Jada Pinkett Smith Opens Up About Her Hair Journey with Alopecia

Celebs have been showing off their natural inches of hair growth lately, but this actress is flaunting her baldness.

Red Table Talk host, Jada Pinkett Smith, recently discussed her journey with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that triggers partial or complete hair loss.

According to an interview with The Guardian, the actress shared how her disorder has been a “great teacher,” changing her expectations on her own beauty standards as a Black woman.

“It’s been a hard one, a scary one — because specifically as Black women, we identify so much of ourselves with our hair,” Pinkett Smith said. “And it was scary. I had to really dig deep and see the beauty of myself beyond my aesthetics.”

“When you get to my age, you get so settled in your skin, so comfortable in the knowingness of you, that you don’t get concerned about what other people have to say. The elders earn that,” she added.

As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Chris Rock received a stinging slap to the face from Will Smith during the Oscars last year after he joked about Pinkett Smith’s hair, saying, “Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” referencing Demi Moore‘s buzz cut in the 1997 film, G.I. Jane.

“I learned a lot about detachment,” Pinkett Smith continued in the interview with The Guardian. “And I learned a deeper beauty within myself, being able to let my hair go,” she said regarding her condition being brought to light following Rock’s Oscars joke.

“I see my younger self in her,” she said of her daughter. “She’s so fiery, so ready to go. Ready to take on the world. … Then, as you get older, you don’t hold on to that stage. You pass the torch and settle into your new understanding.”