Child actress and singer Willow Smith was under criticism for trying out a new hair style, shaving off her hair completely in February.
The media attacked her and her parents Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, describing the action as "daring", and the hair style as "craziest" and "dramatic".
Willow's parents kept silent about the whole episode. Months have passed after the issue and now Pinket Smith has come forward, giving an explanation for her decision to support her daughter's wish.
"This subject is old but I have never answered it in its entirety. And even with this post it will remain incomplete," the 41-year-old mother wrote on her Facebook page Nov. 21. "The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women,girls are constantly reminded that they don't belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain."
Pinkett Smith who first met Will in 1990, started dating him in 1995. The couple tied the knot in 1997. They have two children, son Jaden Christopher Syre and daughter Willow Camille Reign. Willow, who made her acting debut with the film "I am Legend" with her father in 2007, has grabbed the Young Artist Award for her performance. She proved her singing skills by releasing singles "Whip My Hair" and "21st Century Girl."
"Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It's also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother's deepest insecurities, hopes and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be," Pinkett explained.
Her husband, the 44-year-old "In Pursuit of Happiness" star, worried about the hair controversy, revealed similar concepts in May.
"When you have a little girl, it's like how can you teach her that you're in control of her body? If I teach her that I'm in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she's going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world," Will told Us Weekly. "She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she's going out with a command that is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives."
Willow also revealed her state of mind through her 2012 single, "I Am Me."
"Days pass I'm trying to find who I really am. I've been looking people don't like the way I dress," Us Weekly quoted the young singer's lines. "I dyed my hair and it's not just vanity. Your validation is not that important to me."
