In the Black community, being “presentable” often means having your hair “done.” And, by “done,” that means having your natural hair texture politely hidden. To the point, even tennis star Coco Gauff’s textured bun in a Miu Miu ad was subject to that same anti-Black rhetoric this week.
After taking a month-long social media detox, Gauff said she returned to X to see thousands of people talking about the way she looks. “And, not in a positive way,” she nervously chuckled in a response video on TikTok. The discourse around her hair started one week ago when she posted a Miu Miu ad of her wearing a natural-textured bun on Instagram.
The creative concept Miu Miu sent was for Gauff to capture their brand new $4,600 dollar Vivant Leather bag in an everyday context. She goes on to explain how the photoshoot wasn’t a “full Miu Miu production,” but a casual ad shot by her social media manager on the tennis court in her parents’ backyard. So, paired with a blue tennis skirt, red polo, and white socks with loafers, the tennis pro frolicked around the court shoving tennis balls into the bag to show just how much it can carry.
But, instead of it just being a cheeky little shoot, commenters on X spewed anti-Black rhetoric about her natural hair texture, which was styled in a middle part and scrunchie. “They got Coco looking like Ruby Bridges,” one commenter wrote, playing into the ignorant “Civil Rights era hair” dialogue. Meanwhile, others tried to justify their anti-Blackness. “A little jam to ‘neaten up’ the look isn’t a micro aggression,” said another, as if textured hair needed more policing.
“The concept was ‘using the bag everyday’ so I did my everyday hair and makeup,” she said, which is also a look she wore to dinner that night. While she does wear braids and weave, “I personally don’t like to slick my hair back super sleek because it does damage my hair. Most of the time when I’m wearing it in a bun I choose to [let my hair be] its 4C self.”
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Since we were children, we’ve been taught anything is acceptable as long as it isn’t your actual hair texture, especially if it’s 4C. Princess cover ups turn into relaxers, and relaxers turn into wigs. And, if you don’t have “good hair,” which is an anti-Black connotation in and of itself, we’re taught to just make sure you cake on enough gel to “fix it.” Because, if it’s not smooth, it’s not presentable.
While there’s obviously nothing wrong with wearing your hair in braids, slicking it, or getting a sew-in, making that the default of hair being “done” shouldn’t, in turn, deem natural styles as “unkept,” “unpresentable,” or “unprofessional,” as commenters referred to Gauff’s.
“People who hate on your appearance and hate on the way that you look have something deeply insecure about themselves,” she said. Every other race can wear the natural hair just as it grows out of their scalps. But, since ours doesn’t look like theirs it’s somehow not neat enough. Not professional enough. Not presentable enough. And, of course, not “done” enough.
However, Black hair isn’t up for discussion. Natural hair is “done” and it is a complete style. “I’m not going to apologize for the way that my hair looks because there are other girls who have the exact same hair as me,” Gauff said. “My hair was good enough for a high fashionable brand like Miu Miu. If my hair is good enough for that, then yours is too.”
