Willow Smith discusses breaking down societal beauty standards in a new interview: “Shaving my head is the most radical thing I’ve done.”
In an interview with Glamour UK published earlier this month, Willow Smith candidly discusses the pressures of adhering to societal norms, and the reasoning behind shaving her head: “As a Black woman there were a lot of layers to my relationship with my hair and skin growing up; it was definitely a learning curve.”
As recounted by Glamour, Smith’s decision to ditch her lengthy braids was “associated with an act of rebellion.” The musician and actor continues, “I like to see a glare on my scalp, a bounce of light…Shaving my head is maybe the most radical thing I’ve done in the name of beauty.”
Willow Smith adds, “For a long time, women have been looked at and expected to be in these boxes. It’s up to the people who have been a part of the oppressing, but it’s also up to us to step out of that. That’s scary, and it’s sometimes dangerous.”
She concludes: “However I’m feeling, I like to do that. I don’t really like to think about it too much. I love to be free with it. I think just being me sometimes is radical.”
