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Culture > Entertainment

Khloe Kardashian’s New Hairstyle Lands Her in Hot Water

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Olivia Singh

The Kardashians have been known to stir up drama within the entertainment world, whether it involves bold outfit choices or their views on feminism. In the past, the Kardashians have even been accused of cultural appropriation on several occasions. Both Kylie and Khloe were accused of cultural appropriation after being spotted with cornrows—but that’s not the only time Khloe’s style choices have landed her in hot water. 

There were also the times when she went to Dubai wearing a Niqab, wore a Native-American headdress, and donned traditional Arabian clothes. On each of these occasions, Khloe has been called out for wrongfully borrowing the traditions of other cultures. For many, the heart of the issue is that people like Khloe don’t seem to understand the cutlural significance of certain garments and hairstyles. 

Despite past incidents, it looks like Khloe still hasn’t learned that cultural appropriation is unacceptable. Or perhaps she genuinely isn’t aware that she sometimes offends particular cultures. Just this week, Khloe took to Instagram to show off a photo featuring her OOTD. 

 

I like this one better

A photo posted by Khloé (@khloekardashian) on

While her outfit looked perfectly acceptable, it was her hairstyle that outraged people. In the photo, she is seen sporting Bantu knots, a traditional hairstyle that was created by South African Zulu tribes. The knots themselves look cute, but they’re also used in order to achieve natural, loose waves later.

For most people, the outrage stems from the fact that Khloe previously uploaded the photo with the caption “Bantu babe,” before deleting and re-uploading the pic with a different caption. With her new caption, she failed to acknowledge the Bantu culture—leading some to post angry tweets and comments on Khloe’s social media. 

Since posting the photo, Khloe has yet to give a proper explanation, but she did tweet a few general comments in response to the backlash:

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Olivia Singh is currently a senior at Hunter College in New York City, majoring in Media Studies. Her concentration is Journalism and she is a Pop Culture Blogger for HerCampus.com. Music, movies, television, and pop culture in general are her areas of expertise. She’s that one friend who knows just about every detail of the latest news story in the entertainment world. Close friends rave about her storytelling skills, so she can only hope that other people will enjoy her writing as much as she enjoys telling a good story. When she isn't scrolling through her plethora of social media sites, she can be found cuddling with her cat, playing the piano, obsessing over boybands, or eating a cupcake.