Beyonce White-Washed
I know you've seen this already where Loreal took the liberty of "whitening" Beyonce in their ad. Today on The Today Show, Kathie Lee Gifford brought up the subject. She suggested that they only did it to showoff the highlights in Beyonce's hair and that it had nothing to do with race or racism.
Well...I'm not going to begin to speak for Loreal, but wouldn't darker skin show off the lighter hair better.
What I do know is that even within the African-American community there has always been an issue with light skin versus dark. I'm happy to see this generation is less preoccupied with skin tone, but even my mother's generation had a paper bag test to qualify to get into certain sororities.
Would Barack Obama be as popular if he was as dark as say Bernie Mac? And not for nothing, but I don't know of any dark-skinned blacks hosting or anchoring a major television network program. Oprah's about as dark as they get.
But tell me what you think. Are we still obsessed with light skin and dark skin?
Well...I'm not going to begin to speak for Loreal, but wouldn't darker skin show off the lighter hair better.
What I do know is that even within the African-American community there has always been an issue with light skin versus dark. I'm happy to see this generation is less preoccupied with skin tone, but even my mother's generation had a paper bag test to qualify to get into certain sororities.
Would Barack Obama be as popular if he was as dark as say Bernie Mac? And not for nothing, but I don't know of any dark-skinned blacks hosting or anchoring a major television network program. Oprah's about as dark as they get.
But tell me what you think. Are we still obsessed with light skin and dark skin?
Yes, when it is done in this fashion. It seems that the powers that be, are concern with it, so why shouldn't I have my concerns with it as well. Lets stop playing games. Why are we always subjected to this type of stuff. As if we can't see through all the rhetoric and subliminal messages. Beyonce looks like a total different person. The person that the mainstream is comfortable with. Another question, why did Beyonce allow this to happen? I mean, she has enough money, right. She's not struggling to get through college, she's struggling to pay rent, she's not struggling for money to pay after-school care for her children, so whats her reasoning for allowing this portrayal of her to happen. If my daughter saw this, she probably would be questioning her skin tone as well. So I guess, I will sit my daughter down and tell her the reason why Beyounce did this. One question I really don't no why. She already has the money and fame. What else could it be? Who is she role modeling for? Thanks Karen, I hope I'm not overanalyzing the topic you raised.