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Lupita Nyong’o's not impressed with how this mag altered her appearance on its latest cover

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So Lupita is on the cover of Grazia UK’s November 2017 issue showing off her shaved head, but there’s just one problem – she doesn’t actually have a shaved head. 

In a set of original images Lupita shared on her Instagram you can see the actress’s hair was actually styled in a low ponytail, but for some reason the mag decided to give her a Big Chop. 

Lupita was obviously disappointed and addressed the issue on her Instagram, saying: “As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too. Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are. 

“I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like. Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture. #dtmh”

I can understand Lupita’s disappointment. I mean why photoshop her hair of all things? Was her kinky ponytail not glam enough for a magazine cover? Was it ‘too black’? Was it a little too kroes?

This isn't the first time Lupita has been shamed for her hair. Remember the 2016 Met Gala where her hair was ridiculed and she was compared to Marge Simpson and a Dr Seuss character? 

Hair Inspiration. Check. @vernonfrancois @voguemagazine #metball2016

A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on

Natural hair has been shamed by many people for many years. It's only in recent years that the natural hair movement has become more popular and less attacked, but there is still a stigma attached when women decide to wear their hair without chemically treating it to make it straight.

We need to move past the idea that straight hair is the only acceptable hair type. And magazines altering a pretty famous black woman's hair to look more 'acceptable' is not going to get us there. 

Grazia UK has not yet commented on the cover.

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