whitefeministcollectionagency:

http://beforeandafro.com/

I think we need to talk about this. A white woman claiming she found freedom and enlightenment by wearing an afro wig.

Mod:

From her site,

This is disgusting. This entire blog is a white women fetishizing black people and wearing an afro as a way to “find her true self.” People of color are not a costume to wear. This isn’t a venue to fucking feel “cooler.”

Responses from her where people are telling her that she is basically wearing black face is dripping with privilege.

Hi Ya, thanks for the thoughts. I would sure hope that my personal style choice to pair certain outfits with this wicked-cool afro hairstyle would not be compared to mimicking Black people as a culture. I’d like to think of the hair game as equal: If Black people can choose to get a weave to be more like “what society encourages,” why can I not choose a style that is far too often concealed because of society, but that I happen to think makes me look great? Who says society is that smart?

A great response to this is from the post, White Women Wears Afro, Life Changes. Or Something.

Before and Afro is a clueless, masturbatory foray into privilege so white I can barely look it in the face. In her entry “Let’s Get Real,” she insists that she “is aware,” that she knows that what she is doing can be seen as offensive. The fact that this whole bizzarro thing doesn’t end there is testament to how unaware she actually is. She insist this isn’t about race, but then seems to try to justify what she’s doing in an entry full of pictures of random, anonymous black people. See? It can’t be offensive! Black people posed for her while she wore the afro, and even smiled! She rejects the idea that her wearing the afro isn’t a caricature or costume (…even though she bought it as part of a freaking costume), but really, it can’t be anything but.

Another quote..

If you’re going to do this, lady, commit to it and do it all the way. First, ditch the cartoonish, goofy, ostentatious wig and get one that looks like it just may have actually come from your head. Something in your own, actual hair color, well-pruned and neat. Put it on and leave it on. Don’t just wear it to parties and fried chicken festivals. (Seriously. She literally wore it to a freaking fried chicken festival—“obviously an occasion to wear the fro.”). Wear it and keep it on when your boyfriend/girlfriend asks you if you’re really going out like that, when s/he tells you they prefer you long, blonde, and straight. Stick with it as your boss is gingerly looking for the politically correct way to tell you that your hairstyle is unprofessional and isn’t properly representing the company. Keep it on after those smiling nods of approval you got when you were so clearly in costume give way to scowls, sneers and giggles. Continue to wear it when people tell you you’d be so pretty if only you did something different with your hair, and as you sit through all those Herbal Essences commercials that remind you that femininity is long, flowing, silky, and bouncy. And when you finally can’t take it anymore and you want your long straight hair back, keep the fro on, but slather your head in a relaxer cream full of carcinogens that could very well kill you one day. I wonder how your outlook on life would change then?

Really though, this shit is fucking sick so seeped in white privilege and ignorance that more people need to speak out about her bullshit.