Model Nyadak "Duckie" Thot isn't letting natural-hair bullies block her shine.
The 21-year-old from "Australia's Next Top Model" found herself in a firestorm last week when fellow model, Winnie Harlow, called her "cauliflower head" for wearing a natural ponytail in a Dinosaur Design fashion campaign.
Harlow later said that she wasn't directing the comment at Thot. However, Thot still used the shady incident to illuminate the ways Black women are mistreated in the fashion industry.
In an Instagram response, Thot pointed out some of the obstacles she's had to overcome as a Black model.
"I've never really had a good experience with my natural hair and modeling in Australia before," she wrote in her Instagram caption. "I remember on 'Top Model' on one of the episodes I had to cornrow my own hair. I was extremely upset and embarrassed that they 'didn't know how' to cornrow my natural hair when at the end of the day that's their job."
She told Teen Vogue that she felt "like a joke" on the show. "That experience definitely didn't make me feel confident," she said. "I felt like a joke during that whole scene to be honest, and I felt like that many other times during the show."
That's why Thot cared so much about wearing her natural hair in a fashion campaign.
"First and foremost, hair is an accessory and doesn't define a woman," she told Teen Vogue. "I've done all things possible with my hair for the industry — I've been skin-bald, shaved, cut with blonde hair, I've been fairy floss pink, I've tried and done everything possible for other people. What I've learned from all of this is that you need to step in being your complete self."
Thot said that changing her hair so much has helped her feel confident and sexy.
Yet Black models, including Thot, are still bullied for wearing their hair as it sprouts from their scalps.
"Being a Black woman, we haven't really been taught how to take care of our natural hair — we've only been taught how to hide it," she said. "I think hair companies, the media, hairstylists, and the industry itself are to blame. They haven't made the same efforts to ensure Black women are looked after in their most natural form."
Whether it's fielding shady comments or having hairstylists that don't know how to style natural hair, Black models constantly face an uphill battle.
For instance, model Jourdan Dunn tweeted her frustrations about makeup artists and hairstylists.
Even Naomi Campbell has encountered stylists and makeup artists who don't know how to properly take care of Black models.
"When I was younger, I encountered this same issue. I would be backstage at shows and there would be stylists who didn’t have any experience working with Black models," the iconic model told Teen Vogue in March. "It’s disappointing to hear that models of color are still encountering these same issues all these years later."
Despite these obstacles, Thot is committed to inspiring other Black women to embrace their natural beauty.
"You’ll always have people say negative things about you, or what you do. But, remember what people think about you doesn’t define you."
