Not exactly a feel-good flick, but the documentary Dark Girls sheds light on the problem of colorism within the Black community.
Get a taste here:
Even though pale is no longer THE beauty standard, naturally tan cultures are still plagued by the debate of light-skinned vs. dark-skinned superiority.
While this doc focuses specifically on stories told by African-American women, I would be curious to see a comprehensive portrait of colorism, an issue that plagues brown girls around the world.
While getting some color at the beach this weekend, I couldn't help but think that my fair-skin worshiping grandmother would be scandalized by the notion that I wanted my legs to be darker. When will we overcome these superficial restraints?
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2 comments:
I am fascinated how people of color have adopted the white standard of beauty and how we measure ourselves against a stick that leaves us feeling like we we would do anything for lighter skin, straighter hair, a thinner nose and lips, for no hips and no
bum (the politest word I could find).
It really is astonishing the lengths that we go through to lighten (or keep from darkering) our skin, to straighten our hair and to have a tall, thin, curveless body.
Young girls need to be told every day that they are beautiful in the skin they are in. If no one tells them they will look to magazines and television and movies (and now, of course, the internet) for the definition of beauty. And this is so disheartening. There are so many girls that do not know they are beautiful that grow up to be women that are not as self confident and comfortable with themselves as they could be. And should be!
Thanks for bringing this back to my consciousness. I would love to hear more about your thoughts on perceptions of beauty for colored girls.
Preach!
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