Beauty means “the quality of being physically attractive, according to the dictionary. But is that what it means to have beauty?
There are certain individuals that we automatically associate with being attractive, like Rihanna but adversely consider someone like Leslie Jones to be ugly. Beauty is a subjective view that varies with everyone, however their certain attributes that are considered beautiful and some that are considered ugly. Having a smaller nose, lighter skin, brighter eyes are related to having beauty. Having a bigger nose or lips, being of a darker tone, and “nappy” hair are related to being ugly. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the media has a great deal of influence when it comes to perception of what beauty is.
This bias is both conscious and subconscious. We all know the infamous “doll test” conducted by Mamie and Kenneth Clark, who were African American psychologists in the 1940’s. The couple studied children’s preference toward race using dolls as a medium. These dolls were identical in every aspect except skin color and hair. Invariably, when asked which doll they would prefer, the children all chose the lighter-toned doll. A similar experiment was conducted by a film student Kiri Davis in Harlem, where she went to a daycare to conduct the exact doll experiment. Out of the twenty-one African American kids in the experiment fifteen of them insisted that white dolls were more appealing than black dolls.
There was one question within the experiment that confirmed a potential for African American adolescents to view themselves in a negative way. One little girl was asked which one of the dolls look like her, and hesitation and reluctance the girl confirmed the black doll. What’s interesting about her selection was that the girl just previous claimed that the black doll was less appealing compared to the white. This is a result of the masses being heavily influenced by the media. An influence that has perpetrated even the youngest of minds. Ever since Africans were brought to this country in chains, there has been an initiative to teach them hate themselves to have better control them. Blacks were manipulated to believe that their beauty was secondary to that of white beauty.
Even though these norms were established during slavery, they still affect African Americans till this day. Eurocentric views categorize natural African features as unattractive and ugly. Thick lips and noses, kinky hair, and dark skin were all demonized to aid in discrediting the beauty of those with African blood. Now let’s consider “Light skin vs Dark skin” dynamic, it seems that African Americans of a lighter skin complexion are considered more desirable and accepted than someone of a darker tone. In an exercise to separate ourselves from their African roots, we tend to highlight other bloodlines such as Native American to bolster our racial worth.
To this day, some cultures continue to values lighter complexions due to their resemblance to their colonial conquerors. The preference is frequently seen in media; television, shows, movies, music videos, etc. There are even cultures in some countries that would value and even patronize certain people of lighter features because they closely resemble their colonial conquerors.
The origins of light skin preference over dark skin began during slavery in the plantations. Slave masters would often rape their female slaves and impregnate them. They are not oblivious that when one of the slaves are giving birth to a baby with lighter offspring that it their child. Since these children were of a lighter skin complexion because they had the blood of the “superior” race, they received preferential treatment amongst slaves. The combination of the inferiority associated with darker shade and the “acceptance” of those of a lighter shade have produced classism with the African American community.
There have been numerous attempts by African Americans to stray away their natural looks in pursuit of European features. There have been instances where mothers would pinch the noses of children/babies to avoid them from looking big and wide. Numerous forms of creams that would lighten your skin, even to go as far as putting bleach in your bath. I have fallen victim to this sense of inferiority based on my darker shade and purchased a variety of creams to be lighter. Over the years there has been an increase amongst African American men that go to plastic surgeons to improve their image. African American women spend so much time and money on perm and relaxers to straighten their hair, that combats their natural curls.
There are restrictions in our society that also put an incredible amount of pressure on African Americans to assimilate to a certain culture. When people are trying to find jobs in corporate America, there are certain hairstyles/appearances that are considered improper but are prevalent with African Americans. Having afros, cornrows, dreadlocks, braids, etc. are considered not up to par for a business like working environment. There are few willing to risk their livelihood to just maintain their natural looks and hairstyles. Because we must abandon aspects of ourselves to assimilate to society it makes it easier for us to deplore ours looks and adapt to something that is different from us. There is immense external pressure on blacks that have an adverse effect of how they perceive themselves.
My definition of Black beauty is an overall acceptance and love of one’s natural features regardless of skin tone, hair, nose, lips, size, and shape, and being independent of any comparisons or similarities to any other race or ethnicities. It is counterproductive to put down one race to elevate another. That is not the goal here. I am here to acknowledge that African Americans have been programmed to consider their appearance less than the standard, by Eurocentric propaganda since slavery. I am here to remind the girl who is constantly looking in the mirror wondering why can’t she look like her best friend who is of a lighter tone “YOU are beautiful!” I am here to remind the guy, who is sick and tired of being called “black” and “dark” “YOU are beautiful!” I am here to remind that little girl who hates her hair and wants it to be like the girls on TV, smooth and straight “YOU are beautiful!” Confidence is key, true beauty is embracing and loving yourself as you are. We must stop being influenced by the media’s standard of beauty, create our own, and love ourselves. Black beauty consists of self-awareness. It is being able to elevate ourselves and make incremental changes to our perception as well as the perception of those around us. We must stop obsessing over physical features and equating them to beauty, for it is more than skin deep. Let us regain our image and have that be our standard of beauty.
