Ms. Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a condition that leads to hair loss and affects a disproportionate number of black women. It was in bad taste from Mr. Rock to make fun of her hair. He’s reportedly said he wasn’t aware of her alopecia, but at least he probably knew the joke would sting, since he produced the documentary “Good Hair,” about black women and their often fraught relationships with their hair. .
Ms. Pinkett Smith has spoken openly about her struggle with hair loss – which is difficult for anyone, but especially difficult in the sexist and image-conscious world of American celebrities, where women, in particular, make endless comments about their looks, their sartorial choices, their relationships and everything else. others that people can find to take apart. Famous women such as Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Amanda Bynes, Janet Jackson, Monica Lewinsky and Meghan Markle have been pushed to the limit by such scrutiny and the unreasonable expectation that they will thicken their skin to ridicule, disrespect, insults and jokes. Even if later, long after these public rebukes, their treatment is re-examined and condemned, the measly acts of public repentance are too little, too late. The damage has been done.
Violence is always wrong and solves little. Mr. Smith could have made so many better choices without holding someone else’s hand in front of the whole world. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences opened an investigation into the incident Monday afternoon and Mr. Smith apologized to Mr. Rock and the world via Instagram Monday evening.
Still, Mr. Smith most likely saw his wife’s pain, and it’s possible he himself experienced a moment of vulnerability, of thin skin. In his memoir, “Will† the actor writes about the guilt he felt for not being able to protect his mother from his father’s abuse as a child. Mr. Rock’s bouncer was in no way the same as domestic violence, but I imagine Mr. Smith might not have been able to accept that joke, at the expense of his wife, given the layers of context and public and private histories leading up to that evening. .
I try to keep room for all those layers – the exhaustion of Mrs. Pinkett Smith for being the target of humor, the series of bad decisions of Mr. Smith and Mr. Rock trying to keep his composure in the immediate aftermath of being the target of violence. Unfortunately, the incident has become a kind of Rorschach test on which people project their backgrounds, opinions and affinities. And what is lost in the discourse is that, as disappointing as the incident was, it was also a rare moment when a black woman was publicly defended.
We also witnessed an example last week of a woman who was forced to wear incredibly thick skin because she was largely left undefended. During Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court hearings, that leading lawyer endured all manner of insults, racism and misogyny from Republican senators who asked ridiculous questions that were, in fact, opportunities for boasting. Judge Jackson was praised in many circles for her composure and composure.
For many black women, it was a painful sight because we know what it’s like to experience that kind of scrutiny, questioning and disrespect in personal and professional situations. We know what it’s like to be critical without intervention. We understood that the only way forward for Judge Jackson was to remain calm, stoic, and impenetrable. We also noted that, except for Senator Cory Booker, the Democrats failed to protect their president’s candidate. The Senate Judiciary Committee apparently valued decency more than Judge Jackson’s dignity.
