biznesswmn
Well-Known Member
Sorry if this has already been posted and also if its in the wrong forum ...
An "interactive public art exhibit" that invited passers-by to touch black women's hair sparked a backlash by other African-American women, who said it was a demeaning stunt.
A recent "interactive public art exhibit" in New York City that invited strangers to touch the hair of a group of black women in a park has caused a backlash, with many African-American women decrying the event as a demeaning stunt.
The event, organized by the black women’s hair-care website Un-ruly.com, hoped to open a conversation about the “tactile fascination with black hair,” Un-ruly founder Antonia Opiah wrote in a blog post announcing the event. It consisted of a handful of black women with various hairstyles holding signs reading, “You can touch my hair” in Manhattan’s busy Union Square Park. Many strangers accepted the invitation, stopping to talk to the women and feel their tresses.
The exhibition did spark conversation, but not in the way Opiah had expected. By the event’s second day, June 8, a group of black women had gathered to protest the display, holding signs with slogans such as “You cannot touch my hair” and “What’ll it be next . . . my butt?” Some took to Twitter and the blogosphere, comparing the spectacle to a petting zoo and saying it harkened to a time when African-Americans were used as attractions in freak shows in the United States and Europe.
Read entire article
(http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/invitation-to-touch-black-womens-hair-sparks-protests#tscptme)
An "interactive public art exhibit" that invited passers-by to touch black women's hair sparked a backlash by other African-American women, who said it was a demeaning stunt.
A recent "interactive public art exhibit" in New York City that invited strangers to touch the hair of a group of black women in a park has caused a backlash, with many African-American women decrying the event as a demeaning stunt.
The event, organized by the black women’s hair-care website Un-ruly.com, hoped to open a conversation about the “tactile fascination with black hair,” Un-ruly founder Antonia Opiah wrote in a blog post announcing the event. It consisted of a handful of black women with various hairstyles holding signs reading, “You can touch my hair” in Manhattan’s busy Union Square Park. Many strangers accepted the invitation, stopping to talk to the women and feel their tresses.
The exhibition did spark conversation, but not in the way Opiah had expected. By the event’s second day, June 8, a group of black women had gathered to protest the display, holding signs with slogans such as “You cannot touch my hair” and “What’ll it be next . . . my butt?” Some took to Twitter and the blogosphere, comparing the spectacle to a petting zoo and saying it harkened to a time when African-Americans were used as attractions in freak shows in the United States and Europe.
Read entire article
(http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/invitation-to-touch-black-womens-hair-sparks-protests#tscptme)
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