Willow Smith has been known to push some boundaries since making her musical debut back in 2010.
But the Emmy nominee hasn’t always been embraced for her avant-garde aesthetic and her authentic self-expression.
She revealed Tuesday on her family’s Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk that she and brother Jaden felt ‘shunned’ by the Black community over their defiance of gender norms.
Feeling shunned: Willow Smith revealed Tuesday on her family’s Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk that she and brother Jaden felt ‘shunned’ by the Black community over their defiance of gender norms
Too weird: The 19-year-old opened up: ‘Specifically with the African American community, I kind of felt like me and Jaden were shunned a little bit. “We’re not gonna take pride in them because they’re too different. They’re too weird”‘ (pictured in August, 2020)
The 19-year-old opened up: ‘Specifically with the African American community, I kind of felt like me and Jaden were shunned a little bit. “We’re not gonna take pride in them because they’re too different. They’re too weird.”‘
She added: ‘Even some of our family members, I would feel they thought, “You’re too different.”‘
It came in response to mom Jada Pinkett, 49, who opened up about her experience with mom-shaming, which was the topic of this week’s show.
Jada revealed: ‘Over the years, I have had my fair share of mom-shaming. With Willow, I think the first time I got hardcore criticism, when you first cut your hair, there was a firestorm.’
Family feud: She added: ‘Even some of our family members, I would feel they thought, “You’re too different”‘
Mom-shaming: It came in response to mom Jada Pinkett, 49, who opened up about her experience with mom-shaming, which was the topic of this week’s show
Firestorm of criticism: Jada revealed: ‘Over the years, I have had my fair share of mom-shaming. With Willow, I think the first time I got hardcore criticism, when you first cut your hair, there was a firestorm’
Willow and Jaden, 22, have long been known for their gender fluid presentations, Willow shaving her head and her brother opting for skirts on occasion.
She opened up about her sexuality last June in another Red Table Talk, telling Jada and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 66: ‘I love men and women equally, and so I would definitely want one man, one woman. I feel like I could be polyfidelitous with those two people.’
Polyfidelity is a form of non-monogamy, in which all members of the relationship are considered equal partners.
The Whip My Hair artist added: ‘I’m not the kind of person that is constantly looking for new sexual experiences.
‘I focus a lot on the emotional connection and I feel like if I were to find two people of different genders that I really connected with and we had a romantic and sexual connection, I don’t feel like I would feel the need to try to go find more.’
Gender expression: Willow and Jaden, 22, have long been known for their gender fluid presentations, Willow shaving her head and her brother opting for skirts on occasion (pictured in March, 2019)
Sexually fluid: She opened up about her sexuality last June: ‘I love men and women equally, and so I would definitely want one man, one woman. I feel like I could be polyfidelitous with those two people’
Androgynous chic: Jaden told Nylon in 2016 of his gender expression: ‘I’m going to take most of the blows for my fellow MSFTS. So, you know, in five years when a kid goes to school wearing a skirt, he won’t get beat up and kids won’t get mad at him’
Although Jaden hasn’t explicitly discussed his sexuality, he’s referred to Tyler, the Creator, 29, as his boyfriend in the past.
He also told Nylon in 2016 of his gender expression: ‘You just have to believe in yourself, you know. The world is going to keep bashing me for whatever I do, and I’m going to keep not caring. I’m going to keep doing the same things—I’m going to keep doing more things. I’m going to take most of the blows for my fellow MSFTS.
‘So, you know, in five years when a kid goes to school wearing a skirt, he won’t get beat up and kids won’t get mad at him. It just doesn’t matter. I’m taking the brunt of it so that later on, my kids and the next generations of kids will all think that certain things are normal that weren’t expected before my time.”
Willow and Jaden have been fortunate enough to have supportive parents in mom Jada Pinkett and dad Will Smith, 52, who frequently encourage their self-expression.
Supportive parents: Willow and Jaden have been fortunate enough to have supportive parents in mom Jada Pinkett and dad Will Smith, 52, who frequently encourage their self-expression (pictured in September, 2012)