What About Black Beauty Culture?

 The African-American Role

in Beauty Culture

         Throughout my studies so far, there have been a very minimal amount of pictures and information on African-American women and their role in our insane beauty culture. This may have a message in itself, of the stereotypical American beauty being white, slim but curvacious in the right areas, with flowing sheen hair, and colorful eyes. Being a white female, I am unable to say that I have ever experienced this type of beauty concern. Since society's standard of beauty has basically been revolving around white women, there comes a difficulty when measuring up an African-American woman's beauty to society's beauty standards. How do our society's beauty ideals effect these women and what do they take from it? A quote from Michele Wallace, taken from the NWSA Journal, states, "The black woman had not failed to be aware of America’s standard of beauty nor the fact that she was not included in it; television and motion pictures had made this information very available to her... America had room among its beauty contestants for buxom Mae West, the bug eyes of Bette Davis, the masculinity of Joan Crawford, but the black woman was only allowed entry if her hair was straight, her skin light, and her features European; in other words, if she was as nearly indistinguishable from a white woman as possible," (Patton). Unfortunately in media, this assumption runs true. After googling the top African-American celebrities

considered to be most attractive in our society, the top women came up as Paula Patton, Beyonce Knowles, Zoe Saldana, Sonia Rolland, Naomie Harris, Taraji P. Henson, Meagan Good, Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, and Kerry Washington (as seen to the right of this text). After viewing all of these women's pictures, it is very apparent that all of them match Wallace's description. This is very unfortunate, as it creates too many insecurities for any average African-American woman who is developing in our society. A black woman should not be told that she is not beautiful simply because her dark skin and features do not match that of a white woman's. It is absolutely ridiculous to hold them to the same beauty standards, since they have significantly different qualities about them. It is almost like comparing the beauty of an orange to that of an apple; it is impossible.
          A theory of the reasoning for this race-based beauty expectation is that it stems from the slavery background of African-Americans. Patton continues with, "During slavery, Black women who were lighter-skinned and had features that were associated with mixed progeny (e.g., wavy or straight hair, White/European facial features) tended to be house slaves and those Black women with darker-skin hues, kinky hair, and broader facial features tended to be field slaves," (Patton). Given this information, white people are biased towards the African-American people who more-so resemble themselves. It is absolutely insane that this trend has continued this far, however not completely unheard of, unfortunately, since racism still continues to linger in the United States. This type of beauty standard places so much pressure onto black women, resulting in them taking extreme measures in order to fit "the look." One major alteration that these women make is to their hair; by chemically straightening, braiding, or getting extensions and weaves. These women go to such greater lengths to fit the beauty standard in order to be considered "beautiful" by society.
         It is obvious in media that African-Americans are seen much less than Caucasians. This is of course with the exception of any shows or films that involve an all-black cast (basically, there is either a very minimal number of African-Americans, or none at all, in a film, or the majority of the cast is African-American). It is strange to me why there is no middle ground where there is an equal number of each, however I guess that is where the prejudices on the lightness of skin come into play. Lori L. Tharps expands upon this with her own experiences in the book, Bitchfest, claiming, "I'm looking for black characters I can identify with and respect; what I find instead are black comic actors who have been reinvented as homeboys and hoochie mamas ghettoized on inferior networks created just for colored folk. The number one show in black households, UPN's The Parkers, offers us a single mom raising a daughter who's dumb as dirt," (Jervis 308). I feel extremely ignorant, to be honest, for never taking notice to any of these types of instances on television. It is indeed very apparent that the majority of actors and actresses being publicized are white, however I never realized that the roles that African-Americans do play are stereotyping themselves. Tharps continues by stating, "Shows featuring black and white actors together on a regular basis- a la Diff'rent Strokes and The Jeffersons- have been eliminated. According to a recent survey conducted by child-advocacy group Children Now, white shows are getting whiter and black shows are getting blacker," (Jervis 308-309). This backs up my previous statement of shows either being primarily white or black, with no in-between. The shows that engage in this are all displaying a completely false reality of how the world truly is today. However there is also a difference in how black males are viewed on television versus how black females are viewed on television. 
         Overall, the black American male actor is significantly more notable than the black American female, thanks to the roles that the media has limited the women to. Honestly, if someone were to hold up a picture of Will Smith next to a picture of Paula Patton and requested someone to name each of them, they would most likely say Will Smith as the first name. Lori Tharps gives examples of certain television shows where the black woman is never able to surpass being simply the supporting role, claiming, "The Bernie Mac Show and My Wife and Kids, driven by the talent of their I-was-a-comedian-in-a-former-life leads (Bernie Mac and Damon Wayans, respectively), have been well received by black and white audiences, but the actors playing these men's wives- Kellita Smith and Tisha Campbell-Martin- never rise above supporting-role status," (Jervis 310). The Cosby Show was a huge hit with all audiences  and created a huge spark in the media, causing directors to re-think white-washed television. However when they began developing new shows, they were simply backtracking right back into the stereotypes again. The new shows that were focused on African-Americans made them out to be everything they were not. One example is actually a cartoon from the Disney Channel called, The Proud Family. In that particular TV show, the black American women are portrayed with a distinct attitude that is associated with the stereotypes made about how they act or speak; the grandmother and the mother, in particular. However there are also a group of girls who bully the main character, Penny (a young girl), and they are made to look, as Tharps had put it, "ghettoized." Tharps describes that in these types of shows, "black women had to be neck-rolling, finger-snapping, loudmouthed aggressors, while their men, for the most part, were clowns, ministers, or working-class cliches. In addition, these new sitcoms were more urban-focused and less mainstream-friendly," (Jervis 310). Tharps nails it on the head with the male character role as well. In The Proud Family the father is a relatively goofy character who runs a snack business. 
           Black American women in the United States are not represented fairly at all in today's media, which results in pressure from society to fit the beauty standards of the women that are being portrayed on television. Tracey Owen Patton remarks that because of this, "many African American women (younger and older generation), including those who grow up in predominantly Euro-American areas, state that they are beginning to feel pressure to conform to the White standard of beauty," (Patton). It is extremely unfortunate that media is backsliding and is participating more in the separation of the races as opposed to the inclusion. Hopefully as time progresses, the media will have their reality check and develop television shows that have an equal amount of African-Americans as they do Caucasians. However in my next post, I will be analyzing the primarily white show, Gossip Girl and how it feeds into society's issues regarding beauty culture.

Sincerely,
Samantha