Oftentimes, Black hair garners unwarranted attention, seeing as, in most cases, people are merely fascinated by the vast diversity of it. This then opens up possibilities for black women to be put under a gaze of surveillance, one which scrutinizes their hair choices [1]. 

There's always an explanation when it comes to Black women and our hair choices; always a method, reason, or even a routine that needs explanation from another party.

Black women have to be prepared to defend their hair choices since the policing and criticism of Black hair is still very rampant [2]. They become subject to the disciplinary and scrutinizing gaze of the beholder.

Being viewed in such a way subjects black women to the hegemonic ideology that they're flawed, as Harvey expounds, and it then proposes acceptable forms of discipline through media culture in today's society [3].

The construction of feminized whiteness is portrayed to be alluring and glamorous no matter the instance, even when a decision is made to appropriate hairstyles which Black women have been repeatedly bashed and discriminated against for wearing[3]. For white women, it is simply an act of expressing creativity in a 'chic' way, and society sees no wrong whatsoever in that. 

As Harvey (2020) notes, this superficial borrowing, also popularly termed "Cultural Appropriation"[3], works to support instead of challenging the already existing stereotypes; it perpetuates racialized stereotypes and, therefore, cannot just be a harmless borrowing.

There's a line between freedom of expression and outright disrespect; Everyone should have the freedom to own their beauty independence. However, it remains insensitive to blatantly appropriate other cultures.

The power of beauty goes beyond what meets the eye and reflects something much deeper, and the flimsy, recreational use of culturally loaded symbols, such as cornrows in the case of the Kardashians and the Jenners, is inexcusable.

Cornrows were one of the earliest expressions of Black hair; cornrows symbolized status, ethnicity, wealth, and rank amongst other socioeconomic spheres in Africa [4]. It has deeply rooted origins in Black history. 

Within the world of beauty lies strong cultural symbols that reflect different rich historical references. It becomes an issue when cultural symbols of beauty become materialized into the latest trend or beauty statement to make for a good Instagram photo.