Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg, 16, took to Twitter on Sunday evening, July 12, to wax philosophical on cultural appropriation and gender double standards, just one day after she made headlines for her Instagram feud with Kylie Jenner.
Stenberg, who previously discussed the matter in her "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows" video, first made her voice heard by commenting on a photo that Jenner, 17, posted of herself sporting cornrows. She wrote, "When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter."
After Jenner brushed off her comments, suggesting that she go hang out with Jaden Smith instead, Stenberg penned a longer cultural criticism, tweeting the block of text in the late hours of Sunday evening and adding, "words by me."
"Black features are beautiful," Stenberg begins in the note. "Black women are not. White women are paragons of virtue and desire. Black women are objects of fetishism and brutality. This, at least, seems to be the mentality surrounding black femininity and beauty in a society built upon eurocentric beauty standards."
words by me pic.twitter.com/g0HapkvfAt
— Amandla Stenberg (@amandlastenberg) July 13, 2015
"While white women are praised for altering their bodies, plumping their lips and tanning their skin, black women are shamed although the same features exist on them naturally," the young star continued. "This double standard is one string in the netting that surrounds black female sexuality — a web that entraps black women when they claim sexual agency. Deeply ingrained into culture is the notion that black female bodies, at the intersect of oppression, are less than human and therefore unattractive."
As Stenberg wrote her thoughts on the issue, Jenner seemed unaffected by the feud in the subsequent hours. The youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner family went on to share a photo of a lineup of designer shoes she had recently purchased, a shot of herself shopping, a paparazzi photo of herself out and about, a photo of her shoes and handbag in front of a car, and a video of herself saying goodnight to Instagram.
