https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/37-clicks-stores-closed-in-five-provinces-as-eff-protests-rock-retailer-c664eeca-d776-40fd-accf-977f3c347a57

  • qublic69 [none/use name]
    1·
    4 years ago

    Also did you even read that tweet?

    In my view, the #Clicks case #BlackHairMatter,is a textbook case of unconscious bias. Calling it out is great but anarchy and violence undermine the cause. The best and most cerebral response I’ve seen so far is a video by young black women, among them my colleague @Diane_Gahiza

    Then Diane Gahiza's video is about body positivity, barely even mentions Clicks, does not focus on the ad that started it at all.

    On YouTube, searching "Clicks South Africa" posted in the last week >20 minutes, this is the second result I get: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c-qDESefc0
    He's a liberal/libertarian or something, but the point is: even Black guys think this is ridiculous and overblown.

    • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      That tweet is not from the creators of the video, but Thuli Madonsela, a judge that retweeted the video. If you listen to the end of the video they call out clicks by name. Now to be equally condescending, do you understand how retweets work, or to listen to the end of a video, instead of trying to get gotcha points on the internet. Also massive lol at linking the bigdaddyliberty channel, he's basically a South African Candice Owens and no one takes him fucking seriously. His opinion is no where near what most people think, stop trying to use his video as a gotcha. Also stop trying to explain events that are happening in my own country, it comes across as condescending. While I may not be a woman, I have friends that were forced to chemically straighten their hair in school and burned their scalp, and ended up having to leave the school because of it. They were incredibly offended by the advert given their personal experience with such things.

      • qublic69 [none/use name]
        1·
        4 years ago

        If you listen to the end of the video they call out clicks by name.

        I know, but that is one person in the entire complication, and mention once at the end ≠ focus on
        Which is the way it should be, Clicks and their ad does not really matter, but the wider attitudes do.

        he’s basically a South African Candice Owens and no one takes him fucking seriously

        Sure, I've never heard of him, but he's still the only one that seems to be discussing it at length on YouTube.
        Basically all the other long videos are product hauls...

        I have friends that were forced to chemically straighten their hair in school and burned their scalp,

        Which is terrible, but also not the product they were advertising in this case.
        Those hair straitening products are the cause of damaged hair.

        I guess it is fucked up that schools are forcing that damage, and then companies are profiting on it, but I'm not sure anyone is reading that far into it.

        They were incredibly offended by the advert given their personal experience with such things.

        Fair enough, I obviously can't argue with that.

        Edit:I'll probably shut up about this now.

        • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          :I’ll probably shut up about this now.

          Me too. Sorry if I come across as rude or mean, it's just when you know people personally who have been effected by all this it's different, you know? Again I apologize if I was an asshole, it's not my intention. :heart-sickle:

          • qublic69 [none/use name]
            1·
            4 years ago

            That is okay, you're not mean at all. And I rarely take things personally anyway.

            My entry point for this whole issue was just completely different.

            Because I have have wavy/curly blonde hair and deal with those same frizziness, damage, flat/dullness, fine/thin, issues.
            That often means buying shampoo and conditioner that is marketed mostly for Black women.

            And it is precisely women that want natural curly hair that talk about managing frizziness and the problems of hair damage due to straightening:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ50_b5DjfE
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr3uq3Xgj9k
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9NA_Tfa-Fk
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ0cxxztRIE
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llXd8bPDY4I
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSbRr5pDtJY
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZDTI_9krbg
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKIVG_BEDc
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyKEcvihhDo
            etc, etc, could easily find dozens if not hundreds more videos just like that.

            Often they cut their hair short first, then switch to a natural curly hair method; because most repeatedly straightened hair is too chemically/heat damaged to be saved.

            But that original image is not really even an advertisment, those were just screenshots from their mobile webpage.
            So that list probably contained many more items, like:
            "oily hair" , which is specifically a straight or short hair problem that often occurs along with acne.
            "color-treated hair" which again cannot use normal shampoo or conditioner because it washes out the paint.
            "dandruff hair", "hair extensions", "hair loss", "greying hair", or even "lice ridden hair" which is not a real category but still type of shampoo.

            I found only one public curly hair group talking about Clicks, they are from South Africa, and especially took offense to "normal hair", but not much of anything else.
            But those with "normal hair" can use basically any shampoo or conditioner without causing problems, that is practically how "normal hair" is defined.
            It is only people with any other hair type that should avoid those products because they contain harsh cleansers, solvents, silicone, etc, that cause frizziness.

            There are Black women with naturally straight hair too but they are relatively rare; if they used a picture like that many people would assume they were calling straightened hair 'normal' and become justifiably even more offended.

            Those pictures really just represent the dominant demographic that buys those types of hair products.
            They probably should have categorized their shampoo by hair types instead of hair problems; but who could really expect that to become a 'racism' issue?

            The vast majority of Clicks employees (besides its top layers of management) are Black women too.
            (see page 8: https://www.clicksgroup.co.za/assets/corporate-sustainability/2019/4-Clicks-SR-2019-Empowering-our-Employees.pdf)
            It would not surprise me at all if those two responsible employees they suspended were also Black women, or just random people in management or marketing suspended only as a PR stunt.

            That said, Clicks has done plenty more do deserve these protests against them:
            https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/covid-19-employees-level-serious-allegations-against-clicks-stores-47072301

            I just hope this forces their (majority White) upper management to change and become more representative of the actual workforce.
            Instead of just hurting workers with additional lost pay during the pandemic.

            The way it was all framed certainly looks racist, but... yeah... I have no idea what to finally make of this.

            Although, conspiracy theory, maybe that was the whole intent.
            What if she made those screenshots that way because Clicks is shit, and just wanted to burn them down.
            I honestly would have huge respect it if that was what really happened here. 10/10 agitprop skills.

            Oh well, I'm gonna go read that other thread where people disagree with me now. >_<