Agreed
Thanks for the repost. I have more picture in my site..
I KNOW!!!!
I was so sad when i saw this. It’s interesting to see where our society still stands. We’ll change it eventually 🙂
@Anonymous,
I’m not sure if we will change. Unfortunately!
There was a diss, but she looked so cute.
Perhaps I lack the same sensitivity chip as other naturals, but I was not offended. If you’re familiar with the character that Ms. Williams plays, you’d know that she is an ex basketball wife and very shallow and materialist. Her appearance is a part of that shallowness.
By the way, what is so damning and derogatory about an “extra from Foxy Brown”? It seems like she was saying the style was outdated, not terrible.
Hey Nat,
No you are not missing a sensitivity chip! lol! I was also not offended, but I understand why someone might consider that isolated clip as offensive. I do not watch the show and I appreciate you sharing that tidbit about VW character. Which puts the clip into perspective for me. At the same time I did not consider it funny, and the Foxy Brown extra comment was not derogatory. I understood that her character did not wish to resemble a Foxy Brown extra for whatever reason. Again I don’t watch the show so thanks for clarifying, because now it makes sense. I definitely don’t see it as offensive now.
EXACTLY. People are going apeshit for no reason.
I was waiting for this one!!! I watched this last night and was tempted to send this to a blog…
I don’t have an issue with Rene not being happy about her style, the foxy brown comment deserved a chuckle at best, it was the other things she said; referring to it as a brush etc.. I think after this when she was with her boyfriend.
This rienforced the miss education about black peopl’s natural hair and I think Vanessa williams was wrong for calling out natural women like this…maybe abit harsh since she probably has little control over the show’s material, but still it’s a little annoying seeing the only black woman on a predominantly white show be negative about a black persons trait…
Side note, it looks like a wig whereas later she had a bandanna with her own curls…?
No, that wasn’t her hair. She gets a relaxer, so I would guess her own hair is probably a cross between that biracial curl (under the bandanna) and the course texture. Again, guessing based on her father and brothers’ hair. Her brother used to have a blondish curly fro as a kid. Her father and his brother (her uncle) have almost straight, wavy hair.
Watch her ep. of “Who Do You Think You Are” which traces her (black/’mulatto’) ancestry.
I did not consider this clip a Diss, but at the same time it wasn’t funny in my opinion. Vanessa looks nice with an afro.
I just caught up on this episode and immediately searched the web to see if anyone had posted about this! Although I am not a black woman, I took immediate offense to what I perceived to be a jab at natural hair vs. relaxed. (I have naturally curly hair but get it straightened…but that’s besides the point:) And I think her hair looked really cute with the curls.
Hey Vanessa, You made an excellent point. Regardless of nationality it was a stab at women with curly hair. Over the years it has become much more acceptable in our society to hair long, straight hair. Period. Anything else is subject to ridicule. In my opinion the joke was not funny. I am not necessarily angered or offended, because I guess I have grown accustomed to it, which is bad in and of itself but that’s another issue lol! But I do understand how it can be seen as offensive. And you’re right her hair was cute.
Relax people its just hair!
Couldn’t agree more!! If people saw the whole episode, they would know that her hairstylist was mad at her and that’s why her head ended up like that. She did make it work and even commented that in that small town only 1 person even knew how to do a black woman’s hair-why not talk about that???
I totally agree. I’m mad this is even a discussion on here.
Yes, her hair stylist was mad and ‘this’ is what her ‘ended up’ like, he made her hair look natural, like most the women who read this blog and whos hair may have been styled like Rene’s (not even considering that a missed touch up doesn’t make hair natural, talk about a easy transition!).
I watched the whole episode and in context it was just as bad as seeing this small clip if not worse, like when she covered her hair, now loose curls, when seeing her boyfriend, the comment she made then were probably worse. So yh…
What’s there to talk about? One stylist who knows how to do a black woman’s hair in a predominantly white area, pretty normal I think.
