The London Olympics are dominating my tv and, like many others, the gymnastics competition is one of my favorite events. I remember watching Kerri Strugg in the 1996 games vault her way into America’s admiration. These girls devote their lives to the sport and pour their heart and soul into the dream of being an Olympian.

Gabby Douglas was on the lips of everyone on various social media sites after her victory. Unfortunately, the attention wasn’t all centered around her individual gold medal in the all-around event or helping the United States win the team competition. (FYI – This has been the first team gold in gymnastics since that 1996 Magnificent Seven win.) People were focused on complaining about her hair. Seriously.

The girl had been flying through the air, whipping across uneven bars and sprinting across the floor to vault her body into the heavens while flipping and landing on both feet with a smile. She competed against the best in the world and come out on top…yet people are complaining about her hairdo?! She deserves better.

African American hair is already a touchy subject in most cases. I think her short do’ clipped in place is far more attractive than the shellacked and sprinkled standard that appears almost painfully tight tails. It’s refreshing and real. I have to work with the opposite problem of super thin tresses that break just looking at them. I find myself envious of the thick locks. I don’t think anyone is particularly genuinely perfectly happy with their hair. We all find things to nitpick on a daily basis. Lets just remember what is really important at the end of the day.

I think Mikki Taylor, beauty and cover editor for Essence, put it best…

“Good hair now is healthy hair. When will our hair cease to be political? Every other group of women can do what they want with their hair, and it’s not seen as making a statement. We’re over that, and we wish everyone else would be over it, too.”