“Was Will right to slap Chris Rock?”

Well was Chris Rock right to joke about Jada’s hair loss? I wonder if Jada Plinkett-Smith was a white woman, would her alopecic ever had been fair ground for a joke? I ask this honestly.

Jada has spoken openly about how her hair loss has impacted her:

 “It was one of those times in my life where I was literally shaking in fear. That’s why I cut my hair, and why I continue to cut it… My hair has been a big part of me. Taking care of my hair has been a beautiful ritual and having the choice to have hair or not. And then one day to be like, ‘Oh my god, I might not have that choice anymore.’”

Is this another example of where the pain and suffering of a black women is ignored or belittled. I remember how the world was furious when Kanye told Taylor Swift she didn’t deserve to win over Beyonce and well… she didn’t deserve to win over Beyonce. There is similar outrage and shock at Will Smith’s response but not so towards Chris Rock’s behaviour.

I searched to see if any jokes were made at the expense of Gail Porter, probably one of the most inspirational and courageous woman celebrities with alopecia – I could only find instances where Porter herself had made light of her loss. But I continued my searching and found this recent article about Matt Lucas sharing his annoyance at a newspaper constantly referring to him as the “Egghead” presenter. Whether male or female – making jokes based on peoples’ appearances just isn’t funny. It feels dated (and for me tied to capitalism and imperialism somehow – I don’t know how exactly lol just everything that takes away from respecting humanity generally is)

And so while everyone is in agreement that “violence is never the answer”, this too should include verbal abuse and “jokes” and comments made at the expense of the dignity of others.