If you read the “About” section of this blog, you’ll see the
reasons why I started Faces of Black Fashion. To be frank, I did not state all
of the reasons why I started this blog. A few years ago, I watched a video of
the “doll test.” The “doll test” showed little
black girls overwhelmingly rejecting black dolls in favor of white
dolls. To those little girls, white dolls represented beauty and femininity; the
black dolls did not.
Watching that video made me cry. I do understand that early
on the messages we receive from the media and our environment shape our views
of the world. Sadly, the media and society still advance one standard of
beauty.
With my whole being, I believe that black is beautiful. I
believe that God created tremendous beauty in the human population; thus beauty can
be and is found within all races and ethnicities. So the video bothered me. It
bothered me deeply that those little black girls did not see beauty within
themselves. I did not like it, and I wanted it to be different. I wanted them
to see their beauty and value. I wanted them to see what I saw when I looked at
them. They would not see it however, if their beauty was or is not celebrated in
the world around them.
Today I watched another video my Carmeron Russell (see video below) where she talks about the
effects of certain privileges; in particular, the way society defines beauty and
the impact that has on all of us.
Carmeron articulates a lot of truths about societal constructs
and how they shape our experiences in the world. Though troubling, this video
confirmed to me the importance of championing diversity in any industry that acts as a channel that defines what it means to be beautiful. Though this blog is just
a small piece of the World Wide Web, I feel even more encouraged to celebrate diversity in beauty. Whether we are tall, short, slender, not so slender, natural
haired, relaxed haired….whatever it is, as black women, we are beautiful.
Cheers,
Nika
Great Post Nika!
ReplyDeleteThank you Deidre!
DeleteBlack women, icluding yourself, are beautiful. Great post, thank you. I read your posts and beco,me so much more proud to be black.
ReplyDeleteAutumn
Love it! Well said Nika!
ReplyDeletewww.swoonblog.com
Thank you ladies, I appreciate it
ReplyDelete