Outrage After Hairstylist Allegedly Compared Woman’s Textured Hair to an Untamable ‘Animal’

Bianca Dawkins flaunts her natural tresses. (Photo: Facebook)

For many women with kinky or tightly coiled hair, walking into a random salon and finding that the hairdressers are unable to execute a simple style on your texture is not an uncommon occurrence. It’s the reason women do their research, sometimes calling ahead to confirm that an apt hairstylist is on staff when they’re looking to get their hair professionally done. But as Bianca Dawkins found out, sometimes you wind up with an inept person even when you do the extra work.

According to City Pages, Dawkins made an appointment at the Denny Kemp Salon and Spa in Minneapolis, informing the receptionist that because of her texture, which includes “really curly, tight curls,” she would likely need two hours to achieve the style she was looking for – a standard wash, blowout, and flatiron. But when she got into the hairstylist’s chair, she learned that not only was the person doing her hair lacking the basic skills to achieve the style on her hair texture, but also that because of it, she would be subjected to insults.

According to Dawkins, the stylist, named Justin, blamed her for his inability to work on her texture, saying her tresses were like “an animal that can’t be tamed.” None of the stylists in the salon had the skill set required for her hair. Dawkins asked, “Black girls can’t come in here and get their hair done?” The stylist replied, “Well, it isn’t the 1950s or ’60s, where we can just put up a sign in the window.” A rep for the salon claims that Justin’s comments were misconstrued and taken out of context.

Dawkins took to Facebook to tell her story. “I’m so sick of not being able to get my hair done when we have all these people scared of textures,” she wrote. “What hurts my feelings the most is that today my hair was called a animal by a white man who knows nothing about black girl curls.” In another post, she elaborated: “My hair has been natural for over a year now and it has been a journey. I’ve experienced the toughest part of my journey yesterday when my hair was referred to [as] an animal. I thought for a second should I get a perm, but I didn’t want this incident to get the best of me. I want to be a part of the movement that is creating awareness that ‘All People’ should be made to feel beautiful. I want everyone to receive great experiences when they are getting pampered. No one should feel like their hair should be ‘tamed’ or they are not to be accommodated or supported when trying to find and receive treatment. I don’t want the incident that happened to blow over and just be a thing that happened, because many people have experienced this and it is just pure ignorance.”

It’s no secret that that many stylists don’t know or bother to learn how to deal with hair textures that many black women have. Any black high-fashion model can tell you the struggle, including Leomie Anderson, who took to Twitter a few months ago to air her frustrations. “Why is there only ever one black hairdresser backstage yet they need four hairdressers to inspect my weave?” she tweeted. “Why can a white model confidentially sit in anyone’s chair and feel confident they’ll look okay but black models have to worry? WE NEED MORE MAKEUP ARTISTS AND HAIR WHO ARE COMPETENT WITH ALL RACES BACKSTAGE AT SHOWS.”

Clearly, the issue permeates all levels of the beauty industry. Denny Kemp Salon management responded by posting an image to Facebook reading “black hair matters,” saying, “We agree completely,” after finding themselves in the middle of the social media firestorm.

Yesterday, the salon took to Facebook to issue an apology. “Our salon is going through a major learning curve,” it read. “First, we extend our heartfelt apology to Bianca and to anyone else who has been hurt by this incident. Bianca was serviced by this stylist in the past without issue and we are working to ensure that nothing similar to what happened on Friday, June 10, happens in the future. Several of you have demanded that Justin be fired. We discussed this with Bianca and this was not her goal; we are moving forward with education, awareness, and a renewed commitment to serving all people in our diverse community. While we are taking immediate action on this particular incident, we are also grateful for the door this opens to entering into a holistic dialogue about the gaps in skills and training that exist in our salon and the industry. As both a salon with strong ties to Minnesota’s communities of color and also as an industry leader, we affirm that every person who enters our doors deserves to feel welcome, included, and beautiful. We failed to do that for one of our clients, and we hope that she gives us a chance to make good on our promise. We also ask that you do the same.”

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