Alicia A. Smith
October 29, 2014
Eng.4705/Essay #2
Beauty Complex
The word beauty has many negative connotations for African American women. Over the years African American women have been subjected, misrepresented and also dehumanized by the exemplification of beauty and identity. This pattern of internalizing the perception of beauty to coincide with European standards have caused many African American women in the process to alter their physical appearances and personify a culture that has disregarded the uniqueness of being “ black and beautiful”. The cultural aesthetics of being “black and beautiful” has been distorted in literature, movies and television shows to appease an acceptable standard of beauty that in reality is unrealistic. …show more content…
The ideal of beauty for women of color,” have become increasingly “anglicized” or “whitewashed” over time, with lighter-colored, straighter hair, lighter makeup, colored contacts and often shrinking figures.” (www.beautyredefined.net) This fact is true for African American women, from the media’s perspective it is unnatural to have kinky hair, a voluptuous figure, full lips and different skin tones. In the documentary, A Girl Like Me” by Kiri Davis she validates this point by documenting her peers understanding of beauty within the African American community. The most important part in her documentary is when she recreated the famous dolls study performed in 1947 by Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark. The study consisted black children to choose between black and white dolls based upon favorability and self-identification. The recreation of the study proved that black children’s self-perception to their own race has been intentionally distorted and has caused, “them to internalize stereotypes and racism to the point of making them hate themselves.”(explorable.com) As Davis interviews her peers the ideal of beauty and image is hard for most black girls to understand because many feel out of place due not having enough positive cultural representation. The phrase “black is beautiful” is proven to be a myth among the younger generation of African American women due to the many negative stereotypes that are imposed by the …show more content…
These images of having lighter/fairer skin have caused women of color to purposely destroy their natural skin tones and bodies to fit into this unrealistic perception of beauty. Some women have resulted to the usage of plastic surgery and skin bleaching application to appear more European in terms of image. It has also been documented in history that having lighter skin has given African American women the ability to pass as being Caucasian in order to be accepted in society; by means in securing an education, employment and better living conditions. In Nella Larsen novella, “Passing” she exemplifies this point as being true but having devastating results. “It’s funny about ‘passing.’ We disapprove of it and at the same time condone it. It excites our contempt and yet we rather admire it. Why shy away from it with an odd kind of revulsion, but we protect it” (42). For Larsen, the context of race and identity become problematic for her main characters Irene and Clare, both characters pass because they cannot identify with their dual cultures and outward appearances in society. The ability to pass gives Larsen’s characters to the ability to manipulate the societal perception of beauty and race. “The detrimental effect of these European beauty standards on black women is a societal issue that is often