USA TODAY International Edition
Alopecia is no joke to Black women
Chris Rock’s “joke” about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair hit differently – and not in a good way.
The actress turned heads and garnered praise for her radiant Oscars look Sunday night, which featured an elaborate emerald gown and a shaved head.
Rock, however, used her lack of hair as the butt of a joke while onstage presenting the award for best documentary feature. The comedian said he couldn’t wait to see Smith star in “G. I. Jane 2,” referencing her shaved head. ( In response, Pinkett Smith rolled her eyes before Will Smith got up and slapped Rock as he stood on the stage.)
Some say the mocking puts on display the challenges and discrimination Black women face in a society with Eurocentric beauty standards, and experts feel the “joke” stung worse coming from Rock – a Black man, a father to Black daughters and the producer of “Good Hair,” which chronicles the journey of Black hair.
“I didn’t see it as a joke,” says Dija Ayodele, a skin care expert and author of “Black Skin: The Definitive Skincare Guide,” who called Rock’s words “very offensive.” “I’m really disappointed in Chris Rock for using someone in the Black community who we all love, who has a medical condition, as a joke ... I didn’t think it was an acceptable line to go down at all.”
Monday night, Rock apologized, saying, “Last night I crossed a line that I shouldn’t have ... Comedy is never about poking fun at or making lite of people with major ordeals happening in their lives.... I sincerely apologize to my friend’s ( sic) Jada Pinkett- Smith, Will Smith, and the rest of the Smith family...”
Last summer, Pinkett Smith spoke about her journey with alopecia and severe hair loss, and revealed her daughter Willow Smith was the inspiration for her bold hair transformation.
Alopecia is a medical term for hair loss, which can include everything from common balding on the head to hair loss on the body and more, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“To use her medical condition as a punchline for his jokes on the worldwide stage, I think that’s unacceptable,” Ayodele says. “And I’m a fan of Chris Rock, but this was completely unacceptable.”
Dr. Caroline Robinson, founder of Tone Dermatology, says she didn’t find Rock’s comment funny at all.
“As a dermatologist who sees and treats alopecia daily, I know that this can be a very emotional experience, especially for Black women,” Robinson says. “I do not think the topic of Black women’s hair has any place in a comedy routine, especially by someone like Chris Rock who’s seen the impact of our relationship to our hair first hand in his ‘ Good Hair’ documentary.”
Ayodele adds that Rock has had a front- row seat to the history of Afro hair as well as the treatment and trauma Black women have faced from it: “Chris Rock should know better.”
This situation shows we have “some
“There is a huge focus on the men in this situation with little attempt at understanding the woman in this situation.” Dr. Caroline Robinson Dermatologist
way to go in accepting and protecting Black women full- stop,” she says.
“There’s an old statement about ‘ Black women are the most unprotected group,’” she says. “Yes, we can be, and this ‘ joke’ that he was trying to make just shows that.”
There is a lot more understanding that has to take place, too, Robinson adds.
“There is a huge focus on the men in this situation with little attempt at understanding the woman in this situation and her experience,” she says. “I think that it’s telling of the gap we have in understanding how standards have impacted Black women.”
For many Black women, it’s not just hair, Ayodele says.
“Hair is very connected to identity, especially for Black women,” she says. “Afro hair, it’s a political thing. At times, it’s stood for defiance, it’s stood for safety – during slavery, people would use it to hide seeds in so that we could have sustenance, so that we could remember home. It’s been ( braided) in ways that gives information to other people about safety ... It is so much connected to identity as Black women and defines us in so many ways.”
Pinkett Smith has shared the emotions surrounding her hair loss, calling the journey “terrifying.”
“Taking care of my hair has been a beautiful ritual – and having the choice to have hair or not,” she said on “Red Table Talk.” And then one day to be like, ‘ Oh my God, I might not have that choice anymore.’”
When Robinson speaks to Black women losing their hair, she hears helplessness, pain and fear.
“Beauty standards have historically impacted Black women, in particular, into believing that our hair was not appropriate or needed to be changed,” she says. “We’ve entered an era of acceptance and celebrating our hair within our community, and that makes an alopecia diagnosis particularly difficult.”
According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, about 6.8 million people in the U. S. and 147 million people worldwide have, or will develop, alopecia. Robinson says that more than 50% of Black women will experience hair loss in their lifetime.
“Alopecia is a very common condition amongst Black women, so many other Black women will be feeling the same way and are standing in solidarity with Jada,” Ayodele says. “Even people who who are not Black and perhaps are having chemotherapy or are uncontrollably losing their hair, for someone like Chris Rock to make a joke, not only is it centering Jada, but it is also centering other women who are experiencing those same conditions.”