Gabby Douglas' Hair At London Olympic Games Criticized: Twitter Users Defend Olympian
Gabby Douglas just helped the United States bring home its first gold medal in gymnastics since 1996. But instead of talking about her energetic floor exercise or remarkable vault, all some people can manage to talk about is her hair.
It doesn't seem to matter that Douglas is 16 years old and the second black American to ever make the United States' Olympic gymnastics team; it still hasn't stopped some from slamming the Flying Squirrel who performed gravity-defying stunts for her hair-do.
(Click here to see pictures of Douglas' hair at the Olympics.)
@stephaniebabe93 tweeted, "I know every black female looked at gabby douglas' hair and asked Why? Just why?"
The tweeter didn't mention anything about how Douglas is an amazing athlete and that her competitors didn't stand a chance against her. Once she vaulted on day six of the 2012 London Olympics, the gold medal for all-around in gymnastics was practically in her back pocket.
Yahoo reported critics felt Douglas didn't properly represent the black American community because of the way her hair was done. The news site reported that most of the comments were coming from the black American community.
@MessyMeil said, "So for real though nobody wanted to go to London to do Gabby Douglas' hair?
"I find it sad that I have seen more Black women post criticizing comments about Gabby's hair than I have comments of praise about her athleticism or adding color to USA Gymnastics since Dominique Dawes," wrote Monisha Randolph at SportyAfros.com.
@Kimehouse posted, "Gabby Douglas is cute and all...but that hair.......on camera."
Randolph went as far as pointing out that some black American women will not work out to protect their hair.
"The last time I checked, when you play a sport, you sweat. I know I do. And when a Black woman who has chosen to wear her hair straight begins to sweat, her hair will (not might) begin to revert back to its natural coily, curly or kinky state," she wrote. "Some of us are sitting up right now with our hair done but suffering from high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, obesity and/or a lack of energy. Oh, but the hair is on point."
At the end of Yahoo's article, many people took to Douglas' defense, praising her for her accomplishments.
Most of the comments were similar to Cowgirl's, "16,adorable, well spoken and one hell of an athlete, did you look at the still shots???? She represents young women in a remarkable fashion, and I for one could not be more pleased or proud of her accomplishments for team USA!!!!!"
Twitter users, where the disses first started, quickly came to her defense once they found out the Olympian was being slammed.
@SPmusik tweeted, "People busy talking about Gabby Douglas not having her hair done?? She's busy sweating & WINNING GOLD MEDALS.. you're on TWITTER. Right."
@theQueenParks pointed out, "Gabby Douglas The First African American to Win the Gold Olympic Medal in the Women's All-Around, & all y'all can talk about is her hair -_-"
Did you think Douglas' hair looked bad when she was performing, or were you too busy watching how amazing she was?
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