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From.
huffingtonpost.com
Beyonce, Colorism, and Why All of This Needs to End in 2013
Ernest Owens
02/14/13 07:02 PM ET
Yes,
the Super Bowl was on fire. As one who is very critical of halftime
show performances, I cannot deny that Mrs. Carter brought the energy and
attention. All of this led to her releasing her tour dates for the Mrs.
Carter Show. As excited as I was to actually buy these tickets, despite
the factthat I can expect to see a Pepsi logo on everything, something
turned me off.
The poster.If you haven't seen the photographs for
Beyonce's new world tour, you probably wouldn't even recognize her. Go
on her official Facebook page or website and you will see an image of
what looks like a Victorian white woman in the Elizabethan era. Her
(prosthetic) blonde hair puffed and extended to reveal a face that is
almost as white as snow. Lips red and her skin powdered. This is not the
same bronze Beyonce that I saw rocking the stage in an all female band
with her darker Destiny's Child counterparts.
I was only left
with memories of previous patterns that the multi-Grammy award winning
artist had done in previous years in regards to her skin. And I asked
myself the question: why, Bey?
Let's not act like this is
something new. Over the years, it seems as though Beyonce has gotten
lighter as she has gotten older. No, this is not genetics and let's not
act pretend her skin color in her first Destiny's Child album cover
matches that of her latest album 4.
Whether it is that
highly
controversial Revlon advertisement or her own album cover art, Beyonce
has consistently been called out on alterations done to her pigments.
What does this say about our society for black women?
It
tells me that in 2013, an independent, confident and successful woman
of color still struggles to have the confidence to fully embrace the
skin she is in. If one of the most powerful women in entertainment feels
she has to lighten her skin for projection, what does that say for the
rest of us?
Believe it or not, colorism, the stigma associated
with skin complexion, has been an ill that has not yet been dissolved by
the black community. What was first given to us by slave masters in
separating the house slaves from the field ones, has now taken place in
how we objectify our women and each other. I cannot begin to count how
many rap lyrics point out how fine she is to be a "yellabone" or how, as
Kanye put it, "light skin girls and some Kelly Rowlands" to point out
how exceptionally attractive dark skin girls have to be to fit the norm
of beauty.
This is pretty problematic in many ways. It's first of
all self-loathing and unnecessary for today's times. The fact that our
nation has an African-American first lady with a complexion that isn't
on the lighter side of the spectrum, nor does it try to be, shows a
compelling advancement in appreciation for all women of color in many
ways.
Furthermore, the only reason why such stigma in our country
continues is contributed to our own behavior that is shaped by the
influential people of color around us. It devastated me when I saw that
Sammy Sosa had lightened his skin
. As successful as he was in a
field that was not necessarily fixated on male skin complexion, it
saddened me to see him do it. In many ways, it even made me reflect back
on the transition of the late great Michael Jackson and what
explanations he had for such a more pale white appearance.
And
why does all of this matter? Because I grew up hearing stories of young
dark black girls getting their faces scrubbed with skin lightening soaps
out of their free will. Tales of young women being abandon by their
mothers because they were too dark. Visions of parents on the Tyra
Showsayingthey will bleach their young black children's skin so that
life would be easy for them.
If this is the reality that had more
implications back in the early 20th century than it does now, please
stop it. Stop trying to explain why you are dating the ebony skin girl.
Stop making it seem exceptional that a girl of a darker complexion is
actually attractive. Celebrities, stop putting extraneous powders and
lighteners on your skin: we all know what you used to look like and we
still love you. And people of color: let's not continue to perpetuate an
oppressive cycle of self-loathing of our appearance and heritage, we
have future presidents and movers and shakers that are in our race
looking for more because they can do such.
If this can be
accomplished, then perhaps even in our own race we can truly make our
lives not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our
character.
CHECK OUT-
www.bleachanddie.blogspot.com(Bleaching leads to skin cancer,then death!)
February 9, 2014 at 6:03 pm | edit What’s real?
February 10, 2014 at 1:18 pm | edit Self hatred…Very sad and very ignorant.
February 11, 2014 at 1:02 pm | edit How white do you desire to be, Ms Role model?
February 11, 2014 at 1:24 pm | edit Ma binu!(Sorry!) I don’t know how this but will fix it with BB! BEENI! Beyyonce is ,as my late IYA used to say-”A DISGRACE to the Black RACE!