It might be normal but so is a woman not liking her natural hair sometimes. If you feel like the character Rene should change her view on her own hair, shouldn’t the norm of stylist not knowing how to do our hair?? I mean there’s no excuse for it, there’s youtube, blogs, and just a wealth of info out there.
Also as a fan of the show, I’m not in shock of how she acted after seeing her hair. Based on how her character acts and how she normally wears her hair, I expected her to act as such. When her hair went “curly” I just assumed that she washed it to make it work, as she also changed her clothes.
I’ve been natural for over 4 yrs and loc’d for almost a year, and I’m also an instructor of cosmetology, so maybe I’m thick-skinned about this. I personally think people are making this more than it really is. Not everything is a direct attack against us-besides if we really want to get tech on it, there is no way her hair could revert into an afro after having relaxers hince why some of us have to transition. I’m not mad at that mistake as I don’t expect the writers to know that and I’m not about to post a blog about it either.
This is a hair blog and yes we discuss…hair, but we are also very smart women who can discuss other issues as well.
I understand your point but my point is not that she shouldn’t have disliked the natural look, I would expect a woman who wasn’t on tv to share my views on natural hair but as the only representation of a black woman in the show, and one of few on tv it wasn’t nice to ‘diss’ natural hair like that.
True not everything is an attack on us, but after continually being attacked as women, it puts some of us on the defensive all the time. This time it was natural hair another time it’s calling women who wear size 12 (I think 10 US size) plus size, it’s the constant picking at the outer appearence of a women which women do not like and feel dissed or to the extreme attacked. Me, I felt ‘dissed’ by Rene’s attitude, no it wasn’t that serious but I was a little annoyed.
The comments on this post are varied, some didn’t see it as a insult, others did, others are not bothered either way.
Yes I agree we are smart women and we do discuss other things, this is one post in a bunch, there are a few post I skip because I’m not interested, there is that option. This was a question posed by the author who has a right as ask, and we have a right to answer how we feel but I think ‘It’s just hair’ is an insufficient answer to this question, especially on a hair blog ‘celebrating the dopeness of natural hair’.
I know right, why are we talking about just hair, natural hair that, on a natural hair blog…. oh wait…
Exactly it’s just hair and it’s a joke.
When are black women gonna realize that it will never be “just hair?” We will don’t have the privilege of it being just hair to us when what comes naturally to many of us constantly being seen as less than and sometimes invisible in the media (skin and complexion, just to give another example). Please, get real. I won’t get into a history lesson, but don’t oversimplify things, especially things that pertain the African/African American/black community diaspora.
Um, I’m not necessarily offended. They could have written it in a more flattering way though. I’m getting insanely bored with the idea that straight hair is the way to go to look presentable.
I think with the amount of black women that are starting to embrace their natural texture, poking fun at natural hair just isn’t going to work anymore.
We’re easy targets. We put out movies, documentaries, poems and books about the hatred of our hair. Of course people will notice. Any non black person can “pick on” Afro textured hair and they’ll be justified because overall, we hate it. We’re the only women who actually call ourselves “natural”. Why? Because the majority of us are not.
Unfortunately Ain’t Misbehavin’ whether you believe it or not, this “Natural” mentality dates back to slavery. It is embedded so deep within our DNA, because it has been going on for HUNDREDS of years. Not just since the 60-70’s. As a society we find it hard to overcome, because now relaxing seems like the “natural” thing to do. Our ancestors did it to overcome their differences from Caucasians, and/or help them escape etc. Its a shame, in my opinion, that we feel the need to fit in, and that we can’t even accept our own differences as a African American subculture.
I love Desperate Housewives and didn’t even realize it was a diss until this post.
lets not forget that the things that she did say still represent a large part of the female african american race that always need to get their hair “did” and straightened.. doesnt make it wrong.
Exactly, and until black politics is restored to the “I’m black and I’m proud” mentality, and we become supportive within our own communities, Why should we be respected, by any other nationalities. At the same time, they don’t really care how we wear out hair, as long as we aren’t militant about it like we were during the Black Power Movement. It was a joke, and some of people are more sensitive to this issue than others. As long as we are women, That may never change. Everyone’s personality is different, and folk have a right to feel whatever emotion seems appropriate as it pertain to any of life’s scenarios.
