Tag: Hotels

It’s no secret most hotel toiletries are far from a luxury amenity. One tiny body wash bottle is about enough to clean your right elbow. But as Halsey pointed out on Twitter late Thursday evening, the shampoo and conditioner options available in hotel bathrooms aren’t just inconvenient for many women of color—they’re unusable. “I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color,” she wrote. “I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo. Neither can 50% of ur customers. Annoying.”

This, apparently, sent Twitter into a tizzy. And when fans responded with complaints—saying she was “one of those white people” trying to virtue signal, among other things—Halsey went on to defend her position, as well as clarify that she’s biracial (her dad is black and her mom is white). It isn’t the first time she’s addressed having to deal with people who don’t know her race either. “I’m white-passing. I’ve accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that’s not mine,” she told Playboy in 2017. “I’m proud to be in a biracial family, I’m proud of who I am, and I’m proud of my hair.”

In her Twitter thread, Halsey also acknowledged that, as a celebrity, she’s in a position of privilege to speak up for people who might not otherwise have a voice—or the money to buy their own shampoo while traveling. “I’m fortunate enough to be financially in a position to do so, but POC traveling frequently for work/medical reasons might not be,” she wrote in response to someone who told her to just bring her own shampoo. “Just making a point is all!”

Some pointed out that, in general, hotel shampoo is pretty garbage. “As a person with 4C hair I don’t travel without all my hair care products. Like why would I want to use some cheap shit from the dollar tree. And no hotels don’t need to cater to my hair I’m paying for the room bed sheets and towels,” wrote one user. Many came to Halsey’s defense, however, spurring a vibrant discussion about privilege. “We’re not all millionaires, yet we all do stay at hotels and would appreciate if the shampoo didn’t turn our hair into Brillo pads,” wrote another Twitter user.

“Who knew me acknowledging that white hair care products are the national standard (while POC are confined to a tiny aisle) would piss so many people off. Not sorry,” added Halsey. The point, she said, is that the current standard for hotel toiletries highlights a greater issue of disenfranchisement for marginalized communities. “If white ppl can enjoy the luxury/convenience, there should be an option for everyone to. Its an ‘insignificant’ example of a bigger problem. That’s all!” she wrote [all sic].

Halsey concluded her thread with a re-tweet: “She’s not saying it to start riots or some shit,” wrote a fan. “You need to remember this is one of the many small things that POC go through that makes them feel like we don’t matter enough to be catered to. It’s a microaggression.”

You can read the full thread below:

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989680930926166016

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989682108573536256

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989682383820541952

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989684220971765760

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989853291591811072

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989854625242038272

https://twitter.com/halsey/status/989858526150381569

Related Stories:
–Halsey’s Powerful Women’s March Poem Was Raw, Honest, and Almost Too Relatable
–I Ruined My Great Hair Trying to Have ‘Good Hair’
–The Best Curly Hair Products of 2018

Source link