“We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it’s like how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? If I teach her that I’m in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she’s going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world. She can’t cut my hair but that’s her hair. She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she’s going out with a command that it is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives.”
– I’m usually sort of ‘meh’ on Will Smith and the whole Smith family, but I am really impressed by this particular quote from him on letting daughter Willow cut her hair. There’s really something to be said for instilling a sense of body sovereignty and ownership when we’re young. I think it’s wonderful that Smith and his wife Jada have seen the importance in teaching this to their children, particularly their daughter, in ways that are appropriate and understandable for her age. I imagine this will only have a very positive effect on her as she becomes a woman and is up against the various ways in which people and society try to claim her body as their own. [Necole Bitchie.com]
