Image courtesy of wwment.com
Tyra Banks’ TypeF Channel gets an F from Natural Hair Community:
Modeling mogul Tyra Banks and her enterprise Bankables partnered with Demand Studios to launch a style and fashion site this past March called TypeF.com. The site specifically targets those who don’t fit the traditional idea of style and fashion, as part of her agenda to redefine the fashion world and expand the notion of beauty, and claims to offer “fashion and beauty from a new perspective… yours.” Sound exciting and much-needed, right? Well the site earned a big “WTF” from the natural hair community on YouTube for posting videos with inaccurate information and shoddy presentation, such as a woman wearing a weave giving instructions on caring for natural hair. Specifically the videos featuring self-proclaimed natural hair expert and licensed hair stylist JoAnne Robertson caused riotous uproar with erroneous instructions on detangling and styling kinky hair.
Yesterday Tyra issued this statement on the TypeF YouTube channel:
Just like many of you, when I saw the videos that contained some inaccurate material about how to treat natural hair, as an African-American woman, I was immediately concerned. The typeF team has removed the videos in question and is reviewing all related videos to ensure accuracy. Bankable and typeF are looking into how to avoid this situation from happening again. Thanks to everyone who spoke up. I encourage you to always share your views with me. In this case, your feedback allowed typeF to connect with new experts who are now part of the team and who are helping create more appropriate content.
-Tyra
TypeF has not only removed Robertson’s videos but all of the hair care tutorials featuring African-American women, as they were all problematic and left little to be desired. While Tyra’s statement and attention to the matter is appreciated the question still remains, how the heck did this happen in the first place? With the plethora of self-made and licensed natural hair experts on YouTube, how is it that Tyra’s project pulled the worst possible representatives? And why is it that the African-American women featured were the least knowledgeable in their field? As someone who sets such high standards, especially with the growth and success of America’s Next Top Model, we expect more from you Tyra!
[...] online natural hair community has been posting numerous articles and blog posts about these incidents over the past few months, [...]