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]