Whose Struggle Braids are These?
Ya know, I want us all to understand our realities. I need us to look in the mirror and see ourselves for who we are. Or at least know what’s sitting on our heads. That is my wish for 2013. That we all embrace ourselves, know our limits and get our lives together.
What prompted this? Wells, it’s clear that people don’t see what is right in front of them. Like the fact that they need to just go bald and start from scratch. Like his gentlewoman here.
JESUS BE SOME ROGAINE for this is beyond traction alopecia. MY LAWD! This woman went and got her hair done and asked for braids. But they could only manage to give her 7 braids of medium size. And she walked out of that person’s basement salon with the utmost confidence and said “My hair is LAIDT!”
Ma’am, no it is not. It’s not LAIDT. In fact, one of the braids looks like it’s tryna make its escape from the Scalp of No Follicles at any moment. You see it. The one on the right. It’s up there like “when she ain’t noticing, I’m jumping ship.” Aaawwwww.
Bless this woman’s heart. She’s working hard for her money and her scalp ain’t tryna give her cover whatsoever.
Here’s the thing. If she lost her hair because of a medical condition, I feel for her. Really and truly. But are braids REALLY the best thing for her to do? There are great wigs out there. Or she could rock her baldie and strut out the house and I won’t say a word. But these braids? NO MA’AM! They were not ordained for her to have at that moment.
I just want her to see what we see. Which is her whole scalp minus 7 black stripes of hair that look glued on. Why didn’t her friends and family tell her? Why didn’t they just give her the boost of confidence to go bald? Whose struggle braids are these and why do I wanna give her a hug and say it’s gonna be ok?
Aaawwwww.
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54 Comments
And maybe she’s doing with her hair exactly as she pleases. We tell people to be individuals and “do you”, but criticize when they don’t look the way we think they should. This person is not a celebrity who was doing something crazy for attention. She’s just someone working her job, minding her business and doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed.
Struggle braids: SOLD to one MJ!
We do encourage people to be individuals. True. But there are certain parameters of socially acceptable, self-awareness, and generally presentable that I implore all people to work within.
It’s when we step outside this rather large box on some ol “imma do whatever the hell I please and damn what anybody else thinks” type stuff when we get employees who come to work looking like this then I gotta be the bad guy and explain why your struggle braids or snuffalufagus eyelashes or too tight ass House of Dereon denim jumpsuit is inappropriate for the workplace.
This is the personification of doing the most with the absolute least (amount of hair)!
Yeah, what she said. There’s doing you, then there’s doing crack, and regardless of how she lost her hair, those braids are on crack.
“Socially acceptable” is subjective. If I saw you in the street and told you that you looked a hot mess and were unacceptable, you would say what to me? Out of all the people who have something negative to say electronically, no one would have the balls to say it to her face.
Some people consider the natural hairstyles that some Black women wear to be “socially unacceptable”. (See: http://thegrio.com/2012/12/12/reporter-fired-after-responding-to-racially-charged-facebook-comments-about-her-hair/#50188277)
Next, it’s not hurting you or anyone else. Whereas, the hurt that she could potentially feel by innocently logging on to a computer to read a funny recap of RHOA, (but instead find this), is longer lasting. Hee-hee, ya’ll had a nice little laugh at a stranger’s expense. Feel better?
the greatest weapon against something you disagree with is to boycott it. but, you came on this blog read the review and decided to post this LONG winded response to something that you felt was inappropriate BUT, this is a HUMOR blog. it is not the #IFeelBadForPeopleWhoLackCommonSense caucus. so please, if what Luvvie writes offends you, exit stage left.
It’s hurtin my eyes!!!
ALLADIS. ALL OF THIS!
Ok.
I just love your responses Luvvie! I also feel for this poor woman but there are other ways to go about that hair. Maybe if she just wasn’t in the mood, a head scarf would have sufficed (not sure how work appropriate that is).
I agree with MJ. I think the line is drawn when someone is not a “public figure”, or at least not trying to be. This woman is working, with her head down, and some douchebag thought it would be funny to invade any privacy she may think she has, and post it on the internet. I am not on board with shaming and making fun of “unwilling” participants (i.e. people who are not trying to get attention.) I also think that it is a weak and lame cop-out to say if you don’t like it, don’t come on the blog. I get a good laugh at Luvvie’s re-caps of RHOA and all the other ratchet folks who PURPOSELY put themselves out there. Just because some people post their opinion on not liking this post, doesn’t mean that they are writing all humor off.Yeah, her braids don’t look right, but clearly she is deluding herself into thinking she can still style what she has.I guess I feel for her, because a woman losing her hair is extremely hard to cope with in this society.
Click on the “Whose is this?” Category on my navigation bar. None of those are public figures. I write about what I want. Dassit.
Also, I mention in here that sorry if she lost her hair but these braids look fucked up. And that’s a fact. So… I roasted. The end.
