Really? Olympic Gymnast Gabrielle Douglas Gets Twitter Hate Over Hair

“Flying Squirrel” Gabrielle Douglas, who continues to wow spectators with her riveting moves that contributed to her gymnastic team’s gold medal win, has been caught up in a firestorm. The controversy, though, has nothing to do with her brilliant performance at this year’s Olympics, but with her hairstyle, according to the Huffington Post.

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After Douglas’ big win, instead of congratulatory pats on the back, an onslaught of folks took to Twitter and complained about her hair looking unkempt:

Ebony ‏@EbonyKeira

In Olympic news, why hasn’t anyone tried to fix Gabby Douglas’ hair?

12:05 PM – 29 Jul 12 via Echofon · Details

C. Renée ‏@misDOScentavos

on another note, gabby douglas gotta do something with this hair! these clips and this brown gel residue aint [sic] it!

 7:46 PM – 27 Jul 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Details

 29 Jul  Maya Fantastic! ‏@thats_MYYlaneGabby Douglas need to tame the beady beads in the back of her hair lol

How could folks even focus on “nappy” edges when before them stands a young girl who has made her country proud by demonstrating her talent?

Shouldn’t Douglas’ hair be a non-issue?

Not long ago, the blogosphere went haywire, when a photoshopped picture of our First Lady Michelle Obama sporting a head of kinky curls hit the Internet.

The photo went viral.

After viewing the photo, viewers argued over whether Mrs. Obama should experiment with wearing her hair au naturale.

Ironically, Oprah Winfrey just took a public stance on her hair, revealing that it is now in its natural state.

The talk show maven proudly displays her tresses on the cover of the upcoming September issue of her magazine, O (pictured left).  Oprah says, that wearing her hair without straightening or blow-drying makes her feel unencumbered.   She also mentioned that she had at one point thought about chopping off her famous locks to wear it close-cropped like Bill Cosby‘s wife, Camille. Billreportedly convinced Oprah to put the kabosh on her plans to sport a short natural do: ”‘Don’t do it,’ he said. ‘You’ve got the wrong head shape and you’ll disappoint yourself.’ I took his advice,” she says.

But honestly, isn’t it time for certain Black people to get over their preoccupation with hair? It seems to me that folks who are focused on what is on Gabby’s head as opposed to what’s in it are shallow and misinformed.

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