Many other black female contestants on love island are made to feel pressure when it comes to their hair and for seasons that have been present in the past from 2022 semi finalist Indiyah Pollack to Samira Mighty who was the first black woman to enter the love island villa in 2018, The conversation has been ongoing.
Fellow winter 2023 contestant, Tanya Manhenga who placed 4th in the finals was also criticized for the conditions of her wig whilst being in the villa. This further goes to show how as black women it is difficult to maintain any hairstyle and we will constantly be criticized even if we are fitting into eurocentric standards or our own.
Some members of the public have been able to identify how this issue is great within the black community and much more is needed to be done to end all forms of afro hair discrimination for once and for all.
In my survey on Afro hair discrimination, I had to aim of understanding how black women felt regarding pressures to conform and I found that over 60% of women were made to feel they have to alter their hair to fit into society. The treatment Lynda Flix and Tanya Manhenga have received in the public national eye only goes to illustrate just how different black women can be judged on their hair whether they are conforming to eurocentric beauty standards or rocking their hair in a protective style.
Looking in as a black woman myself
From a black woman's perspective, feeling confident in our hair is so essential to us. It brings confidence and comfort to us.
There are countless elements that go into properly maintaining Afro hair and sometimes it can be a very difficult journey to get to a point where you find a hairstyle that you can frequently wear. That also does not contribute to the damage to your hair. It is amazing for us to get our hair done and instantly fall in love with it so when members of the public critique your security.
From my interview with Lynda and her response to the media, I can tell this was difficult to ingest.The treatment that Lynda Flix received from social media and the Afro hair community too is so shocking and disappointing. As a community, we have fallen victim to judging the way other chose to style their hair and some people feel as though Lynda's braid representation on love island was only another example of a black unkempt hairstyle. This worldwide judgement from social media of Lynda's hair only widens the gap between black women feeling confident in wearing braids and the negative comments only further the agenda that not all hairstyles are accepted on national television platforms for everyone.
The healthcare worker feels as though the black community were not on her side as although she received a lot of praise from some members of the public for entering the villa with her natural hair the majority of comments were only criticisms.
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