Some people are unaware of how obnoxious it is to approach a Black woman and stick their hands in her hair, especially if they don’t know her. It’s equally annoying if you aren’t Black.
Singer/songwriter Kelis has been booked and busy overseas and while in Singapore enjoying some downtime, the “Milkshake” singer was approached by two Singaporean women who seemed to be in awe of her waist-length twists. The encounter, which Kelis caught on video, begins with the women casually approaching the singer as she dines with friends.
The women grab handfuls of Kelis’ braids and admire them as they speak amongst each other. There is a clear language barrier, but from their expressions, you can tell that Kelis’ tresses are something they’ve never seen before.
One woman becomes slightly embarrassed once she realized she was being recorded. Fortunately for them, Kelis handled herself gracefully, and rather than react negatively, she took a more amusing approach by touching and grabbing their hair in return.
“Embrace it,” suggested Kelis’ friend off-camera.
“Oh, I like to be touched,” Kelis, who was visibly annoyed, sarcastically replied.
You could tell the moment was very awkward. Especially from the look on Kelis’ face. “I don’t even know what to say here,” she captured the video on Instagram.
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Users on the platform had their own thoughts and opinions on how she handled it and how they would have dealt with the experience.
“You’re hella funny for grabbing her hair back,” commented one user.
“What was the thumbs up? It was giving shade but I don’t know,” shared another. “Intrigued/flattered or not. Do not just be touching my hair like I’m some kind of pet. I’m a human minding my good human business and you’re just touching me ANDDDD I don’t know what you’re saying? NO.”
While being inquisitive about Black hair is fine, there are set boundaries that need to be understood and respected by people of other cultures. Although it may not seem harmful, it’s disrespectful, and invading one’s personal space by touching a Black woman’s hair unwarranted, is a BIG hell no.
Recently, we reported Bill Murray’s inappropriate interaction with Solange after her SNL performance. Back in 2016, after she just finished performing her single “Don’t Touch My Hair,” Bill Murray approached the songstress and allegedly questioned the realness of her hair three times before sticking both his hands in her scalp.
Black women are proud of our hair whether worn natural or not, but treating our hair like it’s different, or peculiar, and then touching it is straight-up disrespectful. We understand the curiosity, however, it’s still inappropriate and very awkward.
This could have gone left, so big shout out to Kelis for keeping her cool.
