Travis Kelce, white football player and beau of little-known pop musician Taylor Swift, sports the hottest hairstyle for men right now. So sayeth a writer at The New York Times, dubbing it the “Travis Kelce Hairdo.” The lighthearted piece has upset some people, naturally, because it’s an example of cultural appropriation, a totally real and not ridiculous modern sin.
Ameen Hudson, one half of the “Southside Rabbi” podcast, and Jemele Hill, an activist who masquerades as a sports journalist, both accused the writer, if not Kelce, of cultural appropriation. Both almost have a point, except for the fact that the style has its roots in the military cuts from the 1940s and 1950s, but let’s not let a little historical ignorance about the origins of the fade stand in the way of this truly important debate.
While fashion and rules around hairstyles for service members have evolved over the years, short has been the norm since World War I. Between World Wars I and II, Leo Wahl invented the electric clippers, which offered a new way of trimming hair in variable lengths. During World War II, given the advance in hair-cutting technology, the fade rose in popularity. Here’s one young man, one who gave his life in service, sporting the fade. Here’s another young man getting trimmed up in the field.
So, if we’re talking appropriation, well, the Times article may be getting closer to the truth than Hudson and Hill. Alas, there doesn’t seem to be a record of
