Jada Pinkett-Smith Defends Willow Smith's Hair Choices
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, wife to actor Will Smith and mother to two entertainers on the rise, is defending her 12-year-old daughter's style choices against critics.
Willow Smith, 12, shaved off her hair earlier this year amid criticism. After dying her hair multiple colors and expressing bold fashion statements, the young singer's mother decided to speak out against critics on her Facebook page.
In a message titled "A letter to a friend," Pinkett-Smith decided to speak about the subject of letting Willow cut her hair the day before Thanksgiving.
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"This subject is old but I have never answered it in its entirety. And even with this post it will remain incomplete," Pinkett Smith stated in the Facebook post. "The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair, first the LET must be challenged."
Pinkett Smith said that she works to let her daughter know that she is in control of her own body, spirit and mind.
"This is a world where women,girls are constantly reminded that they don't belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination," Pinkett-Smith said. "I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain."
The actress went on to describe why she felt comfortable with her daughter shaving off all her hair.
"Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It's also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother's deepest insecurities, hopes and desires," Pinkett Smith wrote. "Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be. More to come. Another day."
Willow seemed to reflect that mindset in her fourth music video titled "I Am Me" released earlier this summer.
"Days pass I'm trying to find who I really am. I've been looking people don't like the way I dress," Smith sings. "I ain't done my hair and it's not just vanity. Your validation is not that important to me."