All of that, really? Clearly this is your blog and you have to right to do whatever you want. But folks can’t write about disagreeing with stuff now? Oh ok. Anyways, I won’t be losing sleep over it either way.
All of what? You call 5 short sentences from me “all of that?” Chile… I guess. Folks can disagree. I’m not the one biting their head off. but like you said it IS my blog so…
I concur.I dont like the taking of peoples pictures unbeknownst to them and those pics being fodder for the amusement of others. Especially since she was just doing her job.
i wish someone would take her to a nice wig place and help her choose a nice one. she deserves better than this poor state of head. bald is beautiful! wigs are beautiful! this sad state of braids? no ma’am. i want to massage her scalp with some nice oil and help her realize that sometimes no hair is better than struggle hair. sigh.
Right? She needs some castor oil and a prayer cuz…
Why does the one braid on the right side look like it’s hanging on for dear life? A gust of wind will probably blow it away!
That braid doesn’t even need a gust of wind. A quick drafty air and it’s gon bounce.
Why was I #DED like this –> X_X when Luvvie said “the one to the right”, I looked to the right, and saw EXACTLY what she was describing? I think b/c I’ve see this numerous times before that I wouldn’t have even looked twice when I saw her.
Right… but she was wrong cuz she has braids going down the back and a couple of those are hangin in for dear life smh.. She looks like a damn fool
Luv-vie, I was fine until you mentioned the runaway. Of course I scrolled back up. I didn’t see it at first, but when I did, I literally hollered. I mean straight up screamed!!! I can’t stand you for making my own ears hurt from my ownself!!
My condoughlensis to her hairline.
LOL that delinquent braid is begging for freedom.
Same thing happened to me! The SAME thing! I had to go back to the pic and find if there really was a braid to the right that was holding on a little less than the rest.
My hair is starting to say “look for me” as well but this post had me cackling so hard…I would hope if I was ever in this state of denial (as this woman clearly is) that someone would let me know….just NAWL!
Better yet…who agreed to braid her hair? No ma’am. iShant.
Someone who clearly wanted to sabotage her. They’re bogus.
Yes! Can we please discuss the person who decided to braid her hair. Like they couldn’t say “nawl girl, I know a nice place you can get a wig” or “you know, I have some clippers in the bathroom if you want me to shave the rest of that off for you. Bald is beautiful, you seen Amber Rose lately?” Did they do that? Nope. They just sat there and took 11.5 minutes out there day to braid her hair and I’m not okay with that. What kind of friend or family member or hairstylist is that? Don’t trust them.
“They just sat there and took 11.5 minutes out there day to braid her hair and I’m not okay with that.”
Ma’am…get out. ———–>
Stevie Wonder’s stylist’s work. If it wasn’t for Stevie, people wouldn’t think this is acceptable.
LMAO!!! I mean… this might have accuracy to it.
Maybe she started with more braids, but like the runaway on the right, they just fell off… I can’t imagine that anyone risked their own professional reputation to try to grip her scalp and baby hair up into some cornrows…
She might have but shouldn’t she look when she’s down to 7 and say “I should let the rest of these go peacefully?”
better question, who is the ain’t sh*t stylist who accepted money to do these braids on this bald headed woman in the first place?
ZACTLY!!!
Double ZACTLY!!!
Must’ve been one of those Senegalese women out on 125th street in Harlem. Every time I am there, one of those ladies are BEGGING me they my hair braided by them, no matter the condition. I was just in Harlem this Christmas and one of these women was waiting outside in subzero temperatures,chasing me into MCDonalds, and asking me if I wanted to braid my already-braided hair. If they are Times be hard, man times be hard.
OK. I just died. Came back to write this only.
“those Senegalese women out on 125th street in Harlem”.
I didn’t know they were Senegalese exactly, but I know what you mean. I was up there and watched it for a bit, not far from the Wendy’s, ya know, after ya walk from under Park.
I was half expecting to get asked. And I’m 2520 with a buzz-cut!
Im really tryin to imagine how the discussion of this here project and distribution of funds went.
Was it on the phone? ” Hey , is this shugg? My cuzin gave me yo number, she said you braid. I need my Hair did, me and my other hairdresser fellout.
How much for cornrows? ”
”$45?”
I really ain’t got dat much Hair. Besides it aint gone take long.
What!? YOU can make it look full?
K cool deen $45 see you tomorrow.
*walks out, dis new girl is on point! My Hair is LAIDT and all it cost was $45!
(thinking I am kicking it tanite!)
As funny as the description is, I can’t even laugh at this woman.. I feel bad for her. The person who braided it was dead wrong..
Everyone’s talking about the braids and the baldness…but did anyone notice ‘GENTLEWOMAN’?! *didn’t think so* I died then…Barely contained myself enough to make it through the rest of the post. Then when Luvvie got to the 1 braid jumping ship?! I lost it completely!!
