Khloe Kardashian Slammed by Social Media for Bold Cornrows and Pink Ponytail Look
Khloe Kardashian is no stranger to livening up her hairstyles every now and then, but it's her [...]
Khloe Kardashian is no stranger to livening up her hairstyles every now and then, but it's her latest look that has social media talking. Sporting a white bra with jeans for a mirror selfie showing off her new pink ponytail, Kardashian has a few fans heated up over her cornrows — a style of braiding and plaiting the hair into narrow strips to form geometric patterns on the scalp. While the look is often associated with controversy due to its roots in both Native American and black culture, many took to the comments section to express their upset over, what many allege is "blackfishing," where someone is accused of pretending to be black for social media.
While Kardashian — an Armenian — promoted "love; always" in her post's caption, many took issue with the cornrows styling, admitting she was not at all a part of black culture and should not be allowed to wear such a look.
"You're not gonna make that ponytail happen Gretchen, take it off," one fan wrote with a weary emoji.
"Does she know she's not black or.. who wants to tell her," added another.
"You're naive to think the kardashians don't appropriate black aesthetics," added another.
Kardashian's photo alongside daughter, True — of whom she shares with ex Tristan Thompson — also pulled in a number of comments about cultural appropriation. However, while some grew upset over the look, others defended the single mom-of-one, admitting that the controversy was not at all that controversial to begin with.
"I just honestly wish we could appreciate the beauty in styles from every culture and allow each other to create a piece of it," one fan wrote. "If she's wearing it's not to take over a culture, it's because she thinks it's beautiful!"
"You can remind them that braids and elaborate braids were worn by the Norwegians (Vikings) way back and they are fair-skinned," added another. "Not any one heritage owns braids."
One fan chimed in with a history lesson citing how "many cultures and races are known to have started braids," which go back at least 5,000 years and were worn by the Egyptians, Asians, Vikings and Native Americans.
Kardashian is not the only one to have met with controversy surrounding cornrows. Her older sister, Kim has been frequently accused of cultural appropriation after borrowing styles, elements and statement pieces from a variety of cultures — including her homage to Bo Derek's look from the movie, 10, where she sported a Fulani style stemming from the Fula culture— known as and West Africa's largest ethnic group in the region.
She came under fire just months later and sporting the same style while at the MTV Movie Awards, telling ELLE magazine that she was all about "appreciation," not appropriation.
"If you genuinely love something, then it's what you should do. It's appreciation," she said at the time. "It's one thing when people mock something and are negative. I'm clearly not being negative. Images mean a lot to me. I spend a lot of time on them."
Photo credit: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Abyss By Abby