Braids for white daughter? I want to be culturally appropriate. Help!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is white. Blond haired blue eyed pale white. Her best friend is African American. Best friend wears her hair in tiny braids and sometimes has colorful beads in her hair. My kid wants braids. And beads. The girls are 5 years old. They want to match because they are best friends since they remember. What can I do that is appropriate and will be a good fit? My kid is too young to understand culturally appropriate choices. Help?

Black lady here. I don’t care how your daughter wears her hair. If she wants braids go for it. I consider it a compliment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a complete idiot though I feel like one now. I know better than to let my kid have braids to match her friend. Could I do french braids instead and put beads in her hair that way? I'm so lost on this. I am an immigrant, sorry for not understanding. I am trying.

French braids would be cute. Get them friendship bracelets or something that can match.

Tell your daughter "Cornrows are for black girls. White girls wear French braids. Girls of all colors can wear friendship bracelets."

Np. So are u saying Black girls can't wear French braids? That's crazy!

They also can't straighten their hair ever, according to this logic. Welcome to wokedom. It's so freeing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is white. Blond haired blue eyed pale white. Her best friend is African American. Best friend wears her hair in tiny braids and sometimes has colorful beads in her hair. My kid wants braids. And beads. The girls are 5 years old. They want to match because they are best friends since they remember. What can I do that is appropriate and will be a good fit? My kid is too young to understand culturally appropriate choices. Help?

Black lady here. I don’t care how your daughter wears her hair. If she wants braids go for it. I consider it a compliment.

+1 the thought police want to do the thinking and choosing for everyone, black white and in between.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in a less white area and the kids tend to imitate each other in style- just like in more racially homogeneous areas. At school after lunch, the girls often put braids in each other's hair. What I'm not going to do is intervene and say to my white daughter, "honey, only let your black friends do euro-centric braid styles on you because you don't want to be a cultural imperialist. Here, pick out something from Hanna Anderssen." Call me unenlightened, I don't care, but I am not going to make my daughter show her friends how woke she is by not participating in normal kid stuff.

"Cultural Imperialist?" Now we're just making sh*t up ...

Cultural imperialism is an even older and more researched concept than cultural appropriation. I studied humanities in college so I basically have an advanced degree in wokeness. Come @ me bruh. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_imperialism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow I did not expect this to have so many responses! To update, I spoke with the other mom and we agreed that the girls will order matching outfits and even shoes online so they can have their twin idea. I will braid my daughter's hair into pigtails and I will offer to add ribbons in the same color as her friend's beads. Then we will do a twin day and they can choose their activities they want to do, like a project or ice cream. I already have talked to my daughter about her hair being a different kind and that the braids will not work the same.

(I'm OP)

This sounds like a lovely plan! I hope the girls truly enjoy their twin day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow I did not expect this to have so many responses! To update, I spoke with the other mom and we agreed that the girls will order matching outfits and even shoes online so they can have their twin idea. I will braid my daughter's hair into pigtails and I will offer to add ribbons in the same color as her friend's beads. Then we will do a twin day and they can choose their activities they want to do, like a project or ice cream. I already have talked to my daughter about her hair being a different kind and that the braids will not work the same.

(I'm OP)

Still not comfortable with this. Strays too close to the line.

Yet another negative person trying to stir up strife with generalities that are only in their mind. Maybe buy some pretty hair ribbons or try making a friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is white. Blond haired blue eyed pale white. Her best friend is African American. Best friend wears her hair in tiny braids and sometimes has colorful beads in her hair. My kid wants braids. And beads. The girls are 5 years old. They want to match because they are best friends since they remember. What can I do that is appropriate and will be a good fit? My kid is too young to understand culturally appropriate choices. Help?

Black lady here. I don’t care how your daughter wears her hair. If she wants braids go for it. I consider it a compliment.

Thanks for adding a voice of reason. As a kid, I was the (white) minority in my neighborhood growing up. We all did each others hair including mine being put in cornrows, and I was proud to wear them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in a free country. If the girls want to be twins, let them be twins. OMG! Enough of this B.S.

