Just like most of the world, I’d love an updated picture of Blue Ivy. But knowing how some folk on the internet act, I can completely understand why Jay and Bey haven’t released a picture of her since she was first born. After all, when that picture of she and Momma Bey shopping was leaked, trolls, instead of commenting on how cute she was; started talking about how her mother shouldn’t have procreated with Jay-Z because of his heavy cheeks. A part of me feels like when that picture leaked the Carters were like, “Oh, that’s how ya’ll wanna play it? We had some updated pictures for you; but since you’re sneaking shots, no more pics for another six months.” (Did you read that in your best BeyJay voice? Good.) And if they happened to stumble across some of those narsty comments about their child, we might not get any updates until she can wave to the cameras herself. What parent would knowingly subject their daughter to that mess, even if she is too young to understand it right now? While I definitely feel like the Carters are teasing folks with all of these faceless photos, I can also see how they’re trying to protect her as long as they can from the cruelties she will inevitably face. Life is going to be hard for her. I mean, there are already people claiming that we haven’t seen Blue’s face because she has some type of physical deformity. Stop it!
But that’s really not what I’m here to talk about right now. The latest baby Blue slander comes after the two pictures of Blue in the Bahamas were released. Out of frustration, and probably the jealousy that no one ever admits, people started going in on Blue’s “unkempt” hair. There were several women who were reprimanding Blue’s parents for “not combing” it. Umm let’s discuss. Doesn’t this sound shockingly familiar? Where have we heard this before? Wasn’t there another black girl whose hair was ridiculed all over the internet? Does the name Gabby Douglas ring a bell? What about Willow Smith? Black women love to regulate the hair choices of other black women. The practice used to just be reserved for the grown, but now the kids aren’t even exempt. Again, we’re talking about a child…a baby this time, who is on vacation celebrating her first birthday, not giving face in a Gerber commercial. As a future black woman, stressing about her hair and how to wear it, is something Blue Ivy will probably encounter in due time. But for now, as a one year old, frolicking in the Caribbean, she ain’t got no worries.
It’s really not essential that her hair be laid at this point in her life. I’ve seen plenty of black girls whose edges have been virtually rubbed out by the time they’re three because their mothers have overdone their hair. Pulling a baby’s fragile strands into tiny pony tails, held by tiny rubber bands and “ball-balls,” is not the way to promote hair growth, especially for black girls. It’s too much tension which leads to breakage. And then folks would be talking about the fact that Blue Ivy doesn’t have any edges. I don’t know if the new parents are taking all of this into consideration or if they’re just living their lives and ignoring the naysayers. Either way, it really doesn’t matter. How they choose to style or not style their daughter’s hair should be of little concern to us. And believe me, if her hair was laying just right, folks would be claiming they were doing too much. It really is a no-win situation.
Since this little celeb princess is in for a lifetime of ridicule, and I know not talking about her is completely out of the question for some, can we at least stop the shade until she’s old enough to turn around and defend herself against it?
