My thoughts on the SheaMoisture commercial:
Of course it was problematic that the company included white women and a light-skinned “acceptable” black woman. But my first and strongest feeling was that there was a stark difference between the black woman’s words and the white women’s words with regard to the violence and trauma they experienced. Consider the opening statements from each woman:
Black woman: People would, like, throw stuff in my hair. And then I would just be walking and there would be little paper balls in my hair. I hated it because its like … I have this and people made fun of me for it.
White woman #1: Lots of days staring in the mirror like ‘I don’t know what to do with it!
White woman #2: I didn’t know if I was supposed to be a red-head. I dyed my hair blonde for 7 years of my life … platinum blonde.
Granted – we do not know what the editing process was like for the directors. But there is still a lesson to extract here. It is noteworthy that the first words out of the black woman’s mouth in the commercial was about the violence and external hatred she was exposed to. She talks about being in a populated space where other people are throwing objects at her. The black woman is violated physically and ridiculed – and she internalizes the hatred.
Meanwhile, the white women seem to be battling … themselves. They are at war with internal demons, not necessarily external ones. Their dilemma is which dye to put in their hair. There is no mention of being tormented by other people: the “hair hate” is a matter of personal choice, while it is a matter of structural coercion for the black woman.
Violence against the black woman is what animates the “hair hate” narrative. The white women attach themselves to the black woman’s pain, make themselves legible by doing so, and then render the black woman invisible. In other words, the white women are positioned as parasites who suck the life out of the black woman.
The black woman and white women all come together at the end to ‘push’ the product – thus sending the message that all of their experiences were equal. But black women and white women have different structural positions. While it is true that all women suffer violence, black women suffer the worst type.
April 30, 2017 at 4:46 pm
I admit, I’ve been doing so much research lately, I only heard about this in passing. Living like a hermit. This commercial is totally ridiculous, though. Thanks for posting. How does this garbage get through production?
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April 30, 2017 at 5:02 pm
Lol, been living the same way bro!
That is the same thought I had: somewhere, there was a team full of ‘experts’ who sat around a conference table in a boardroom that gave this the green light. I find that hilarious. It also gives me hope because it tells us that our enemies are stupid lol.
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April 30, 2017 at 5:19 pm
Hahaha our enemies are stupid, but their hair is so full of SheaMoisture, our arguments will never penetrate. And therein lies our struggle.
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April 30, 2017 at 5:20 pm
Lmaoooo perfect! Exactly!
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April 30, 2017 at 7:50 pm
I realize on WP blogs I am to comment on the writing. Your posts are always well written. But I also like to add an opinion. And many times my opinions are different from everybody else’s. As a Black (high-yellow as my people call me) woman with hair that worked a great afro back in the day I can say I know about hair products. The trauma for me was getting my hair combed. Or my ear burned with the straightening comb. Or my scalp burned when my aunt straightened my hair with that cream. But that was my or my mother’s decision. White women have different hair issues which may be just as traumatic for them. The people who are selling the product are trying to make a statement of inclusion and did a piss poor job. The video sucks. Not because there are 2 white women but because to me the video looks like it was taken from the 1960s. It looked amateurish. But from what I read Black women are upset because “their” product is being sold to and taken over by White women. Good grief! Are Black women really trying to keep a hair care product from being used by White women? Even if it makes White women’s hair softer? Are we trying to keep a hair care product to ourselves? I read some Asians use it. Shea Moisture is trying to make more money! We are so worried about White people taking over we can’t see that they do not have ALL the power! I understand though, I remember how I felt when Famous Amos sold his cookie company to a White corporation. I stopped buying the cookies. I’m done.
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April 30, 2017 at 8:48 pm
Hello Ms. Elva!
Thank you for the kind words! I need to hear that every now and again, as I have stepped away from writing because I felt some of the material was sub-par.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. My niece is 11 years old – and whenever I see her getting her hair “done” (it is very coarse) it looks like torture. I imagine this is very traumatizing – and leads to warped standards of beauty for black women.
