Women In SG Accused Of Dehumanising Singer Kelis For Touching Her Hair Without Consent
The 'Milkshake' singer had her personal space violated when she was in Chinatown, Singapore.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 28 Oct 2022, 02:10 PM
American 'Milkshake' singer Kelis was recently faced with a strange encounter when two women walked up to her back in Singapore and started caressing her hair without her permission
Stunned by their actions, Kelis posted a video of the incident on her Instagram page and it has since blown up on the Internet, with many netizens criticising the women for their dehumanising act
In the 25-second video she posted on 22 October, Kelis can be seen visually annoyed by the strangers' violation of her personal space as they chat among themselves while touching her hair.
When the woman in a yellow polo T-shirt asks whether the hair she is touching is Kelis' real hair, to which the woman in a black T-shirt answers, "I think so".
Based on the footage, both of them do not acknowledge Kelis as a person until the singer turns and grabs the hair of the woman in the black T-shirt.
"This is your hair?" asks the taller woman in Mandarin, before giving a thumbs up.
"That is so long," responds the woman in the yellow T-shirt as she grabs onto Kelis' braids.
Judging by their accents, it is believed that they are not locals.
"Just embrace it," says Kelis' friend filming the video, to which she sarcastically replies, "Oh, I like to be touched"
TODAY Online reported that the incident took place at a coffee shop in Chinatown, Singapore, and the women are believed to be the shop's employees.
Touching someone's hair, or any body part without their consent, is hugely disrespectful and rude.
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" is one of the most iconic lines in R&B music in 2003. Kelis is now 43 years old.
Image via iamkelis (YouTube)At the time of writing, the video has garnered over 33,000 likes and 4,400 comments
Many netizens lauded how Kelis handled the situation with grace and slammed the women for treating her hair as a subject in a "petting zoo".
Other netizens, who are believed to be people of colour and have experienced similar incidents, said the women's behaviour was an act of racism, adding that there is nothing funny about it.
Some people also commented that Kelis could have responded better, as allowing people to violate her boundaries only perpetuates that such behaviour is acceptable
Kelis said in the comments section that she felt the women were genuine in their admiration. She had also held back, partly because she was in a foreign country.
"First, I was caught off-guard," she wrote, adding, "Second, they were enamoured, as they should be."
"I don't like being touched and if we were in the (United) States or Europe, my reaction would have been different."
"Sometimes I have to remind myself, it's a lot to see if you have never seen [dreadlocks]."
"And whether it comes from racism, ignorance, love, or something else, it doesn't change who I am."
