Colorism in Media?

Beauty in media gravitates towards white women more than women of color. Ebony Magazine mentions colorism in media displays that Eurocentric features are more beautiful than dark skin and white/lighter skin is right and darker skin tones are not. Mainstream media digitally lightens black women’s skin and hair in order to be featured in magazines or advertisements. An example of “whitewashing” women of color features Beyoncé in a 2008 L'Oreal campaign with a lighter complexion than her natural one and blonde straight dyed hair. 

Natural skin tone and hair color (left) versus manipulated photo for L'Oreal campaign (right).

The more westernized African American women look, the more beautiful they are deemed. Internalized thinking of beauty based on what you see growing up watching tv or the news leads society to believe Caucasians have positive attributes because of their pale skin versus darker skin having negative attributes. Colorism in media affects how women of colour see, feel and treat themselves. In my early teen years I was even the victim of internalized hate and of horrible name calling that no young black girl should experience joke or not. A form of my internalized hate caused me to want to look whiter, to be accepted and not ridiculed. From relaxing my hair and getting rid of my beautiful natural curls that many would yearn for to using lightening soaps to even out my skin tone. Eurocentric aesthetics render women of colors ideal of beauty causing them to feel unacceptable. 

From a young age black children have learnt to dislike their skin due to the portrayal in media. Majority of all we see in magazines, tv shows, movies are white men or women being cast as lead roles with black friend alongside them in the shadows. This shows young black children that they are less than and that people with light skin tones are the authority, the one that we have to bow down to to simply be respected. The Doll Test is an example originally done by Kenneth and Mamie Clark in the 1940's to display what children thought about skin color and its attributes. In this video below black children are given a choice to choose the white doll or the black doll and if so why? It is truly heartbreaking to see their explanations. Coming together all POC (people of color) photographers, artist, singers, actors, film directors can show are talent through a wide screen that will represent black people in a beautiful light. 

(Me embracing my skin and curly hair while formation plays in my head) 

I learned that women of colors physical attributes does not deem us any less equal due to societies examples of what beauty should look like. As Beyoncé states in her newly powerful controversial song Formation that has awoken my self love so much more; “I love my baby hair, my Afro and my Jackson five nostrils.”

Find me on social media:  

Twitter: MindlessFashion

Instagram: tanishaaxo