You raise good points about the quality of the video and the criticism from black women that this is “their” product. We can approach this from a couple of perspectives. First, we can argue that SheaMoisture is a company just trying to make money, as you pointed out. It may have never been a “black” thing : they could have just honed in on black women as their primary market (black women are the #1 purchasers of cosmetics because they have been taught to hate themselves the most). But, at the same time, to maintain that primary market of black women, they have to convince them that they are inferior so they will continue to purchase their products. It is a delicate balance, and they went a little too far here.
Second, America was established on the fact that black people did not own themselves (i.e. their bodies or their labor). Black people were considered property who could not own property. We are taught that the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. But when we read it, we find that it does not end it at all – it simply shifts it to the prison (please read it if you have not, it is very short). So, if black people are still property, they cannot own property – which means it is absurd to argue that SheaMoisture “belongs” to black women.
The idea that SheaMoisture is “ours” assumes that black capitalism is a valid idea. It is not. I despise the notions that we need to “buy black” and “support black businesses” because they fail to understand the economic system. Capitalism is an exploitative system of economics that came from Europe. Having a black boss running around in a dashiki is not the solution to our problems. The solution is to build a society that does not exploit anyone, anywhere. Capitalism with a black face is not liberation.
And you are right about poor Amos. I wish black folks were more financially literate about this stuff. But we are often placed in a precarious position where we are forced to accept bad deals, anyway.
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April 30, 2017 at 7:51 pm
Reblogged this on bookmarkchronicles and commented:
THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.
If you didn’t recognize the difference, you are a part of the problem
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April 30, 2017 at 8:09 pm
Thank you for the reblog!
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April 30, 2017 at 8:12 pm
No problem!!
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April 30, 2017 at 7:54 pm
If I had the time and patience to type “thank you” one million times, I would.
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April 30, 2017 at 8:10 pm
Hello Rae! I am glad this resonated with you. Thank YOU, as always, for tuning in 😀
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April 30, 2017 at 8:32 pm
Your writing is always thought-provoking. Another excellent piece.
To elvagreen123:
Black women were not upset that Shea Moisture wants to be “an inclusive brand.” That is a misconception. What they took issue with is the fact the formulas of the company’s products have been altered to for use in predominately white hair. As you know, Caucasian and African hair is different, not just in texture, but white hair holds more oil, where as black hair needs moisture.
I have never used Shea Moisture, and I never will, but I am well aware that Shea Moisture has been targeting black women as the company’s consumer base from its inception. No one cares about their desire to be inclusive. After all, the goal of any company is to make money. However, countless hair product companies have successfully made their brands inclusive without doing so at the expense of their core consumers, such as Pantene, which has a black hair product line. Shea Moisture could’ve made a new product line formulated for white and Hispanic hair, under a different name if necessary. Furthermore, the ad failed to feature anyone with course hair. That’s why loyal Shea Moisture buyers were up in arms.
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April 30, 2017 at 9:03 pm
Thank you, my friend!
Yes, the fact that they changed their magic potion is what makes this whole thing fraudulent. I heard from one of my lady friends, who is black, that their product now dries her hair out whereas it used to hold quite well. So, I agree: they could have released a different product with a different name – but they wanted to retain that strong black base. Black women always get the short end of the stick. SheaMoisture wanted to throw black women overboard while simultaneously still reaping the benefit of those black dollars. Typical corporate thinking. Can you imagine the reverse? Can you imagine a company deciding that its white base could be treated like this? Absolutely not! It is only black women – due to its history of enslavement and colonization – that made the company decide they were expendable.
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April 30, 2017 at 10:44 pm
Exactly. After the company had grown and profited from the dollars of black women it’s: See ya! We don’t need you anymore, and we don’t want women who look like you representing our brand. We’re trying to cross over!”
