Whip My Hair: For Your Weekend Enjoyment
If you are not among the 5 million people who have already watched this video, then you just gotta. Yes, this is Will and Jada’s daughter, and yes she’s only nine, which is a bit weird frankly. Nonetheless, we are loving little Willow Smith’s positive vibe and message to the young girls. Here’s what she told MTV:
“Whip My Hair means don’t be afraid to be yourself, and don’t let anybody tell you that that’s wrong. Because the best thing is you.“
Snaps! Willow seems to have much in common with a young muppet who also released her single this week. Did the two plan it together? Hard to say. But you can bet there’s already a Willow Vs. Sesame Street remix. Happy weekend!
Am I the only person on the planet who finds this creepy???
She’s nine.
What are her parents thinking? I don’t like it at all. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Rebecca, you’re not the only one–this is very creepy! The whole thing is completely inappropriate and exploitative IMO. Ugh.
That’s a catchy song, but I think the message of “it’s great to be yourself” doesn’t really go with a video full of fake hair. After watching this, is a girl more likely to want to be herself or will she want to go get extensions or a weave? Little black girls’ hair typically can’t be “whipped back and forth” in its natural state…
Rebecca – you are not alone. It IS creepy and just plain bad. Of course, I’m not a fan of either of the parents either.
IDK if I find it creepy but I definitely don’t get the message of “it’s great to be yourself”. Maybe I’m missing something.
It is a little unnerving to see such a young girl center camera, singing and dancing, but she is not over sexualized. My problem with this video is not the portrayal of Willow. I’m glad her parents and stylists made sure she was covered and clothed properly.
My issue is with the woman in the classroom who is obviously not a student, so we are lead to think she is a teacher. She is dancing like a stripper. Kids do not need to see this.
Still, I think young kids need more positive role models. As long as Willow and her team keep it together, I think she’s sending a positive message of loving yourself and being yourself.
Am I immoral? I love this song and think it’s super fun to see a girl having so much fun, looking and acting quirky and outside of traditional roles we tend to associate with young girls in the limelight. It doesn’t strike me as sexualized at all!
I have to disagree, Siobhan, but maybe it’s because I have a young daughter and am more sensitive to this kind of thing. It’s pretty bad.
Siobhan-I completely agree. Not only do I like listening to this song because it is catchy, I love the video because of how quirky Willow is and how much fun she seems to be having. I think all her outfits and looks were awesome, and even though she is young to be doing what she was doing, I thought it was surprisingly appropriate.
I think people are really overreacting to child stars, now that there are so many of them and their lives are so public. But not all parents of stars push them to be in the limelight, and not all stars exploit their fame.
Let Willow have her fun, and keep your fingers crossed that she’ll remain as fantastic and untarnished by Hollywood as she is now!
Who knew this would spark so much debate! Love it. I do think Ekua makes an interesting point, admittedly one that had crossed my mind too. But after watching the video a few times, I really felt like the variety of hair and the repeated mantra of “don’t matter if it’s long, short…” sends a work-what-you’ve-got message. Maybe I’m being too hopeful?
I think its really catchy and it just shows a little girl with her peers dancing around and having fun. She is completely covered and flipping paint around a room. How is that sexualized? Or creepy for that matter?