The monumental use of advantaged whites in the media plays an important part in how blacks view themselves today; for instance, the use of Barbie, a significant icon in a young girl’s life. As I said before, creating a doll whose face is made up like that of a white person’s will lead a black child to believe that this is how he or she is supposed to look; this is what is beautiful. If a young child sees what others believe beauty and perfection is supposed to look like before they have the chance to embrace their own appearance, they may never be able to accept the way that they look.
Acceptance will continue to be an issue when children develop into a mature age and are frustrated when their bodies aren’t like that of the ones they have seen on television. This is how we began the dying and bleaching of our hair and the use of contact lenses to make our eyes seem like that of another color. We use these products because we somehow believe that we will be more socially accepted, and more visible to those around us. It has always been that those who are “high yellow”, with long wavy hair, and green eyes are more socially accepted and reap more benefits than those who have dark skin, brown eyes, and hair that requires lots of attention in order to maintain its composure.
I can remember when I was younger watching Milli Vanilli on Top of the Pops. I remember arguing with my older sister over who was more attractive in the group. We both wanted the lighter skinned performer over the darker one, because he was “much cuter than the dark one.” But of course, because I was younger, I had to settle for the darker one and my sister enjoyed her time lip singing with the vanilla, caramel complected singer. I will never forget how unhappy I was with the outcome of that situation. It was as if I had been left with the runt of the bunch, while my sister had the star player. As the years progressed, my sister and I continued to have a taste for lighter skinned men instead of darker, often having crushes on little blonde haired, blue eyed boys as well. But as we matured into the young women we are today, our taste began to sway to those darker complected men. I even looked back at those old Milli Vanilli videotapes and scoffed when I thought of how silly we were for arguing over who would get who; and actually, the darker one was the much more attractive than the other!
I can remember when I was younger watching Milli Vanilli on Top of the Pops. I remember arguing with my older sister over who was more attractive in the group. We both wanted the lighter skinned performer over the darker one, because he was “much cuter than the dark one.” But of course, because I was younger, I had to settle for the darker one and my sister enjoyed her time lip singing with the vanilla, caramel complected singer. I will never forget how unhappy I was with the outcome of that situation. It was as if I had been left with the runt of the bunch, while my sister had the star player. As the years progressed, my sister and I continued to have a taste for lighter skinned men instead of darker, often having crushes on little blonde haired, blue eyed boys as well. But as we matured into the young women we are today, our taste began to sway to those darker complected men. I even looked back at those old Milli Vanilli videotapes and scoffed when I thought of how silly we were for arguing over who would get who; and actually, the darker one was the much more attractive than the other! It is instances like these that I have taken the time to reflect back on, that remind me of how much our society, our culture, and our generation has been affected by the continuous down play of blacks.It is the past that has brought us where we are today.
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