I use Pantene because their products work for natural my hair. I was confused as to why they didn’t just create a new line. Then the CEO gave an interview on the Breakfast Club and said that ad wasn’t approved. Really? Since when do ads not get approved? Even the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad received approval prior to airing. Marketing Departments revise ads repeatedly until they’re approved, so Shea Moisture’s CEO isn’t even being truthful about this nonsense.
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April 30, 2017 at 10:50 pm
For real!!!!! Lol @ claiming ads are not approved. Corporate commercials are not “leaked” like mixtapes from rappers with baggy jeans and doo-rags. Nice try, though 😂😂
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April 30, 2017 at 8:35 pm
This perfect post summed up my thoughts on white women. I agree that SM did a bad job at trying to umbrella us with the same hair woes. I don’t really care since it’s filled with preservatives that just sit atop my hair, but they do have some nice soaps… I mean what do people expect?! Really. It’s sold everywhere. I’m sure white women bought plenty of it before this ad 😏
And, not to take one thing from it, but I still get oogly eyes from ADULT white WOMEN. No other class treats me in this fashion so frequently. They stare up into my face (I’m 5’10”), glare, start dumb conversations or just stand or sit uncomfortably close to me, still with the awkward stares and grins! I think they go home to their husbands and say “I got a Black girl to smile at me today!” My resting broad face is strong. And I’m friendly, but not really. They are definitely leeches and hate when you don’t give them attention, at least from my experience.
Great post, Darryl. Sorry for the rant??
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April 30, 2017 at 9:19 pm
Hey Kelley! Thank you! No apologies necessary, no rant involved.
I am interested in your words about the “oogly eyes from adult white women.” I think I know exactly what you are talking about. I have felt this. I have seen this. To be black is to be hyper-visible and invisible at the same time. It is an existential tension and contradiction. When we get the oogly eyes, there is a pornographic gaze being focused upon us … a gaze that recognizes us AND disappears us. We exist only to the extent that we can fulfill white fantasies. I hate the attitude white women exhibit toward black women. From what I have witnessed, a lot of white women want to BE black without actually living the EXPERIENCE of blackness. It’s fucking lazy. They look at blackness as a buffet where they can cherry-pick what they like, and leave behind all of the real stuff. So, they want the stereotypical black features that makes blackness ‘cool’: a big booty, full lips (they get injections) and darker skin (they go tanning) – but they want nothing to do with poverty and police brutality. As soon as they get pulled over, they beckon to that whiteness mighty fast.
And I am sure you have direct experience with the following. I hateeeeee when I see white women touch black women’s hair. It is the same EXACT impulse as when a person sees a dog and reaches out to ‘pet’ it: an other-ization.
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April 30, 2017 at 10:13 pm
Ah! You get “it” Darryl. Thank you. I’m sure this is why many date Black people or have that Black friend that can be the rep/encyclopedia of all things “Black” – to hold close those tender pieces of Blackness that are nice and pretty and safe.
It’s odd. It’s disgusting. And it makes me uncomfortable af. And THANK YOU for addressing it 😉
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April 30, 2017 at 8:38 pm
Apologies. I meant *coarse hair, not “course.”
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April 30, 2017 at 9:03 pm
Thanks, TW. I went to their site to bone up, but I didn’t read about the ingredient thing. Regarding inclusivity: I saw a “tweet” where one woman made a comment about “White women wanting to take everything from us”, it was just that one tweet though. I use whatever is cheapest.
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May 1, 2017 at 10:46 am
Women with hair that has been traditionally and historically viewed as desirable voicing their “hair hate”. Hmmmm. To your point, Darryl, the White women in the commercial experience their hair hate from within. I would find it hard to believe that their hair ever caused a job interviewer to evaluate whether they would fit in with the company culture. The Black woman receives her hair hate from an external source and is speaking about the ill-treatment she received as a result of someone else viewing her hair as undesirable. Two very different experiences and implications.
