15 Comments Add your own

• 1. Sabina  |  April 30th, 2008 at 4:17 am

  I’m Caucasian but all I can say is that dark skinned women are very beautiful, having such a nice color, they tend to have less visible imperfections and well… in my opinion they are generally prettier. My point is that how can people be ashamed of being darker than others, I’m jealous of their beautiful dark skin! White people literally die to have tans when these people are born with skin better than tanned!

• 2. Anonymous  |  May 1st, 2008 at 7:14 am

  During slavery, the light skinned blacks lived in the house with the slave master. The dark skinned blacks worked the cotton fields. This tradition still affects the mind set of many African Americans today. This has left dark skinned blacks feeling ugly even when they are beautiful.

• 3. Jennifer  |  May 1st, 2008 at 10:18 am

  Tyra actually got the show topic from an article in Ebony magazine in the February 2008 issue (downloadable from ebonyjet.com).

  I’m sure this issue does have its foundation in slavery — it makes sense. But shall we (all) overcome some day? I truly hope so. And I hope black women can learn to stop judging each other by the color of their skin. Does it take time, or revolutionary refusal to discuss skin color?

  Jennifer

• 4. Nicest Girl  |  May 5th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

  I am light-skinned having been the product of an inter-racial marriage. I was once told that I was the “sexy kind of black” (a few years ago when I was 19) and I was really taken aback by the comment. Like… what is the “non-sexy kind of black” exactly?
  I call myself the “affirmative action friend” or “affirmative action employee” in a joking way because it seems as though I am constantly surrounded by white people, the majority of which have pretty strong stereotypical views of black people. It’s almost like I’m the first step before they venture out to meet non-whites.

  Anyway, I would agree that I have had it easier than some of darker skinned black people that I know. #1. because I am mixed and, #2. because I have light skin. But I also grew up in white neighborhoods and white towns so I really can’t speak for any black people who have grown up in areas where the majority of the people shared their skin color. There is a clear sense of… discrimination though. Even amongst black people from what I have seen.

• 5. Guilaine  |  May 5th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

  I am a French Black woman from African origins and I am sick and tired of seing the skin tone debate simplistically portrayed as (in a nutshell) in the mind of Blacks : ligher skin =whiter =superiority and/or beauty.

  I believe it is not that simple and that such sweeping generalisations ,often without any solid empirical evidence, is a form of racism and possibly projection.

  I accept that in the mind of many brainwashed and formally colonised or enslaved non-white people who have internalised european standards of beauty (which let’s not forget have been imposed on virtually everyone for centuries) ,being of a lighter skin completion equates (consciously or not)being closer to the white race and therefore being more beautiful.

  If I say Black people want to be white and hence lighten their skin and straighten their hair, it seems to be accepted as a god given truth.

  But if I say White people want to be black and hence have lip and buttocks implants , most would question the reasoning and mention other factors such as fashion …

  This to me smacks of bigotry and hypocrisy.
  To contend that ALL those who look at lighter skinned women as more beautiful have some kind of racial inferiority complex is just as questionnable as freud’s concept of “penis envy” in women .

  Beauty is cultural and is more than the sum of the feautures of a person . It encompass grace and presence ,charisma and in my view authenticity .

  Lasly I find the expression “dirty laundry” patronising and unhelpful. Race , racism and thus racialised ideas of beauty and inferorioty /superiority are difficult topics in most communities and to assume that black people may not want to speak about the issues ,as it would mean washing some dirty laundry in pupbic is both patronising and insensitive.

  Lets remind ourself that issues of race in America is EVERYONE’s dirty laundry.

  Incidentally ,I find the model beautify and would still find her beautiful if she had “kinkier” hair or a broder nose.

• 6. Jennifer  |  May 5th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

  Guilaine and Nicest Girl, thanks for sharing your perspectives!

  Guilaine, just to clarify, “dirty laundry” wasn’t my term, it was Tyra’s. I definitely can’t assume that black women are always ashamed to talk about their community’s problems.