Oh yes! that was defenitely a diss! but what els is new? I’m tired of it though. why can’t they just leave us alone and let us wear our hair the way we were meant to, i mean, why do they care so much about what OUR hair should look like? It is ever going to stop? smmfh
I think its ok to make fun of peoples hair. I sometimes think the black race in general is too sensitive. Learn to sit back and laugh. Not everything has to be taken so personal..ok she said “i dont think theres a thinking cap big enough” so what…her hair is huge and cute and shes rocking it and its different! its not like she came out covering it up out of shame. geez. let the jokes be said to all hair types, and let the hair be worn as people see fit for themselves!
Who makes fun of straight hair? No one.
I somewhat agree, a joke is a joke, but at the same time, I didn’t find any humor in the joke at all.
She actually wore it covered with a horrible scarf for the rest of the show. They then had the nerve to change it out to curly hair under the scarf.
I’m usually the first to say people are a little too sensitive about hair, but I am put off by the fact that Renee is the only black woman within 1,000 miles of that place, and that was the choice they made.
It can be funny to some…But think of it this way…What if she was made a mess by making her look fat…Who would be mainly offended by that??…
Its a joke to someone who embrace the idea that the perm is the way to go but for someone who is trying to keep this new mentality that kinky and curly is beautiful, yes, it would be a very sensitive topic.
Preach!
People are not born fat, they become fat so your comparison is invalid.
If it were presented as a joke I could agree, but this flat out said this hair texture is a problem. If they styled her hair in a bad fro again I could understand but her hair looks perfectly fine, looks good on her actually.
JOKE (n.): something that is amusing or ridiculous, especially because of being ludicrously inadequate or a sham; a thing, situation, or person laughed at rather than taken seriously; farce
Well I guess black women’s natural hair texture is a joke then. Welp! [Sarcasm.]
OMG! I tweeted about this when it happened… I was like wait? Did they just insinuate that natural hair is “disastrous”? #icant… and DH is my SHOW! But they lost points for that. They’re lucky it’s the final season and I’m too invested in the story to boycott them now… LOL! 😀 But Vanessa looked AWESOME with that ‘fro… Period. *WERK*
I’m with you. It would be one thing if the hair looked bad, but it didn’t. So they essentially called natural hair, “bad hair.”
The more effective and less offensive route would have been to have her wear a tangled straight weave that looks messed up. Joke understood — no controvery. No insult to anyone (except weave manufacturers). But nooooo, they had to go there and pick on black women with natural hair. It was blatant and wrong.
They definitely did! This notoriously monochromatic show is certainly sending messages about what they feel is an appropriate look for a black woman.
I both called and wrote to ABC to let them know it won’t be tolerated!
I applaud you. I also suggest tweeting @DesperateABC. That’s effective because no company likes to be called out on twitter.
Totally agree with you. I was immediately offended! It seems that the media goes out of its way to try to insult Black women or to somehow to make what is totally awesome about us seem to be some sort of liability (take for instance the comment by the Senator about Mrs. O’s badonka donk).
When the Lynette character inquired to Vanessa William’s character about what “happened” to her hair, to bad Vanessa couldn’t reply that I decided to give up the chemicals instead of praising the ability of a white stylist to straighten Black hair.
I can take a joke like anyone else but it seems as if the writers were purposely trying to insult a physical characteristic of Black women. Why not ask why the other White characters why their butts are so flat – another physical characteristic. I guess since Vanessa is the best looking of all the woman on Wisteria Lane, they had somehow help White America feel better by voicing some “inferiority” in their mind. BTW, Vanessa’s fro rocked!
At her age, if Ms. Williams is not cognizant about this disparaging type of humor..why should it shock you?
True. Her and Millions of others Black, white, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian doesn’t matter. It is what it is in this society.
Who cares?
hahah right!
Ditto.