I realize it’s all about the money and I can appreciate that. Shea Moisture is a business and profit is their main concern in order to stay in business. The thing that disturbs me is that once again we are being divided and distracted by hair texture and skin tone. Equally disturbing is that people don’t understand why Black women are upset and why some of us feel that the products “belonged to us”.
For many decades, women with straighter hair textures (regardless of ethnicity) had a multitude of hair care products to choose from and the marketing reinforced the desirablity of that type of hair (I remember those Prell commercials in the 70’s with the woman flinging around her long, flowing locks). Women with relaxed hair had some choices but if you had coily or kinky hair, your product options were limited at best. You couldn’t go to Kmart at that time and find an “Ethnic Hair” section or products that helped you care for your hair the way it grew out of your head. You also didn’t see coily & kinky women featured in hair care ads at all.
Shea Moisture and other Black owned natural hair care companies gave us many more options, and Shea Moisture in particular built their company marketing and selling products to coily, kinky-haired women. To expand the brand is ok, we get it, but to build a commercial campaign around hair hate featuring women whose hair has never been “hated” is insensitive and sends a dismissive message.
There are many other issues people have brought up regarding what this Shea Moisture controversy may mean, but I think you highlighted a key one in your post today. I enjoy reading your blogs and thought-provoking discussions they touch off. Thank you!
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May 1, 2017 at 11:35 am
Exactly! Very well-stated! The commercial makes a number of assumptions that utterly failed. The fact that they already changed the formula for their product says a lot. They really shouldve just released a new product … so this shows how little they value the opinion and loyalty of black women.
I am glad you like reading my posts. Thank you for tuning in 😀
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May 1, 2017 at 1:03 pm
What I disliked about the commercial was the way it came off. I made a video about it, but in short the commercial was tacky at best. You have 2 white women talking about their own hair experience as if it equates to a black woman’s struggle. It was false equivalence. I am for a company brand trying to expand, but not in that fashion. Great post.
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May 1, 2017 at 1:09 pm
Hey Brother Eddie! I feel you, it was tacky. How do you feel about them changing the formula for their products? Previously, the product was conducive to the texture of black women – but now it is different to be more friendly to white women. How do you feel about that? I think the problem is less about the expansion of the company (expected) but more about the complete disavowal of black women all around.
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May 1, 2017 at 5:07 pm
My opinion is that they wanted to reach a larger demographic. The way the commercial was presented was awful. What the company should have done was stick to providing products for black women. If they wanted to expand, it would’ve made more sense to create a separate brand as a sister company that was unilateral and neutral ex. Pantene
As far as the formula change, I am going to have to research and see. I put it to you like this, it’s like seeing white guys wearing durags in an advertisement for 360 waves hair grease. It just doesn’t make sense to have white guys talking about a hair struggle for a predominantly African American product.
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May 1, 2017 at 5:49 pm
Lol @ white guys on 360 waves hair ads. Good points bro! I agree!
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May 1, 2017 at 6:48 pm
So glad that you decided to write this! I don’t have much to contribute as we’ve already discussed this topic lol but I will say that I love the comments and feedback above; especially from Ms.Elva. I almost forgot about the trauma that was inflicted on us by our mothers or aunts and ourselves when trying to fit into a culture other than our own.
I don’t like to downplay the experiences or struggles of others, even if I do feel that they lack in comparison to my own. And Ms.Elva reminded me of the importance of remaining sensitive to the experiences of others.
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May 1, 2017 at 7:39 pm
Thanks for reading! I understand what Ms. Elva said. But what if those “others” are a privileged class of people who regularly show open disdain for you? I get the general moral of the statement, but it assumes we live in an egalitarian society that doesn’t exist.
I do not think anyone would deny that the white women in the commercials had ‘struggles’. I think this raises a question about whether or not the oppressed must shoulder a different emotional burden than their oppressors. The oppressed are typically sold a ‘slave morality’ where they must care about those who violate them (so they do not revolt). Does the commercial feature a dynamic where white women invalidate the experience of the black woman? And are black women trivializing the experiences of white women in turn by saying they do not ‘really’ struggle? And if so, is that wrong? Should former [I use this tentatively] slaves validate the struggles of their former [I use this tentatively] slave masters?