  Jennifer
  About-Face

• 7. Guilaine  |  May 6th, 2008 at 11:53 am

  Jennifer , every community should own up to complexities of race , racism and colorism,
  These are not solely ” the black community ” ‘ issues…
  I think you may have missed the point there again.

  All the best.

  Guilaine

• 8. Anon  |  May 7th, 2008 at 6:54 am

  Thanks for addressing this issue.

• 9. diane  |  May 7th, 2008 at 7:39 am

  I’m black and light(yellow)skin,light skin blacks don’t have it easier.I had lived in Philadelphia(7th poorest US city,blacks are the majority)for many years.In Philadelphia many brown and dark skin black young adults prefer brown and dark skin blacks.I lived in cities that weren’t like this.My light(yellow)skin and my brown skin black young adult cousins lived in some zipcodes in Philly that have many sex offenders and none of the black would date my light skin cousin and many black men wanted to date my brown skin cousin.There are few light(yellow) skin and brown or dark skin black young adult couples in Philly.

• 10. Delia  |  May 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

  I grew up in Nigeria (Africa) and being dark skinned, i noticed that some people there still refer to light skinned girls as being “beautiful” , “hot” etc while the dark skinned ones are not all that.
  However, some other people hold the opinion that the dark skinned ones are the true beauties.
  Now that i live in the US, it seems to be more of an issue here than in Africa. So it is not just the mentality after slavery, but really is a result of what the media promotes all over the world.
  What i believe is people can be beautiful no matter what color they are. It’s about your self esteem. There are obstacles no matter your color and people are entitled to their preferences.
  I like dark and light skinned brothers, and admire both dark or light skinned girls, depending on their style.

• 11. Samantha  |  May 7th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

  I am caucasian and I was born in Brazil. My ancestors were dark skinned (my grandfather was a product of a ‘interracial’ marriage). I am very white, it is impossible to believe that some of my ancestors came from Africa.
  Well, I see that in Brazil some afro-brazilians like to marry caucasian women (and vice versa) in order to have children with light skin. This is so ridiculous and sad. I think it was what happenned in my family, that’s the reason why I have a pale skin. Some families even try to hide the african ancestors (thanks God it is not the case of my family, I always had a wonderful relationship with my grandfather and we are only apart now, because he passed away).
  People must learn multiculturality, must respect the differences nature make… there are so many kinds of beauty! From Oprah Winfrey (she is a diva for me) to Gisele Bundchen (this one will never represent brazilian women, because only a little part of us look like her).

  One thing I’d like to commed is about the hair. The media created a pattern, where all women must have a blond hair and not dark or curly, or african. This is so sad. I see beautiful african descendant woman dying their hair in blond and removing all the curly. Why do Beyoncee have to make that with her hair? Tyra Banks too…

  I think everybody is free to do what they want to with their appearance, but in my opinion, natural beauty should be more valored.

  Sorry my english mistakes.

• 12. Maggie  |  May 10th, 2008 at 6:18 am

  Several years ago when I was in my teens my sister married an Indian guy. I became very interested in Indian culture and read all I could about it. I was surprised to learn how in ancient Indian literature fair skin is praised and prized. This preference was prevalent in Asian countries ever before Europeans had dominance. In olden days Japanese women blackened their teeth in order to make their skin look whiter. Even today geishas paint their faces white. I think preference for pale skin is to do with class more than any negative influence from Europeans. The poor in all countries worked outside and therefore would be sunburnt and darker skinned than their rich overlords. Pale skin was a symbol of wealth and therefore something to be desired. This thinking has become so ingrained that it continues to this day, senseless though it is. Not every problem in the world can be laid at the feet of whitey.

