Ever heard the phrase, "ghetto until proven fashionable?" Well, if you haven't, Black women sure have. It's used frequently to explain negative discourse surrounding the Black woman— most recently, in the debate around bonnets and wear they should be worn.
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Comedian and Oscar-winning actress, Mo'Nique took it upon herself to interject in the recent discourse as an "internet auntie," in hopes of providing advice (albeit unwarranted) to her "sweet babies." Spoiler alert: it was not received well.
She stated, "yesterday, I was in the airport in Atlanta [...] I was excited and as we began to walk through the airport, I saw too many and actually, too many to count and too many for me to 'tap,' but I saw so many of our young sisters in head bonnets, scarves, slippers, pajamas, blankets wrapped around them and this is how they're showing up to the airport..."
She continued to say that she wasn't only seeing this at the airport, but in other public spaces like the mall and supermarket. She posed the question, while wearing a bathrobe, "when did we lose pride in representing ourselves? When did we step away of 'let me make sure I'm presentable when I leave my home?'"
While some resonated with her message, others felt it was satirical. Poet, Simi Moonlight expressed, "Like this this satire? You’re literally in robe, no bra, hair not done talking to the PUBLIC about presentation? Please tell me this is a joke and you’re trying to prove a point."
Simi continued, "there are Black woman dying at the hands of police brutality and domestic violence yet this is what you want to talk about? So is it protect Black women until they don’t 'represent' themselves well? Please, read a book and start concerning yourself with more important things than representation in a world that literally will always be anti-Black to us, Black women in particular, no matter HOW we look."
The backlash spilled onto Twitter with one user expressing, "Bonnets and rollers, etc in public are part of HOME training. If somebody in your home/your tribe ain't think it was important to impart, it ain't my place as a stranger," while another wrote, "Told my momma that ppl are defending their right to wear bonnets in public. She was disgusted."
Whether you want to look like an editorial spread or rock the latest loungewear with your bonnet at the airport is 100% your business. It's literally the airport.
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