Just a couple of weeks ago, Jinger Duggar was mom-shamed for making her baby wear gloves, which fans believe will hinder Felicity’s motor development.
This time, however, they’re getting parent-shamed for something else.
Are Jinger and Jeremy guilty of cultural appropriation?
Felicity and Jeremy shared this sweet photo on Instagram.
The parents captioned it: “Took Felicity out to the @cubs game.”
Felicity’s hands are once again entombed within mittens, which her parents put on her to keep her from scratching her face with her sharp nails.
That was not the primary focus of the mom-shamers this time.
This time, the concern is over a couple of things — first and foremost, that head wrap. Is it cultural appropriation?
“This is racism,” wrote one commenter very bluntly.
Another wrote that putting Felicity in the hair wrap was a “microaggression.”
A microaggression, folks, is a subtle jab against marginalized people that they experience every day.
(Like asking an American of Asian descent where they’re from, and not being satisfied with an answer like “Virginia”)
Some also shamed the parents for taking Felicity to a loud public space, but that took a backseat to the head wrap.
(Here is Khloe’s daughter, True Thompson, for comparison, since a fan brought it up)
When one fan asked why it’s okay for Khloe Kardashian’s baby True to wear one, another fan explained.
“The difference is,” the other fan wrote of Khloe. “Her baby is African American and entitled to wear one.”
Another just thought that it wasn’t fashionable, and wrote: “I really think a French beret is more baby appropriate and fashionable.”
It looks plenty stylish, but the appropriateness of it is in question.
Some fans rose to Jinger and Jeremy’s defense.
“Women of many cultures wear head wraps,” wrote one. “There nothing specifically African-American about it.”
That same commenter even cites an example: “Rosie the Riveter had a head wrap.”
“I think the baby looks adorable,” another writes. “Nothing to do with race. chill out people.”
“I hope you do not listen to these negative people,” that fan continues. “What is the problem that head was cover and she looks great.”
“They are not the problem you are reading into it more than needed,” the commenter claims. “Fashion is for everyone.”
Cultural appropriation is a complex subject, in part because a lot of people don’t realize when they’re doing it.
What’s more is that there can be real debate, even within marginalized communities, over what is and is not appropriation.
African head wraps are from sub-saharan Africa and predate the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In fact, head wraps were one of the few cultural symbols that African slaves were able to take with them to the Caribbean and to North America.
Unfortunately, some slave owners would force slaves to wear head wraps, which turned this cultural symbol into a symbol of oppression.
It is only in relatively recent decades that the natural hair movement has begun to reclaim the head wrap for black women in America.
As we said, this is such a complex subject. We are certainly not qualified to be the arbiters of what is and is not appropriation.
We will say that it’s definitely true that multiple cultures have used head wraps.
We tend to believe that claiming something as one’s own — for example, having a bunch of mostly white runway models wear hair wraps — would be appropriation.
Putting a baby in a stylish hair wrap, on the other hand? That seems a lot more benign.
Quite frankly, it’s kind of nice to think that any members of the Duggar family are willing to learn from any other cultures.
