AES101 Feminism and Women of Colour

Throughout my lifetime I have encountered so many women of color that are extremely insecure about their natural skin tone. And I was always confused why people especially adults would always praise me for my light skin. I have realized that I have beauty privilege because I have features that are the beauty standard. So I could get away with things that I do, just because my skin is light. 

When I was younger, I was light-skinned, I was skinny, and I had straight hair, I fitted the beauty standards. No one has ever really called me ugly or something like that. But as soon as I got older I hit puberty and I had really bad acne on my face and my back, and I also gained weight. After that, I started experiencing some bad comments about my acne and my weight which made me self-conscious. Even for me, a light-skinned girl I still had to go through those things, I could only imagen how worse it must be for girls/women of color. 

Pretty comes with privileges, and when one’s health, wealth, and opportunity for success in this country are impacted by looks, by the color of your skin, and by the texture of your hair, who gets to define pretty matters. (hood feminism page 112) This is why beauty standards and colorism are feminist issues. Because the main mission/goal of the feminist movement is for everyone to have equal rights and opportunities. Therefore it is certainly unequal that someone doesn't get the same opportunities as the other just because of their race and their looks. 

Having darker skin is liked to lower job prospects, difficulty getting promoted into high-level positions, lower marriage rates, higher rates of arrest, and longer prison terms. As a society, we tend to erase dark-skinned people and even punish them for existing. (hood feminism page 107)

Other than just losing an incredible amount of opportunities, and having low self-esteem, big beauty companies are making a lot of money by using women of color’s insecurities as their marketing strategy. As a result, lighter skin is so coveted that beaching creams continue to be bestsellers in the United States, Asia, and other nations despite evidence of mercury poisoning, skin damage, and liver and other organ malfunction. For many communities, the potential rewards outweigh the risk because of societal pressure. (hood feminism page 108)

It’s crazy how these women are already in incredible psychological pain due to unrealistic beauty standards, and these companies are just trying to profit from their insecurities. They would even point out or zoom in on their insecurities which will just make women that are already insecure even more insecure. They need to keep these women insecure to make sure they will get the money that they want. 

So what can feminism do to contribute to finding a solution? Mainstream feminist engagement with beauty culture often centers on the male gaze and its impact, but that's, not the only toxic component. The way that being white, cis, slim, and able-bodied are valorized needs to be addressed. As a movement feminism needs to be willing to move the needle, to interrogate the ways that it engages in colorist hierarchies internally. (hood feminism page 112)

It's about time that we make an effort to change beauty culture. Women in every shape and color deserve equal rights and opportunities, they also deserve to feel beautiful. 

picture: https://id.pinterest.com/pin/44121271341227780/