Webb on alopecia: 'It’s not my flaw, it’s my enhancement'

Sunday night's (March 27) Oscars brought to light the medical condition known as alopecia. 

In what will undoubtedly go down as one of this year's most shocking moments, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the latter poked fun of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia, or sudden hair loss.

Rock's "G.I. Jane 2" joke is in reference to Pinkett Smith's shaved head. 

Keshia Webb, a local hairstylist, also suffers from the same ailment, according to Houston NBC affiliate KPRC, which aired the Oscars.

KPRC reported that Webb assembled a collection of wigs to shield her condition, which lead toward her present career.

“What I was hiding from, I created a career, I became an extension specialist," she told the station. "I helped women hide like me."

Webb divulged that after experiencing shame and depression, she eventually accepted alopecia as a part of her.

“It’s not my flaw, it’s my enhancement," she said, according to KPRC. "It makes me – me."

According to the Mayo Clinic's website, genetics in terms of balding, age and stress are just some of the factors that determine someone's risk for alopecia.

Memorial Hermann Medical Group's Dr. Jennifer Ukwu told KPRC that 70 million people in the U.S. have the condition.

"What’s most commonly discussed is tension or traction alopecia, which occurs with tight hairstyles over time, and that one’s a little more treatable," Ukwu said, per the station. "Alopecia areata is actually an autoimmune form, there’s no cure."

Webb disapproved of Smith's attack on Rock, implying that the comedian, who formerly starred on Saturday Night Live about 30 years ago, was just doing his job making people laugh.

“I don’t think it did him any good," the hairstylist told KPRC. "I really don’t think that was the time to stand up for Jada."