June 20, 2013 Last Updated: 08:20 AM EDT

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Gabby Douglas Hair Debate Stirs Twitter Outrage After U.S. Gymnast Makes History

By Hannah Wong , FashionnStyle Reporter   |   Aug 02, 2012 08:55 PM EDT
Gabrielle Douglas
Gabrielle Douglas of the U.S. performs her floor exercise during the women's individual all-around gymnastics final in the North Greenwich Arena at the London 2012 Olympic Games August 2, 2012. (Photo : REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

Gabby Douglas’ hair is garnering much attention after the American gymnast made history with her powerful performances in the London Olympics 2012.

When the 16-year-old Gabrielle Douglas earned the second gold medal for the U.S. in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around final, the Twittersphere somehow decided to shower her with hair criticism, inevitably fueling even more backlash.

The “Flying Squirrel” of the U.S. won the gold for the individual all-around final Thursday.

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Douglas took the lead with the vault, wowed the audience with the height and precision in her performance on the uneven bars, showed off her unwavering spirit on the balance beam and finished with a powerful show-stopping floor routine.

Gabrielle Douglas thus became the third straight American to win gold medal in gymnastics, and is the first ever African-American Olympics all-around gold medalist.

 

But some Twitter users, perhaps not knowing what else to talk about, it was Gabby Douglas’ hair that bothered them.

Here are some Twitter messages:

“So for real though nobody wanted to go to London to do Gabby Douglas’ hair?” – Lumpy Space Princess

“Gabby Douglas is cute and all..but that hair……. on camera.” - Keishaun Limehouse

“I'm really gonna need Gabby Douglas to fix the strand of hair that is not pulled back in her clip” – alliekellen

“Gabby Douglas need to tame the beady beads in the back of herhair lol” - Maya Fantastic!

“I love how she’s doing her thing and winning,’’ 22-year-old Latisha Jenkins of Detroit told The Daily Beast.

“But I just hate the way her hair looks with all those pins and gel. I wish someone could have helped her make it look better since she’s being seen all over the world. She representing for black women everywhere.’’

 

Douglas certainly would not want to read headlines about her hair criticism after such a big win.

Whether inexcusable or not, there could be reasons why many rather focused on Gabby Douglas’ hair, says celebrity hairstylist Larry Simms

“It’s taboo culturally to be seen in public with a kinky hairline and your ponytail is straight,” Simms, who styles Mary J.Blige and Gabrielle Union, told the Beast.

“The textures don’t match her own hair and the added-on hair and that’s a problem. I think black girls in particular view her as a representation of themselves for the world to see. She just needs some Smooth and Shine gel and she’d be OK.’’

And yet, many Twitter users poured their outrage over the exaggeration of the trivial matter.

More tweets defending Gabby flowed into the social media site than those critical of her hair:

“Talking about Gabby Douglas’ Hair when shes competing in the Olympics, is like some1 talking about my socks when Im photographing Interiors” – Kenneth Hines Jr

“It's a shame that Gabby Douglas is the first African American to win those two gold medals and black ppl are just dogging her hair...smh” - Tayy Cole

“Gabby Douglas just made history, did more in 16 years then most have in their lives, and u wanna clown her hair?... -_____-” - AlphaMale Visuals

We just hope Douglas can smile past these nonsensical debates and continue to make history.

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