In the commercial, did the struggles of the white women only become coherent by comparing their ‘hair hate’ to the ‘hair hate’ of the black woman? Lets say there was a commercial about ‘hair hate’ with JUST white women in it … would it make “sense” , or does it need a black woman in it to make it “real”?
*sorry for changing this message a few times btw lol
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May 1, 2017 at 8:31 pm
Okay yeah the more I meditate on it – you are right about Ms. Elva’s comment. But check this: I think the white women were making a mockery of REAL ‘hair hate’. Ms. Elva talked about the pain and trauma of getting her hair done. White women have never had to go through that. They have the hair that black women are trying to get. But in that commercial, they are essentially rebuking the fact that they are THE standard and trivializing the pain of black women by talking about … the horrors of choosing hair dyes. Save it, Sally. Put a cork in it, Cathy lol. Those are typical First World problems. Its like … I have friends who are wealthy. They start to say they are “poor” when their cash reserves start to dip around $10k and only have 3 cars in the driveway. If that were me, I would feel rich. It is not just a difference of opinion, it is about using a qualitatively different standard based on power and privilege because one is spoiled and used to the finer things in life. So when those friends start comparing their “poverty” to my poverty, it is offensive. That is kinda what I see here, if that makes sense.
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May 4, 2017 at 1:07 pm
I’m so glad you’re back 🙂
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May 4, 2017 at 7:23 pm
Thank you! 😀 Glad to be back in the swing of thangs!
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May 22, 2017 at 7:14 pm
This post is very true & also very sad. I really wish people would stop comparing black experiences with white experiences. It really isn’t the same thing!
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May 23, 2017 at 1:15 pm
I am glad you understand the difference between structural positions. It is so annoying when people fail to grasp this!
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May 23, 2017 at 2:40 am
RE: Different Structural Position
“The black woman and white women all come together at the end to ‘push’ the product – thus sending the message that all of their experiences were equal. But black women and white women have different structural positions. While it is true that all women suffer violence, black women suffer the worst type.”
I think this quote really resonated with me because while the white woman is worried about aesthetics and superficial qualities, the Black woman and of course why light skin again?, talks about something that impacts her disproportionately.
I like how you term this as ‘having a different structural position’, that about sums it up. Because, at the same time as casting all women to have an equal experience, we Black women don’t have an equal experience in way where we don’t have to be chastised for who we are.
As a Black woman I have to say that I appreciate your piece as a Black male in tune with our issues. I don’t know why they still privlidge the light skin Black experience, it is time to see some rich hue Sistas representing and also time for us to build our own.
We do face a disproportionate experience when it comes to that ‘different structural position’ and I am surprised that these so called ‘educated’ directors of these propaganda agendas, still have not caught on to that.
Thank you for your post. Very empowering.
Best,
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May 23, 2017 at 1:20 pm
Absolutely! Black women are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and conflating their position with white women is not only absurd but dangerous. This commercial made a mockery out of the plight of black women that stems from the beauty standards of an anti black world.
You are right about directors. Amazing how they continue to push this ridiculous content, smh.
Thank you for tuning in 😀
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May 24, 2017 at 9:20 pm
I feel if the company wanted to branch out there should be a different collection for people with 1 or 2 type hair. However, they seemed to forget about their foundation. Black women with 3 and 4 hair is what helped them become who they are today. White women are now paying attention to them, because they are popular. White women any other time would pass by this product and buy their herbal essence (no shade). The problem is more so when women with 4 hair noticed a change with the formula. I hope they get it together.
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May 25, 2017 at 7:11 am
Great points! I certainly agree. They really should have created a different product so as not to alienate their original, loyal base: black women. I hope they get it together, as well.
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May 25, 2017 at 7:45 am
Yes. We will see what will happen.
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