Racism within ones own race might seem to be a nonsensical concept. Still, it exists as a quiet part of the perception of beauty in the black community. There is a hushed hierarchy that pits light skin against dark, the lighter being held in an esteemed place of admiration. Looking at popular entertainment, fair skinned black women dominate the media spotlight more often than their darker counterparts. Classically, this type of discrimination would be looked at as a marker of institutionalized racism. The blame would fall heavily on the shoulders of the prejudiced views held outside the black community that perpetuate it. However, this is an internalized prejudice shared by the very people it oppresses.
Facebook has become a staple of youth socialization and identification. It’s rare to find a young person who isn’t heavily enmeshed in its use. It’s appalling to see the number of young black girls who have chosen to reference their light skin tone as part of their online moniker. Type ‘light skin’ into Facebook and you’ll see dozens of young black girls with names like ‘light&sexy1’, ‘lightbarbie’, or just plain ‘light skin- insert name here.’ Lurking under these playful names lives a fear of being identified as unattractive to others. A fear of not living up to the North American standard of beauty that endorses white women with long flowing hair as the ideal. Changing that standard requires pride in one’s race, not acquiescence to the standard rule. Agreeing with the stringent cannon is a form of participating in the discrimination. Prominent African- Americans like the Obama’s or Oprah provide an example to youth of what they can accomplish, but little has changed in reference to the aesthetic identity of the black woman. Lighter skin and longer hair are widely considered to be more desirable than darker skin and an afro.
In 1940, African- American sociologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark published groundbreaking work from experiments and research they conducted on black youth. Their work figured prominently into the desegregation of schools at the time. Using identical dolls that differed only in their skin tone, they gauged young black children’s perceptions about their race and appearance. The findings were astonishing and at the same time heart breaking. Most of the black children only wanted to play with the white doll, referring to it as “good” and “pretty” while they perceived the black doll to be “bad” and “ugly.” When they were asked which doll was most like them, the majority of the children picked the white. At that time there was no identification between them and the doll coloured in their own tone because they didn’t want to feel negatively about themselves in the way they did about their race. Earlier this year ABC decided to reproduce portions of the experiment to ascertain the potential difference time and progress could make to the results. The male children passed with flying colours choosing both dolls as equally pretty. The girls however, mostly chose the white doll as prettier, though they identified themselves with the black doll. These girls identified with an idea that crushes self esteem.
Young black women are not trying to discriminate against their own appearances but have instead unwittingly assimilated a powerful prejudiced perception. They are reaching toward what is considered beautiful without realizing the destructive nature of the belief. When it comes to beauty, discrimination is a long standing and acceptable form of judgement. Beauty standards are attuned to the notion of the ideal and easily exclude those who do not fit the bill. This stands whether a person is too fat, too old or too dark. The revered African- American beauties of today are not dark afrocentric representations of blackness, but often very fair, long haired beauties that resemble a Black Barbie doll. Black Barbie is usually a doll that exactly mimics the white version except for the colour of her skin. Her features, hair and body proportions do not represent the way black women look and instead depict a black counterpart that exactly matches the white doll. Recently Wal-Mart has come under heavy criticism for discounting the price of black Barbie dolls in comparison to the white due to a reported lack of sales. The differentiation between the two price points is another example of how beauty standards are perceived. The perception of beauty is based on how close to white the doll is.
Ideas of beauty that define the enviable aesthetic are produced by popular media. Black women like Beyonce and Halle Berry are often in the spotlight and are well revered for their beauty and so-called exotic looks. However, most of the popular African-American beauties in our culture, like Beyonce, Halle and many others, are very fair and sport long Caucasian looking hair. These are the images that young black women look at when forming their ideas about beauty. As a marker of that, the majority of black women in North America choose to straighten and/or augment their hair with chemical relaxers and extensions in order to appear more acceptably beautiful. The practice of straightening and extending naturally textured black hair is a multi million dollar industry that profits greatly from the prejudice that produced it. The documentary Good Hair which came out in 2009 delves into this practice in an attempt to dissect this apparent wide spread confusion about beauty. ‘Good hair’ is considered to be long, straight, shiny and flowing, while bad hair is anything that reveals the natural texture often referred to as nappy. Many notable black celebrities appear in the film including actor Nia Long who describes the drive to make African-American hair appear more Caucasian as a ‘pressure’ from within the black community to attain a sought after look. Model Melyssa Ford confesses that from an early age “what I looked at as good hair was white hair.” Actor Vanessa Bell Calloway sums it up best saying “you look at the magazines and you want to be that girl.” The black girl in the magazines is rarely a dark skinned beauty sporting natural hair. Instead she is closer to a modified version of white influenced beauty utilized to fit outdated standards.
Toni Morrison, a renowned black author, addresses this very confusion in her first published novel, The Bluest Eye. Set in the depression era, the lead character a young black girl named Pecola, wishes that she had the blue eyes of a little white girl in order to be received in the same manner. The novel abounds with reference to the racial divide between black and white and even features a light skinned black girl who is a friend of Pecola’s. The light skinned friend often receives the attention and praise which Pecola so desperately seeks. In many ways little has changed from the time of this depiction to now. Gillian, a 13 year old Toronto student who is a light skinned black girl, often feels a sense of envy from her darker friends who identify her as being ‘the pretty one’. Although all of her black friends take great pains to straighten their hair, only the darker ones also seek ways to lighten their skin. One of her friends actually saves her allowance money so she can regularly purchase bottles of a skin lightening cream available at the local drugstore. At 13 years old, these girls are attempting to change their genetics with a series of harsh chemicals designed to seriously alter the hair and even the skin tone. Little or no thought is devoted to the dangerous long term effects of using these chemicals. These processes are hazardous not only to the body but also to the mind. From a young age these girls are training themselves to believe that they need to change their appearance, no matter the cost, in order to be accepted and therein accept themselves.
There is great room for change across the spectrum of black women’s self identity. Michelle Obama is proving a great role model for young black women and is especially interested in developmental initiatives for youth. Having a black family in the White House goes a long way to bolster the confidence of young black people who view the Obama’s as the embodiment of potential. Canada’s Governor General Michael Jean is also an exemplar of beauty and success for black women and even chooses to wear her naturally textured hair. Popular artists like India Arie and Erykah Badu also provide alternative images in African-American beauty that youth and women alike can look to as a recourse to the standard. Arie’s 2005 song ‘I am not my hair’ is a testament to the fact that some black women are looking at their perceptions about beauty with a more critical eye. There is even a new Barbie out called ‘So In Style Barbie’ that better represents the appearance of a black woman designed by African-American artist Stacey McBride-Irby. The dolls feature a closer depiction of black features to represent a more authentic and accurate image. It has only taken Mattel 50 years of Barbie doll production to approach getting it right.
The black community’s identification with inferiority when looking at imposition of beauty standards is nothing new. It is however an issue that black women are only beginning to wake up to. In 2005, then teenager Kiri Davis made an eye-opening short documentary about how black girls perceive their appearances entitled A Girl Like Me. The award winning short shed further light on the need for change in regards to the perception that black women have of their beauty as limited. This is an issue that is being visited with increasing frequency and that shows there is hope. For the black women to overcome generations of set perception, the problem first has to be realized. It is a long process that begins from a point of awareness but it is happening. Perhaps in the not too distant future, black women will see and understand their beauty as a point of equality between them and every other race.
