Beauty Standards
/"Black people were whitewashed into believing that everything African
or Black was inferior, backward and ugly, while everything White or
Caucasion was superior, beautiful and desirable. Yet this perceptual
distortion could not be effective without a kind of mental
slight-of-hand regarding the historical and cultural validity of Africa
and African "Black" beauty standards."It is revealing that the
prestigious CBS news program "60 Minutes" recently published an article
highlighting actress Aishwarya Rai as, perhaps, the "World’s Most
Beautiful Woman." Not surprising, Miss Rai is a very light-skinned
woman from India with sharp Caucasian-like features. The article also
makes reference to White women of the past who were (and are) projected
as the epitome of beauty and refinement. Women like Grace Kelly, Ingrid
Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor. The problem with this perspective is that
it reeks with racism in that it assumes that White women (or those that
look White) are the standard bearers for beauty and attractiveness and
it makes these assumptions at the expense, neglect and denigration of
the multitudes of Black women (in particular) and women of color(in
general) through out the world. It is also disturbing because it is
done without even a hint of the offensiveness and utter absurdity of it
all. It is as if the White media has become so enamored with the
truth of its propaganda and so confident of its effectiveness on the
psyches of other races and ethnic groups that it does not hesitate to
make these ridiculous and arrogant declarations. And it does so over
and over again. [more]
