feebraids/bhadbhabie/InstagramBhad Bhabie – better known as the ‘Cash Me Ousside Girl’ – has defended her box braids after being accused of cultural appropriation.
The 16-year-old rapper, who entered public consciousness with her now infamous Dr Phil segment, was criticised after revealing a head full of box braids adorned with gold beads.
Bhad Bhabie – real name Danielle Bregoli – has since been accused of cultural appropriation, exploiting black culture and being disrespectful to women of colour.
Feebraids, a Palm Beach-based licensed braider, shared vids of the teenage rapper sporting her new braids and a t-shirt bearing the slogan, ‘Big Boobed And Awesome’.
However, plenty of people were less than impressed with Bregoli’s new look, believing it to be culturally insensitive and woefully misguided.
One person wrote:
Everyone make sure to leave a one star review on their Facebook page. Spend your hard earned black dollars elsewhere.
Another said:
We change our hairstyle and wear wigs and braids cause it’s a protective style. Box braids are a protective style that’s for black peoples hair. It’s not meant for white people hair. It’s deeply rooted in our African roots. Not just about hair.
Bregoli did not take kindly to this response, and lashed out at her critics via Instagram:
To all the black females that are saying my hair [ain’t] meant for box Braids guess the f*ck what y’all hair [ain’t] meant to be straight but y’all glue whole wigs on to your heads and sew brazilian /Indian/ Peruvian hair which [isn’t anything] like your natural hair texture at all.
I don’t say a god damn thing neither do the other cultures that you get the hair from. And on top of that I’m not one of the ppl who has ever made fun of or said anything bad about girls with box braids or any type of braids [sic]
The These Heaux rapper then threatened to get ‘real disrespectful’ before elaborating further on her comments about black women wearing straight hair:
First of all my comment was NOT directed towards ALL black women who wear straight hair only Towards the black women who were saying I was trying to b black bc I was wearing braids.
All I did was say back to them what they said to me by saying what they want to b like other cultures for wearing straight Peruvian, Indian, and other hair types. [sic]
Bregoli continued:
And btw I didn’t call black women bald headed either that was in a whole different comment that was made about all the ppl who also had something to say about me.[sic]
According to an article by Maisha Z. Johnson in Everyday Feminism, cultural appropriation is far more than just a person adopting aspects of a culture other than their own:
A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.
That’s why cultural appropriation is not the same as cultural exchange, when people share mutually with each other – because cultural exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic.
Bregoli appeared frustrated that she had been judged for her hair despite not being ‘bothered’ by how other girls style theirs.
However, as a white person this is a privileged position for her to take, and she would do well to listen to the black women who are currently calling her out.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.