Anti-racist and feminist activists considered an exercise in “aesthetic” and “psychological” gender violence the alleged joke that comedian Chris Rock made about actress Jada Picket Smith’s baldness, which prompted an angry reaction from her husband, also actor Will Smith, during the Oscar Awards ceremony.
“I started to cry when I saw the situation, because it is a very strong psychological violence and difficult to face”the Afro-Argentine dancer, performer, teacher and anti-racist activist Victoria Morante Núñez (37) told Télam.
“It also moved me a lot because I have alopecia areata, the same one that Jada Picket Smith suffers from, and I had to do a very strong acceptance job to be able to continue with my life,” said the also feminist activist who is He lost his hair five years ago.
Alopecia areata involves the sudden loss of hair in sectors of the head without an obvious cause, but which may be due to a general skin or systemic disorder. The hair, in these cases, is lost in areas or sectors that can be of irregular formats.
For her part, the Afro-Venezuelan sociologist and writer Esther Pineda (36) reflected on her social networks that “As always, attention and protagonism was reduced to men and the violence between them” while “what Jada thought and felt about this aggression, what millions of women think and feel every day in the face of the aggressions they suffer as a result of beauty stereotypes, remains invisible.”
During a fragment of the delivery of the Oscars that he was in charge of, the actor Chris Rock looked among the attendees for the actress Jada Picket -African-American like him- to tell her from the stage: “Jada, I love you… GI Jane 2 , I can’t wait to see it”, alluding to the film starring Demi Moore in 1997, in which she shaved her head to enter the US Navy.
Immediately the cameras settled on Jada’s face, who made a face of disgust, and from then on they followed her husband Will Smith, who got up from his seat in a rage to slap the presenter. “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth!” he yelled at her twice after getting back in his seat.
“What Jada thought and felt about this attack, what millions of women think and feel every day in the face of the attacks they suffer as a result of beauty stereotypes, remains invisible”Esther Pineda
For Morante Núñez, the episode is an example of how “the need to sustain the show” often serves as an excuse for “violent practices”, in this case, “exposing Will Smith’s wife gratuitously, without any need” to point out his distance from the mandates of hegemonic beauty.
“These practices are installed in the culture and are the product of the fact that we are traversed by voracious capitalism, which implies thinking of the other as an object, from consumption and appearance,” he said.
In that context, the aesthetic industry exerts strong pressure “so that you look a certain way” that suits their commercial interests, and encourages the permanence of “stereotypes” to which “they will want you to respond all the time. I am not business for any shampoo manufacturer,” he reflected.
But the curious looks and inappropriate comments did not begin for Victoria when she became bald, but much earlier, when her hair was seen as a symbol of foreignness or exoticism.
Actor Will Smith had an awkward crossover with comedian Chris Rock during the ceremony that included a slap in the face and an insult for a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. pic.twitter.com/M1kiUqYptd
—Telam Agency (@TelamAgency) March 28, 2022
“When I had hair, they drove me crazy asking me where I was from and I advertised for my curls, and now that I have no hair, the gaze is set on the fact that I have no hair and millions of times people with cancer have approached me to shake my hand or hug me,” he said.
On the other hand, Morante reflected that although it is more frequent in men, in them “it is more accepted”.
Regarding Will Smith’s also violent reaction, he stated that “I cannot question it other than delving deeper into the life situation that his wife is going through, which I think has to be the focus.”
“She made a gesture with her face, she didn’t like the comment. She could have done something more, but violent situations leave you unable to react at the moment, in shock. And if she had stood up or said something, surely that would have been undermined once again by what he was wearing,” he said.
The young woman also considered that the episode also shows that “The Oscars are organized with a patriarchal criterion”permeable not only to sexist jokes but also to “underhanded” racism.
“Surely, the writer said: – This joke could not be made by a white man, and he put it for Chris Rock to say. And racism continues to be recreated internally because an afro man is attacking an afro woman and another afro man comes out to defend it, while the conflict is being observed by the ‘settler’, in some way,” he said.
“This is a clear example of how beauty has been built and erected as a social value, no matter if you have fame or not, if you have financial resources or not, if you have media access and visibility or not; if you are a woman, and more. even a black woman, you are always being judged and exposed to being violated for your physical appearance”Esther Pineda
In that sense, Esther Pineda recalled that Chris Rock “produced the documentary ‘Good hair’ in 2009 and knows very well the importance of hair for black women in the context of racism and the industry that has developed around to this one” for which It is not ignorance that led him to “return once again to the anachronistic resource of ‘comedy’ of making fun of people’s physique and exercise aesthetic violence in front of hundreds of colleagues and millions of viewers”
“This is a clear example of how beauty has been built and erected as a social value, no matter if you have fame or not, if you have financial resources or not, if you have media access and visibility or not; if you are a woman, and more. even a black woman, you are always being judged and exposed to being violated for your physical appearance if for some reason you do not respond to the expectation of beauty that has been built for you, “he said.
Finally, he questioned that “despite the seriousness of this fact and the persistence of this narrative, the academy did not rule on Chris Rock’s aggression against Jada” but condemned “violence” in general“and the media only review what happened between the two men. The woman is barely named as ‘the apple of discord'”.
The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 28, 2022
Meanwhile, the Oscar winner for best actor took advantage of his speech to apologize at the same ceremony with the Hollywood Academy but not with Rock. Through tears, he said that “sometimes love makes you do crazy things” and condemned “those who disrespect”.
“Perhaps I would not have made Will’s decision, but I understand his fury and the defense he felt towards his partner. I would have left him exposed in public because based on the show and the stupid joke of the show, it does not matter who is offended , is hurt or ridiculed. Tolerance for mistreatment and violence should be zero,” Sandra Chagas, an Afro-descendant and anti-racist, feminist and lesbian activist, told Télam.
