Rihanna

Rihanna has been criticised for allowing non-black models to wear braids. Image via Twitter: @SavageFenty

Cultural appropriation? Rihanna slammed for braided white models

Cornrow debate: Rihanna has been accused of allowing cultural appropriation at her Savage X Fenty Vol 3 show after non-black models were seen wearing braids.

Rihanna

Rihanna has been criticised for allowing non-black models to wear braids. Image via Twitter: @SavageFenty

US singer and businesswoman Rihanna has found herself getting criticised after a couple of non-black models in her Savage X Fenty Volume 3 show were seen wearing braids. Many people online saw this as cultural appropriation and slammed Rihanna for allowing it to happen.

Rihanna gets into hot water over braided white models

For a while no there has been a big discussion around cultural appropriation and how it should be tackled.

The conversation around cultural appropriation was sparked and resulted in a huge debate after the Kardashian sisters were seen rocking cornrows – a hairstyle that was first made popular by black women and has a strong African history.

Since then people have paid close attention to any signs of cultural appropriation and it seems Rihanna has found herself in the middle of one such conversation.

This is after her Savage X Fenty Volume 3 lingerie show aired on Amazon Prime on 3 September this year. The show was very inclusive and included models of all shapes, sizes, races, and genders.

ALSO READ: ‘OMG so proud!’: SA reacts to Thuso Mbedu in Riri’s Savage X Fenty Show

One thing that was amiss for many of the star’s fans is the fact white models, singer Vanessa Hudgens and actress Emily Ratajkowski were wearing braids.

Here’s what the netizens have to say:

Many people subsequently headed over to the comment section where they criticised the singer for not considering whether or not the hairstyles would be a trigger for black women.

Others however argued that women should be allowed to wear any hairstyles they please.

Here are some of their comments:

lizard_smith said:

“But why is no one talking about this white girl in braids.”

@NexusEnglish1 wrote:

“I’m not supposed to wear my hair in braids because I’m not black, right? Okay… how about perm? Can I get wavy hair? Oh wait, if you have curly hair, is that okay to get your hair straight? This is getting really ridiculous.”

ALSO READ: US artist sparks appropriation row after “stealing” famous South African images