Bieber had faced criticism over a similar hairstyle in 2016. Back then, he was quoted as saying: "It's just my hair." (Photo: Instagram/@justinbieber) Some time last month, Justin Bieber had to face a lot of backlash from his Instagram followers for a certain hairstyle which, netizens alleged, reeked of cultural appropriation. The singer had shared a picture, wearing his hair in a style resembling locs, also called ‘dreadlocks’.
While this hairstyle has appeared in different cultures around the world, it is closely associated with Black hair, and is, therefore, considered problematic if a white person wears it.
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He continued wearing his hair like that over the next several weeks, sharing many pictures.
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But, the 27-year-old singer finally chopped off his chair, debuting his shaved head in a photo of himself and his wife Hailey that he shared recently.
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While he did not address the backlash or provide any reason for changing his look, he wrote in the photo caption: “Happy Sunday”.
In April, after he had shared the first picture of his hair styled into cornrows, Stephanie Cohen, co-founder and legal and political organiser at the Halo Collective, had expressed dismay, telling The Guardian: “When I see a white person in mainstream media sporting a Black hairstyle, it makes me angry. I’m angry because this standard does not exist when a Black person simply wears their hair in this way. You can’t just wear something so historically significant and ignore the struggles behind what the hairstyle purports.”
According to an Insider report, Bieber had faced criticism over a similar hairstyle in 2016. Back then, he was quoted as saying: “It’s just my hair.”
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