• 13. tepo  |  May 13th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

  i am a purely African girl who have long rejected straight hair from as early as 10 years old. my mother was braiding me and i ran away because it was so painful and i could not understand why i was being punished just to have long hair. later that evening i came home and simply asked my mom to shave my head. reluctantly she did. it was 1997. for nine years i had very short hair and many terned me a tom boy because i did not want to have long”girlish” straight hair. in 2006 tired of this short hair my mum suggested i do something with my hair. we had a long talk because i did not want straight hair. so i settled for dreadlocks…

  last year i did an internship in one company and my supervisor, black lie me and a Motswana, asked me how long i intended to stay with my kind of hair, i said forever. she was quick to judge to say that my hair style is inappropriate for women, (apparently her long straight hair is). i just laughed at her misguided comment.

  my point is i fail to understand why we have to lose our kinky and beautiful afros in the name of being fully women. what is that anyway, who set the standard. why do we have to go through such a painful, expensive and dangerous process of applying chemicals in our heads. to make matters worse i constantly see African men with this long straight hair. geez….

  influential people like Oprah,Tyra, Beyonce and all these celebs are just not true to what they preach. they never stop talking about black this and Africa that..lets be proud of who we are but they have these ridiculous long weaves and are always like”my hair this my hair that.” i look and wander which hair are they talking about? i have never seen an African descendant with that a long shoulder length hair(brown, blond or whatever color).

  i also had an amazing opportunity to come for study abroad in USA for a year, which am finishing in a month and gladly going back to Bots…. anyway i was shocked to find out that 7 out of 10 black guys in the college i am attending only date white ladies, and they proudly say it. to my surprise which i find very hypocritical and counter what they teach..they are the very people who run the black student organization and who never forget to remind people that they are black. i am not saying there is anything wrong with dating cross culturally but there is something wrong with i date only white women,more especially if you are black. to me its like saying the black sisters are lacking something that the white sisters have.

  i am not going to portray us, black women, as vulnerable helpless people and say that because of men and the media some of us choose all these dangerous procedures to have straight hair let alone burn their faces with chemicals to look white. no, its individual choice.

  i look around and try to figure out what is all this obsession with being lighter or having long straight hair. does it make anyone happier, any better than me with my not so called inappropriate locks or my dark skin color. no i have not seen none of that. people should start appreciating themselves as they are.

  I WILL NEVER EVER HAVE STRAIGHT HAIR…MY LOCKS ARE FOR LIFE

  any errors..don’t worry i am very fluent on my native language.

• 14. Jennifer  |  May 14th, 2008 at 9:53 am

  tepo, I’m so glad you wrote. And to the other women who are not in the U.S., I’m so glad to hear your stories. It’s amazing how we (the U.S.) export our culture so much that you are watching Tyra and Oprah too (or are you watching it while you’re in the U.S.?). It just seems wrong.

  Keep those locks tepo, no matter what anyone says!

  Jennifer

• 15. Samantha  |  May 15th, 2008 at 5:46 am

  I loved the message that tepo left!
  Keep those locks tepo, no matter what anyone says! [2]

  I believe in diversity! Everybody must love themselves, the way nature made us! I believe that we must be happy!

  A little more about Brazil: in our last census, it was reported that more than 50% of our population consider themselves as afro brazilians. It’s believed that more than 80% of people have african ancestors. We also have some european ancestors (maily portuguese) and native brazilian. In some small colonies and cities, there was German imigration and geographic and cultural barries prevented for many years the mix of ‘races’. (I dont like the term ‘race’). From one of these “german cities” came Gisele Bundchen.

  So, the average brazilian woman hair is brown and not straight (as my hair is). Chemical procedures are quite popular here! Many women, ffrom many social origins (riches or poors) make these procedures to have a straight hair. Also, they like to dye their hairs, to make it blond. I live in São Paulo, a big city, and in the subway I see many blond women and I believe 90% of them are non-natural blondes.

  In the past, women wanted to be like Sonia Braga (she is really Brazilian!). Sonia Braga, when young, had a natural beauty, a natural curly hair, a natural skin (product of portuguese+native+african origins). Now, woman here want to be like Gisele and others that had so many cosmetic surgeries and other procedures that don’t even look like real women.

  For me, that’s a pity. They’re losing their identities in order to look like someone else.

  Girls, I’d be happy if you add me in your msn’s. I’d improve a lot my english and I’d like to discuss these themes. I love this website and It is so nice to have such intelligent women to talk!
  samanthansm@hotmail.com

Leave a Comment

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed