#I hope I’m making sense. even tho Ariel’s hair is a mix of locs + straight + waves. it’s some of the best

[hinasho]

Something that really gets me is the simple fact that Ariel has locs.

It’s very recently that mainstream media portrays Black actresses with natural styles. And even then, those styles are usually the same ones: loose curls, box braids, maybe twists.

It is extremely rare for not only a female character to have locs, but for them to also be characterized as soft, delicate, and dainty. More often than not, female characters with locs are depicted as “rough” or “laidback”. If not high in masculinity, then simply uncaring of their appearance.

So for Ariel to have locs AND be framed as cute, as pretty, as sweet, just really hit for me. Because locs typically aren’t given to those kinds of characters. I saw a post on here that referred to Ariel’s hair as “pretty princess hair” and had to take a moment.