+100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a complete idiot though I feel like one now. I know better than to let my kid have braids to match her friend. Could I do french braids instead and put beads in her hair that way? I'm so lost on this. I am an immigrant, sorry for not understanding. I am trying.

French braids would be cute. Get them friendship bracelets or something that can match.

Tell your daughter "Cornrows are for black girls. White girls wear French braids. Girls of all colors can wear friendship bracelets."

Np. So are u saying Black girls can't wear French braids? That's crazy!

They also can't straighten their hair ever, according to this logic. Welcome to wokedom. It's so freeing!

Wait, you guys are joking, right? Cornrows and french braids are the same thing, aside from the hair texture they imply, aren't they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow I did not expect this to have so many responses! To update, I spoke with the other mom and we agreed that the girls will order matching outfits and even shoes online so they can have their twin idea. I will braid my daughter's hair into pigtails and I will offer to add ribbons in the same color as her friend's beads. Then we will do a twin day and they can choose their activities they want to do, like a project or ice cream. I already have talked to my daughter about her hair being a different kind and that the braids will not work the same.

(I'm OP)

Still not comfortable with this. Strays too close to the line.

Pigtails with ribbons aren't okay? White people have been doing that forever.

Who did they steal it from?

Pigtails and pony tails with ribbon have been used by caucasian women for thousands of years. I suspect it came about from farm safety and to keep your hair out of your face when working in the fields.

Modern social theory espouses that White people have stolen their culture from others. It's unlikely that White people developed braids in parallel alongside other cultures. Who would think of weaving hair?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a complete idiot though I feel like one now. I know better than to let my kid have braids to match her friend. Could I do french braids instead and put beads in her hair that way? I'm so lost on this. I am an immigrant, sorry for not understanding. I am trying.

French braids would be cute. Get them friendship bracelets or something that can match.

Tell your daughter "Cornrows are for black girls. White girls wear French braids. Girls of all colors can wear friendship bracelets."

Np. So are u saying Black girls can't wear French braids? That's crazy!

They also can't straighten their hair ever, according to this logic. Welcome to wokedom. It's so freeing!

It certainly frees you from thinking and isn't that what really matters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Black woman here and I think it’s fine. I can’t imagine any of my friends seeing a problem with it either. It is not cultural appropriation unless your DD claims she invented it and seems to make money off it, to the detriment of those who really did create it. Will it look good? Who knows, but she’s five, who cares.

This. I don't think white women actually understand the concept of cultural appropriation. Wearing your hair in braids is not cultural appropriation. Putting a picture of a Hindu god on flip flops and a handbag, that is cultural appropriation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a complete idiot though I feel like one now. I know better than to let my kid have braids to match her friend. Could I do french braids instead and put beads in her hair that way? I'm so lost on this. I am an immigrant, sorry for not understanding. I am trying.

French braids would be cute. Get them friendship bracelets or something that can match.

Tell your daughter "Cornrows are for black girls. White girls wear French braids. Girls of all colors can wear friendship bracelets."

Np. So are u saying Black girls can't wear French braids? That's crazy!

They also can't straighten their hair ever, according to this logic. Welcome to wokedom. It's so freeing!

Wait, you guys are joking, right? Cornrows and french braids are the same thing, aside from the hair texture they imply, aren't they?

Not the same thing unless you are french braiding a hundred tiny braids into your straight white hair?

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is crazy town.

OP has to be a troll, who thinks of this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow I did not expect this to have so many responses! To update, I spoke with the other mom and we agreed that the girls will order matching outfits and even shoes online so they can have their twin idea. I will braid my daughter's hair into pigtails and I will offer to add ribbons in the same color as her friend's beads. Then we will do a twin day and they can choose their activities they want to do, like a project or ice cream. I already have talked to my daughter about her hair being a different kind and that the braids will not work the same.

(I'm OP)

This sounds like a lovely plan! I hope the girls truly enjoy their twin day!

Sounds perfect, OP and that sounds like the right way to approach it with your daughter - the braids won't work in the texture of her hair. You sound awesome!