She could have cancer and lost her hair. Go spend some time with cancer patients and see if the give a f*ck about hairstyles. Roast your ugly mama and aunts looking like chef boy r d in that pic u posted.
Ummm you seem REALLY butthurt about this. I’m not making fun of the fact that this woman is BALD. No. I’m making fun of the BRAIDS. Get your life.
Kudos to you, Luvvie, for the coolness displayed in your response to this comment. Hmph. Woulda gone a little differently had it been me.
Super classy, Luvvie! Some readers need to take their Random behinds elsewhere.
Luvvie, this was hilarious.
But you haz my sympathies for all the BUTTHURT folks coming to your blog these days that always have something to say about what you post. The price of fame gurl! Let ya hatas be ya motivatas!
This is a PERSONAL HUMOR blog. Luvvie states her opinion of what is going on in the world for our enjoyment. If you don’t enjoy, GO AWAY. We don’t need your dissertations or your raggely-ass reasoning.
Exit, stage right>>>>>
And before folks go “oh, I can’t state my opinion contradictory to the author here?” NAWL. You can’t. Yeah, I said it. ‘Cause I came to laugh with Luvvie, not read your rant. Go get your own blog!
Standing and slow clapping !!!
“MyzDevyneOne”
Did that “eye” of yours at the side there just wink at me?
I gotta stop readin’ Luvvie while high off my PAM cookin’ spray.
Besides, I caught my hair on fire in the pan … daum, last strand of hair too!
Maybe I get a ‘bald-weave’. Add a frontlace?
Absolutely this. Yes! I am here to read hilarious posts so i can get through my workday, not read some sensitive ass complaints for joyless flunkies. Have a seat and go read huff-post or gawker or something.
I kept scrolling back up to this pic because I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen this woman before and then it hit me, I have seen her before. In my city and I know the exact store as well. Live and in color. I wanted to say something to her, let her know its ok to let go of whats not there but I’m a stranger to her, I’d risk hurting and offending..This is def a job for her G-ma and nem, pull her aside and let her know the truth in love… I has sad
You should tell her that her pic is on this blog.. I would want to know if was being violated for other folks entertainment…not cool at all..
I LOST MY MIND laughing at this post, from the term “Struggle Braids” to the incredible misfortune of the actual picture. I’m not gonna lie, I thought this was HILARIOUS. I did have some scruples, though. BUT I think the easy way around that might be to blur out her face (or any other person whose pic is THIS sad). I’m sure you may have linked it from Google images or wherever, but maybe blocking out the facial features will stem the vitriol and backlash from some readers. Cuz I think their main issue is that she didn’t know the photo was taken. Other “whose is this?” posts, like the baby with the condoms on her legs (smmfh!!) or the girl with the Twitter tattoo, those photos were put out purposefully. Just my two cents. You absolutely do not have to listen to me; I was just tossing that out there. LOVE this site and I WILL keep coming back to laugh my ass off.
I agree; her face should’ve been blurred out, at the very least.
All I want to know is what made this preferable to a wig. It’s not like there aren’t options for people with little to no hair.
This is certainly a sad state of affairs. I feel sorry for this woman. EXTRA sorry. I feel sorry for her that she cannot embrace her bald head. I understand her sorrow and her struggle, at least a little. Okay, I take that back. I do NOT understand. I have a full head of armpit length hair. I lied. Iown unnastan. BUT I DO know what it feels like to feel that something about you is so ugly, you know, that you grasp for beauty. I think many women at some point in their lives grasp for beauty because they are desperate and I know what that desperation feels like.
I remember one time I scarred my face really bad in two places trying this skin peel shit. It made me feel so ugly. And I dont mean this in an egotistical kind of way, but my family and friends, and strangers think I’m absolutely beautiful and gorgeous in ways that I dont often see myself. LIke when they make such comments, I Just go by faith and believe them. But I dont think I’m ALLADAT. I do believe I am beautiufl though, and am grateful to be beautiful. Of course, my own genetics are not by my own doing, and I am still very flawed. I have eczema and my skin looks like a red beet most days, and I do have some scarring. THAT said, what was best for me EVER was learning to appreciate the beauty I did have, and saying to hell with the beauty I was never gonna get. I guess you cant have everything, and even the poeple who look like they have everything simply dont have it. Plastic surgery is RAMPANT in Hollywood! If someone’s beauty is unbelievable, it is very likely that that’s the case.
I hope, as Luvie said, someone who loves’ this woman will risk that love to tell her the truth. Cause GAWDKNOWZ I lussss my momma. But when she comeoutdahous wit her wig not too scraight, I pulls her back in the house and we has a lil tawk. Momma gets is straight and we keep it movin. My family would never ever let me be on some ‘foolery like dischere.