Standards of Beauty
BY: Samori Swygert
I do have a concern about the adoption and embracing of Eurocentric standards of beauty. This statement is not to downplay or disparage the physical attributes of European or White Americans. However, for blacks, I really enjoy embracing and endorsing our cultural beauty. There is nothing wrong with cultural pride. For centuries blacks had to conform to the norm that was forced on them. Time has progressed and the message of what are acceptable social standards has taken on a more subliminal undertone. This undertone can brainwash and condition unwitting patrons and consumers of pop-culture and ordinary citizens, if you’re not careful.
First, black people are black because of the pigment melanin. Second, by nature our hair has the true curls (however society downplays it as “naps”). When you turn on your television or log onto the internet, you will typically see an overwhelming number of images portrayed as beauty to sell a product. TV commercials will advertise products such as hair conditioner, shampoo, makeup, lipstick, and etc.
You can go to your local grocery store and look at the magazine stand and observe the various lingerie lines by Victoria’s Secret. When you’re driving down the street, it’s nothing to observe the side panel of a bus advertising the latest Calvin Klein, or Abercrombie and Fitch display. However, you rarely see an equal amount of advertisement of black women in this capacity. There are some, but the few are not representative of the majority.
Typically, when black women are portrayed in these ads and commercials, they are typically women of a lighter hue. The majority of commercials that have black women don’t have dark skinned women equally represented as their lighter sisters, and let alone the white woman. This is not me talking nonsense, just turn on the TV and observe. Why is that? I’m just keeping it ethno-statistically real!
Society has become indoctrinated with what is acceptable, but it’s based on a standard that the rulers of society dictate. When years progress to decades to centuries, it’s easy to become conditioned and not understand why you do what you do. Why must a man, especially a black man, shave is his beard or goatee? Why is it quietly expected that black women have straightened hair or a weave? Why must a black man cut his dreadlocks to have a job at an important business or law firm? These physical characteristics that may be cultural, religious, or plain taste, have nothing to do with job performance.
Would you rather have a clean shaved, crew cut person that mismanages your retirement account, or a black woman with a natural curly afro that can increase your portfolio worth by exponents? Why do we place so much on the external appearance, when it’s the intrinsic skills, ability, knowledge, and performance that ultimately counts.
How have we let standards of beauty equate to expertise or quality partners? How have we been led to deny our own cultural representation on a day to day basis to conform to what somebody feels is socially appropriate, or tastefully biased? I think as long as you are not offending somebody physiologically by your presence, or impeding the daily business operations, then you should be okay. This means be hygienic in your appearance and performance of your duty. Surgeons wear hair caps and scrubs to prevent accidental contamination or transfer of bodily matter during a surgery. Cooks wear hair nets to prevent long hair from entering their meals.
Why do women prefer a fake weave over their natural God given hair? I think part of this is subliminal brainwashing and acceptance of social norms in a Eurocentric culture. Many believe that their hair texture is not what beauty looks like. This is why Asians are making billions each year in the beauty product industry. Also, have you ever noticed that some black entertainers seem to have a certain skin complexion one day, and then you see them in an ad or commercial and they are a shade or two lighter? The change in skin tone is not the camera filter or lighting all the time. Many times these entertainers are festooned with makeup, and some entertainers even use skin lightening regimens.
I say be proud of who you are, whether black man or woman. A person should love you for you, point blank period! You should be hired, and given raises based on skill base and job performance. We all have natural beauty, and we need to get back to embracing it. I’m proud to say that I’m seeing a lot of my sisters going back natural and they look AWESOME! The irony is that pop-culture is mimicking what comes to us naturally. How many non-black women do you see have buttocks implants, and breast augmentation? How many non-black women are having Botox parties for fuller lips, and go to tanning spas and spend hours at their local beach for a tan? How many white men do you see walking around with dreadlocks? Not all whites and non-blacks want to adapt our cultural attributes but there is evidence of their interest in our beauty. Let not your psyche be tricked by commercials, movies, videos, magazines, ads, internet pop-ups, and bus or subway advertisements.
The take away message is self-pride, knowledge, and ownership! When you own a corporation, product, service, school or institution, you then dictate what you expect your advertisements to look like. This message champions the reason why we need more black owned businesses. We can complain all we want about not be hired or represented equally by non-black business, but until we start running our own companies, we will always be subjected to another person’s preferred perception.
