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Gabby Douglas' mom weighs in on hair controversy

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D

Dram

Member
http://todayinlondonblog.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/08/07/13161200-gabby-douglas-mom-weighs-in-on-hair-controversy?lite
Just before the scoreboard showed that Gabby Douglas had won the gold in individual gymnastics last week, her mom Natalie Hawkins had only one reaction: relief. It was relief that came after ten years of training, after her daughter said she dreamt of being an Olympian, and after she let her daughter move away from home at 14 to chase her dreams.

The relief didn't last long, as Hawkins soon found herself defending her daughter's hair, which had been swiftly criticized for being both “unkempt” and “embarrassing” very soon after Douglas made Olympic history.

In an interview with gymnastics gold medalist Dominique Dawes, Hawkins said when she first saw the comments she was confused. "Because I was looking at the pictures and I was like, 'I'm missing it,' because I don't see what they're talking about. I mean, she doesn't have fly-aways all sticking out, it's not like it's all over her head. It's pulled back into a ponytail."

Hawkins went on to describe the specific way gymnasts must tie their hair back so that it doesn't interfere with their tumbling.

As her daughter competed, Hawkins thought of Douglas sharing a place in the history books alongside Dawes, who was the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in gymnastics. Hawkins told Dawes that when she imagined Gabby winning the gold she thought of her sharing "that amazing feat with people like the likes of you, and so that was exciting for me to know, that she would be counted on a level and in a category with you and all the other gymnastic greats."

She was not considering her daughter's ponytail.

According to Dawes, it shouldn't be a consideration. "As an athlete you are not focused on your appearance or you're not going to make those achievements," she said.

The attention over Douglas's hair gained ground once it hit Twitter. One user tweeted, “I love Gabby Douglas, but I'm mad at whoever keeps letting her wear that half wig and that silky ponytail on the back of some nappy hair.” Another suggested she did not belong on camera.

When Hawkins spoke about the hair controversy to Fashionista.com, she said that she herself was once guilty of prioritizing her daughter's hair before her training, and had to be reminded that it had nothing to do with her career. “It was actually her coach who told me that,” she said. “I was trying to get her into a hair appointment and I wanted to move her training schedule around and he said to me, ‘She’s beautiful. You don’t need to change her hair. We need to focus on training.’"

Douglas lives and trains in Des Moines, Iowa, with a host family, Hawkins reminded Fashionista.com. "She lives with a white host family and they don’t know anything about taking care of her hair," she said. "And there’s no black salons in their area — not one. We had to work really hard to find a stylist to come and do her hair... It’s really been African-American women that have come out and attacked her. They don’t know about gymnastics. She has to keep her hair in a ponytail 28-30 hours a week."

Douglas herself has summed up the controversy, echoing her mom’s statements in an interview with the Associated Press. "'I just made history and people are focused on my hair? It can be bald or short; it doesn't matter about (my) hair,'" she said.
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M

MIMIC

Banned
This hair nonsense does not deserve ANY attention >_< (I was gonna make thread about how stupid it was, but I refrained)
 
dorkimoe

dorkimoe

Member
I dont see whats wrong with her hair? And even if there was something wrong with it? It wasn't a hair contest
 
C

ced

Member
WTF is wrong with people?

I also don't see what the issue being made is about when looking at her hair in pictures or when she was performing.
 
GungHo

GungHo

Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
Do they know what happens to $500 hair when you jump and run around in it?
 
C

C4Lukins

Junior Member
So she had a great landing, but could not keep her hair in check? It split twice, bounced 12 times, easily a 2.3 additional deduction. Not to mention her bottom teeth. They were not straight for a single moment during her entire routine!!!

Why is this a thing?
 
M

MIMIC

Banned
Count Dookkake said:
Interesting to see where most of the criticism is coming from.
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This.

I am literally embarrassed. But I am more embarrassed that MSNBC devoted a segment the other day to address a bunch of dumbass Twittertards.

There is no controversy. Just a bunch of stupid people being stupid.
 
M

Mudkips

Banned
Sir! People don't give a shit about the Olympics! What are we going to do?!
Throw money at it! More sponsors! More rich media tie-ins!!
I'm on it!

Sir we've got a problem! They STILL don't care!!
HURRY! Scour twitter for offensive tweets by random morons. Make a story out of those!
But sir, that's not news.
If it gets me advertising dollars it's news, Jimmy!

Journalism is dead.
 
C

cutmeamango

Banned
ClovingWestbrook said:
Please, do tell.
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"It&#8217;s really been African-American women that have come out and attacked her."


---

Anyway, people are hearing what 'twitter users' have to say. Sad, since it is known to be a venue for malice and stupidity.

Like the brazilian Judo coach crying about the so called "critics" on their performance, or the athtlete that got disqualified by a illegal movement.
 
C

C4Lukins

Junior Member
Her mom needs to ignore this shit completely. It only becomes an idiotic story if she defends it. As in, nobody would pick it up if she stayed quiet.
 
M

malyce

Member
Some of the females complaining about her hair would be better off trying to find out what the inside of a gym looks like.
 
GungHo

GungHo

Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
Count Dookkake said:
Not quite in the way you think, I think.
Click to expand...

Intra-racial bickering about black hair is pretty damn brutal, especially when considering the standard it's being held against. It's pretty near "racism by proxy", though that may be too harsh and too simplstic a conclusion from me. I'm not sure how else to explain it.
 
S

Samara

Member
35ji1pi.jpg
ak9zt1.jpg

zjzfqs.jpg
 
B

Brian Griffin

Member
ClovingWestbrook said:
Should this shock any of us? Many people are racist assholes and yes, this is racial to the core.
Click to expand...

Count Dookkake said:
Not quite in the way you think, I think.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to know as little about this stupid shit as possible but did happen to hear a bit on NPR about it. I think it's mainly black people who are pissed at her for being an embarrassment to the race or some shit for not having an extravagant hairdo or some shit.

o_O

She won the fucking gold people!! Christ!
 
S

SUPREME1

Banned
I had a huge crush on Dominique Dawes when I was young.

Woulda smanged until my 13yr old penis fell off. Likely even rubbed one out.



Edit:

Recent pic?

dominique-dawes-1.jpg




Edit 2: Also had a huge crush on Summer Sanders. Wow, I am really old.
 
2

2San

Member
Black women's hair is serious business. You guys didn't know? I didn't either, but Good Hair(docu by Chris Rock) was an eye-opener.
 
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