Is hotel shampoo racist?
Recently I have seen a lot of complaints about hotel shampoo. From allergic reactions to added fragrance to outrage over wall mounted bottles. However today I heard a new complaint. That hotel shampoo is racist.
Yesterday, American singer Halsey posted a tweet about hotel shampoo:
I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color. I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo. Neither can 50% of ur customers. Annoying.
— h (@halsey) April 27, 2018
Full disclosure: I am white and I do not have much hair. But as I understand it, different hair types have different needs. I believe what Hasley is saying is that most shampoos provided by hotels to guests is geared more towards hair types mostly found in white people.
In America, black people face daily micro-aggressions that constantly remind them that they are the “other”. The same can be said for those with disabilities or those in the LGBTQ community.
Shampoo that does not work with your hair type (and the hair type of many members of a certain race) can be one of these micro-aggression. It is a small reminder that you are on the margins in our society.
Others on Twitter disagree. Maybe it is simply that the products are low quality and therefore don’t work as well on certain hair types. Instead of being racist, maybe it is just cheap.
im not pissed off you’re just literally making no sense…they’re not white hair products they’re just cheap hair products. why not tweet about the actual problems poc face instead of finding a race issue where their is none??
— depressed sack of lesbian shit (@funeraipyres) April 27, 2018
Orrrrrr the shampoo just isn’t great quality because it’s hotel shampoo, and the thicker your hair is, the worse the shampoo is. I have thick, curly hair also, and I’m white. This isn’t a race issue. I’m sure you can afford to buy some better shampoo. Annoying. https://t.co/x0CM6d2FEC
— Rose Laoutaris (@RoseLaoutaris) April 27, 2018
Still others just suggest that Halsey bring her own shampoo when she travels.
I truthfully don’t know a single person who uses hotel shampoo anyway. That shit is wack. Always bringing my own.
— flaMigos (@dwh1094) April 27, 2018
What do you think? Is it possible that the shampoo that hotels stock for their guests could be racist?