The Minaret Published February 11 2009
Ladies: Taye Diggs or Shemar Moore?
Gentlemen: Tyra Banks or Naomi Cambell?
All four of these celebrities are gorgeous’mdash;no doubt about it.
The women are two of the most legendary models in fashion history, and the men are actors that would make any woman swoon.
However, do you prefer one over the other?
Could it be because one has lighter skin than the other?
Or, perhaps, darker than the other?
It’s not something that’s easy to talk about considering the history of this country.
What has emerged from the legacy of racial discrimination is the culturally-grown ideal that lighter skin is better and more acceptable.
European features have been the ‘it’ features when discussing the perfect body type, which have been used for everything from selling beauty magazines to segregation.
Even with the abolishment of slavery and civil rights’ movements for all peoples (not that they are completely successful), there is still a constant pressure to be something other than what we were born as.
The images plastered all over the media give us a poor picture of what is attractive.
To businesses, beauty is a commodity, which is partially why they peddle one narrow image of beauty.
Their first job is to sell you ‘beauty’ and the harder it is to attain the more money they make.
It is our duty to end the circus that has become the skin discussion and to redefine what is beautiful.
Skin color is not only tied to race but has historically been tied to social class.
Have you ever heard of the paper bag test?
If I were darker than the color of the paper bag, I would be considered working class.
If I were lighter-skinned, then I would be upper class and able to work inside away from the sun.
The proliferation of skin color ideals are worsened by images of ‘beautiful’ men and women in the media.
Many popular African American, Latino and Asian stars are of mixed heritages.
Beyonce, Selma Hayek and Lucy Liu are all lighter-skinned than the average person of those races.
Yet, this is the image that is fed to society.
This exposure to what is popular and beautiful has forced people to change their appearance.
Some darker-skinned individuals have tried bleaching their skin to conform to what society has deemed worthy.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the infatuation people of European-descent have with being darker or tanned.
Both bleaching and tanning procedures are harmful to peoples’ bodies and to their ability to love who they are.
It’s ironic to think one side wants what the other has and vice versa.
If we, the younger generation, took control of the discussion of what is sociably acceptable, then maybe we could put an end to the body fascism against others and, ultimately, ourselves.
We nit-pick against one another because we aren’t happy with who we are.
I say end the social and cultural construct of color.
We have to discuss and be open to learn how someone else feels.
Who we are has nothing to do with whatever color skin we were born with.
We have the power to make everyone feel comfortable in their own skin.
From the darkest black to the lightest white and all the browns and tans in between, we have to change the perception of what’s beautiful.
So let’s talk about it. Let’s transform beauty.
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