Reader Request: On 'Colorism'

Hi Guys! Happy Monday. I haven't had a Reader Request video in awhile, and I've been meaning to get this one up for weeks!

Request from 'AcrossTheUniverse' on tumblr:

'Could you please make a video discussing how black girls are seen as less feminine than white girls. When people hear words like…….classical…elegant and so on. I know they don’t think black. Like with Taylor swifts music video she only had white ballerinas and black girls twerking…I was like…”black girls do ballet Taylor.” anyways I’m curious to hear your opinion and stuff because I don’t know why this stereotype exist about black women..:/ Thanks!!!

Thanks for your request! Historically, colorism has revolved around the notion that darker skin is 'bad,' while lighter and white skin is 'good.' In American culture, this goes back to slavery, when lighter skin slaves were touted as 'superior,' and were allowed in the house, meanwhile darker skinned slaves were touted as 'inferior' and were forced to work out in the field; however, this is not only relevant for Black American people. It echoes across the world as a result of global colonization.

In practically every culture exists a caste system where the darker the skin, the lower a person's worth, and the lighter the skin (and closer to whiteness), the higher. We have internalized these concepts and continue to hand them down, making them still relevant and prevalent today.

Within the white gaze and eurocentric standards of beauty, there is also this idea that whiteness/lightness is 'feminine' and Blackness/darkness is 'masculine,' leading to the attribution of dark skin as masculine on males and ugly on females, while lighter skin is seen as a feminine trait on males and a beautiful trait on females.

Many people attribute colorism to 'skin preference,' but I feel like skin preferences do not exist within a vacuum and the vast majority of them revolve around ingrained eurocentric standards of beauty. Of course there are people who date whenever, regardless of preference. But when the vast majority of skin preferences revolve around terms like 'good hair' or 'pretty eyes' (or are festishized around dark skin and masculinity), you have an issue that just be addressed.

Links:

'Recognizing the Necessity and Importance of Dark-Skinned Feminine Beauty:'
http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/recog...

'Recognizing the Necessity and Importance of Dark-Skinned Feminine Beauty Part II:'
http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/recog...

'Why men prefer fair-skinned maidens and women like dark, handsome strangers:'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetec...

'When whites are guilty of colorism:'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...

'5 Truths About Colorism That I've Learned As a Black Woman In NYC:'
http://www.bustle.com/articles/37427-...

'Testosterone, melanin and race:'
http://diversityischaos.blogspot.com/...

Definition of Colorism:
http://racerelations.about.com/od/und...

Discrimination based on skin color (Wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimi...

My relevant videos:

'The New York Times, 'Angry Black Women,' and Accountability:'
   • The New York Times, 'Angry Black Wome...  

'So, About That Kid Cudi/Lupe Fiasco/Azealia Banks Beef… On Sexism and Misogynoir:'
   • So, About That Kid Cudi/Lupe Fiasco/A...  

'I Love Her Hair!' On Racism and Internalization:
   • My Black Life: 'I Love Her Hair!'