Yes, Rihanna Wore Her Box Braids Half-Done — So What?

The lesson here is: Stay out of Black women’s hair business.

It’s no secret that Rihanna marches to the beat of her own beauty drum when it comes to nixing the rules of hair, makeup and beyond. However, her latest hair moment has social media in a frenzy and the stamp on it all is that people ultimately need to stay out of the hairstyle business of Black women — period.

The Fenty Beauty founder was seen out rocking a half-braided, half-straight hairstyle, inadvertently creating a trend that we’re sure the masses will follow. The tea is Rihanna was minding her business and now there’s fake chaos online. Here’s the thing, Black women have confidently rocked this particular hairstyle for decades. As little girls, it wasn’t uncommon to see them heading to school with their hair half-done after a long evening spent at the braiders. In adult women, the sentiment was the same. The ladies would wrap their hair in a neat bun or let it flow causally as seen on Rih, but underneath a hat.

There have been harsh statements from non-people of color calling Rih’s hair “ugly” and so on, and here’s a thought: What may be ugly to you is culture to someone else. Be careful.