Obviously you three do, a lot, as you took time out of your busy schedules to share how much you don’t care about something other people do care about. Feel better?
To me, it plays ignorant and offensive with ignorant getting the edge. Clearly, the skit was written by white people who have no idea about black women’s hair and thought it would be witty/cutting edge/timely to mock it. Thankfully, this tired show is making its way off the air.
Thank you LU!!
People kill me in this natural hair community…I was all for women expressing the versatility that natural hair brings(as a natural hair stylist), but its gone too far. Women are far too sensitive about this thing…Yall know doggone well if she her hair was a stringy broke off hot mess, everyone would be saying their 2 cents about how relaxers are this and that…no one would be standing up for the people who actually achieve healthy hair while relaxed. I dont watch the show but I watched the clip, and I saw what the showed was supposed to betray..she a black woman in a white suburban neighborhood…thats her character on the show….its just gotten to a point with some natural hair enthusiasists that ANY comment regarding natural hair should only be positive..Even though we are seeing more and more of us going natural( for whatever reason-fashion, fad, or health) its still a long way away before that image is the mainstream thing…it really was not that serious…We have far too much things to focus on that the media makes negative, like the “black women are so manly, we don’t need a man” image…
i definitely disagree with you, laila. i’m not natural, but what this show that gets millions of views weekly portrayed is problematic and is just as important as the stereotype that you used “black women are so manly, we don’t need a man.” as of late going natural is not only becoming a trend in the black community, it’s an act of showing pride for ourselves. since the media negatively represents us, it’s a way to represent ourselves. it’s a complex situation and desperate housewives just continued the stereotype… so i disagree with you and say that this is just as important as any other stereotype that we as black people have to deal with.
there isn’t such a thing as healthy relaxed hair. that’s an oxymoron.and its obvious to me that the writer don’t know anything about relaxed hair…one missed appointment would never make such a beautiful fro. the worst she would have had was un-relaxed roots. i think before they make jabs like that they should do their research.
Agreed.
Wow! Vanessa Williams looks BEAUTIFUL with an afro!!!!
She sure does. Sexy mama!
I was planning to blog about this.
Personally, I thought the fro was beautiful.
And yeah, it was a diss. She called the natural hair look, a beautiful fro, a mess. Not cool at all.
Agreed. And some people online are urging for it to be straight again. *smh*
Its not surprising at all that (as usual) a negative comment is made by a black woman about her natural hair (she called it a mess) if it were in its artificially straightened form (the long, straight hair achieved by chemicals and/or heat or fake hair (weaves or wigs) that we see MOST black women wearing) no one would call it a “mess”
it would be sexy and beautiful right? ive never seen a woman with long, straight hair call her hair a mess why does everyone else dislike and disrespect the natural hair texture (curly) of black people? Because most of us hate it ourselves!
That’s a sick and sad fact. Most black women think that long, straight hair is better, prettier, easier and that’s so retarded considering that none of us grows straight hair from our scalps. How self-loathing & crazy is it to reject what we naturally look like?
God created us with curly hair. It’s never going to be straight and look like white, latina, Asian, Indian, etc. womens’ hair and because of this truth most of us hate our hair and do any and everything that we can to hide it or change it into something that it is not (straight)
When the majority of US love and respect our own natural God-made traits (skin color, hair texture, body shape, nose, lips, etc.) that is when our black men will stop preferring non-black women and choosing them over us. No one hates us more than……US! The slave mentality of desiring to look as much like the master as we can still exists and is alive and well today.
i refuse to do anything to my hair to force it to be what it is not (straight) God gave me this very thick, curly, brown, soft hair and i think it is what it is. If straight-haired women started putting chemicals on their hair to change it into afro textured curls we would clearly recognize that they do not want their naturally straight hair so its obvious that most black women do NOT want their own natural hair.
The whole world sees every day just how many black women do NOT want to be black because of all the weave, wigs, chemicals & heat-styling that we do to make our hair look like the white, Indian, spanish, Asian womens’ hair and that is PATHETIC