A Team Effort
It seems that Will also shares the same opinions and beliefs as the mother of his children. According to them, part of a girl having control over her body also comes with being able to change her body’s appearance because it belongs to her.
In a 2013 interview with Parade magazine, Will said: “When you have a little girl, it’s like, how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? She can’t cut my hair, but that’s her hair… She has got to have command of her body.”
Social Media Trolls
This time, the criticism was too much for Jada Smith, and she decided to use her strong presence on social media to make her case known. The loving mother wanted to remind the world that children have the right to change their appearance without having to fear for backlash and punishment from their parents.
She wrote on Facebook, “The question isn't why I would ‘LET’ Willow cut her hair. First, ‘LET’ must be challenged.”
Jada Stands Up For Daughter
This was quite personal for Jada, as she also faced judgment throughout most of her life. The mother continued, “This is a world where women [and] girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves – that their bodies are not their own nor their power or self-determination.
She continued with saying "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. Willow cut her hair because of her beauty, her value [and] her worth is not measured by the length of her hair.”
The Incident
While the Smiths strongly encourage and support their children throughout their many adventures and transitions, it was never easy, and sometimes extremely hard on the parents. Jada gave an example of a recent incident that nearly broke her during a discussion on her Red Table Talk Facebook show.
She often hosts various family members on the show, and this creates the perfect environment for them to open up and talk about very personal topics in a public setting.
Parents' Choices vs Kids' Choices
One day in 2018, Jada decided that it was time to put everything out on the (red) table. She invited both her children, Jaden and Willow, to participate in the episode. The goal was to try and talk as frankly as possible about their experience as a family, and contrast the children’s choices with how their parents felt throughout the years.
This led some very deep topics to emerge, including an incident involving Jaden that almost broke Jada to bits.