Chloe Bailey: A Woman In Progress

We have all seen Ms. Chloe Bailey come into her own. A little while ago, she and her sister,

Halle, got separate Instagram accounts, after having a joint account for their group ChloexHalle.

Picture of Chloe Bailey comes from her Instagram

Since then, she has been at the forefront of everyone's mind. While Halle was filming for the “Little Mermaid” live-action film, Chloe was going viral every single time she did something. It started with the Instagram video of her in underwear and a long t-shirt. She was just having fun and being herself. And now, she’s licking microphones and lollipops, and moaning while singing. While some people are okay with it, it seems like most people get so upset at her about it. And that confused me for a while until I really sat and thought about it.

I think people are not used to seeing girls grow up to be women, and owning it. Our guardians didn’t want us to grow up too fast and be sexualized too fast out of protection. I was taught to be a woman, in terms of being mature, responsible, and self-sufficient. I wasn’t taught about my body or sexuality. Our mommas didn’t want us to be known as the “fast little girls” on the block. For as long as I could remember, I was taught wearing certain things made me “too grown.” I couldn’t wear certain clothes, nail colors, etc. But, at least for me, it stunted my growth. I was a late-bloomer. I definitely didn’t know about boys and kissing until I got to college, which is when I had my first real kiss. Even in the media, we don’t see young girls, Black girls specifically. In teen movies, young girls are played by twenty-somethings. Very rarely do we get to see a coming-of-age movie with Black girls. And if there is a Black girl, she is the best friend.

What Chloe is doing is experimenting. We all have had to figure out what it means to be a woman. Black womanhood is not the same for everyone. Some of us are more reserved and some of us will be more adventurous. But, because of respectability politics, we couldn’t be our full selves while we were growing up. Respectability politics, coined by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, is a set of beliefs holding that conformity to prescribed mainstream standards of appearance and behavior will protect a person who is part of a marginalized group, especially a Black person, from prejudices and systemic injustices.

Yes, her version of becoming a woman seems a bit exaggerated. I think she does the most sometimes. I think she should tone it down because the sexiness seems misplaced. For example, the “Feeling Good” performance was a lot. She performed her version of Nina Simone’s hit and… it was interesting. Let’s get this straight, I didn’t mind the cover. Nina Simone was a free-spirited, sexual woman. So, it wasn’t too out there. However, I think Chloe rolling on the floor and doing the splits did take away from the performance and the sexual nature of it seemed like a performance. I think about Megan Thee Stallion, right. Or even Normani. When they wear certain costumes or make more mature music, I don’t bat an eye. It seems on brand. Maybe that’s part of the issue. We have come to know Chloe as the more passionate half of ChloexHalle. But now, she doesn’t have her sister’s input to be compared to.

There are many changes happening at once and people can’t take it. But, how many of us did too much and now look back at some of our choices and say, “Yikes! I can’t believe I did that.” The only difference between us and Chloe is that she is doing it in front of the world and at the end of the day, people will never be happy. Before ChloexHalle’s album came out, when they were performing everywhere, people would compare Chloe and Halle. They said that Chloe should go solo. They would talk about Chloe’s body and said that they preferred Chloe over Halle. Now that she’s doing exactly what they wanted, everyone has a negative opinion.

As a fellow young, Black woman, I empathize with Chloe. Not for the same reasons, but as a young girl, I wasn’t able to grow up like other girls. And then in my early twenties, we both did our own version of wilding out. Chloe will come into her own. But, for now, she is a woman in progress.

Instagram photo of Chloe Bailey