Over the last few days, the Internet has been abuzz about a blog post made by a “social scientist” (in quotes because there is no way he deserves such a title if he writes such misinformation) where he claimed that Black women are objectively less attractive than all other women and provided “data” to support his claim (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/19/london-school-economics-probes-lecturers-posting-race/?test=latestnews). The post was made on a supposedly reputable psychology website. I am truly boggled. How could such rubbish be allowed on a psychology website? I’ve signed a petition asking that the organization’s editorial board explain why the post was allowed and outline what is being done to prevent similar incidents from occurring (http://www.change.org/petitions/hold-psychology-today-accountable).
The outrageous post reflects continued denigration of Black women by some members of society. For me, it is a lesson that beauty is subjective. Further, it underscores that we as Black women need to learn how to embrace our beauty. Don’t get me wrong, all women need to embrace their beauty. However, when people attempt to use scientific evidence to denigrate Black women, Black women are at particular risk of being debased and dehumanized.
I think the thing that saddens me so is that I believe that there are people out there who endorse the outrageous comments. They really do think that Black women are less attractive. The saddest thing I’m afraid, is that my experience tells me that some Black women have internalized this and believe that they are the least attractive people on the face of the Earth. Can we embrace ourselves and our beauty? For example, can we accept that we have kinky, coily, spiraly, wavy, or straight NATURAL hair? Some Black women have straight hair so the point is not that straight hair is bad. The Black Diaspora is comprised of people of all shapes, hues, hair textures, sizes, etc. We have such BEAUTY!!! Can we please learn to embrace ourselves and stop trying to change our authentic reality?
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