Feeling good in the skin your in is very improtant. In both Essence & Latina Magazines topics on color are so profound. Women of color battling issues, sterotypes, barriers and ignorance when it comes to color. Biased slurs and comments have been spat at us from a young age. Little Dark skin girls calling little light skin girls pissed colored, light bright, half breed, white girl, and little light skin girls calling little dark skin girls blacky, darky, and tar baby. Color has been a big issue and most dark skin women and girls are rarely seen as pretty, and if they are most people say the line "she's cute to be dark" or "pretty for a dark skin girl." Then you have some light skin women & girls who feel superior to those darker than them even if they aren't necessarily prettier. Then you have those who swear they are the cream of the crop because they are light. I've noticed that most women of color don't want to be darker than they already are. Some avoid the sun, and some even bleach their skin to become lighter. Bleaching of the skin is very ramped throughout the Caribbean, where those who are lighter get better jobs and are viewed as higher status. Most women of color have skin issues whether its discoloration, blotchy spots, freckles, liver spots, red and blue veins, dark areas on the lip, and under the eye, skin moles, sun spots, dry/oily skin and stretch marks. I must stress that no matter how much pigmentation you have you should all be using facial moisturizers with SPF, and we all need sun block when going into the sun on high UV index days. Most women of color don't think they need it, and they won't get skin cancer. Even if you don't get skin cancer the sun is very damaging to the skin and can't take years off of the skins elasticity and glow. Women of color share many of the same skin care remedies, cocoa butter, Shea butter, aloe leaf plant, egg whites, black soap, Shea butter soap, Vaseline for lips and a host of others.
So the question I ask now is why can't we all appreciate the spectrum and variety of complexions we have to offer. I mean look at us. When it comes to being women of color that's just what we are color. An array of color and beauty. I feel we should all compliment each other, but most women do hate or feel if they compliment the other women she'll think you're crazy. I love to see beautiful women. I also love giving compliments, on body shape, hair styles, clothing, complexion, lip gloss, whatever I like about that person that day. I feel that we need to raise our little girls to love the skin their in. When I was younger I always wanted to be darker with straighter hair we'll get to hair next segment that's a whole issue in itself , like Eva Pigford's complexion or Stacy Dash's complexion. Back then I used T.V. shows to describe how I wanted to look I'd say "Lisa Turtle"(Lark Voorhiees) from Saved by the Bell or "Dionne/Dee (Stacy Dash)" from clueless, "Ashley" Tatianna Ali from Fresh Prince, "Tiffany" Maia Cambell from In the House" These were the only black girls on the shows I watched then, and some shows didn't even have Black, Spanish , or Indian women. I started feeling more comfortable about my complexion when I saw Denise Huxtable in the Cosby show or Whitley Gibert, Freddy, & Jada Pinkett from A Different World or when I started being compare to "Hillary" from Fresh Prince when it came to style. I even embraced it more with "Gina" from Martin, "Regine" & "Sinclaire" from Living Single, Tia & Tamara & Jackee' from Sister Sister, Ms.Grier from The Steve Harvey show.
My point is as a girl growing up in America television shapes the way you view yourself. On top of that there are family and friends influence as well. I had my days as a young girl when I admired little white girls on t.v. such as Shirley Temple, even cartoons Little Audrey & Little Lu Lu, some of you readers may be too young to know about these but my grandmother made me watch them, along with I Love Lucy, to this day I love Lucille Ball. I never wanted to be Annie because I never wanted to be an orphan and not know my mother or family. There was Blossom, Clarissa from Clarissa explains it all, and many others, I never wanted to look like them just wanted to be like them. I then began looking at Left Eye, Aaliyah, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Pamela Grier, Angela Davis and a host of others I found to be beautiful. I had the same idol since I was 5 which is Marilyn Monroe, many people ask why? Growin up with her stories, movies and pictures surrounding me, and the way she remains a timeless icon, I can't let her go not to mention I've been compared Marilyn Monroe since I was 3.
Today I admire a lot of women who are successful, Vanessa & Angela Simmons are my top 2. I also think they are both beautiful and love their sense of style, I love Gabrielle Union, Tarji P Henson, Kerry Washington, Eva Longoria, America Ferrara, and Kristi Yamaguci as well, oh yeah can't forget Beyonce.LOL. I just hope my daughter can view Sacha & Maliyah in The White House and say Mommy I admire them and they look like me!!! That will be the day I await to see. I hope we can all take from this what we can, and realize we women of color are all beautiful and should all celebrate our beauty and our complexions.
So the question I ask now is why can't we all appreciate the spectrum and variety of complexions we have to offer. I mean look at us. When it comes to being women of color that's just what we are color. An array of color and beauty. I feel we should all compliment each other, but most women do hate or feel if they compliment the other women she'll think you're crazy. I love to see beautiful women. I also love giving compliments, on body shape, hair styles, clothing, complexion, lip gloss, whatever I like about that person that day. I feel that we need to raise our little girls to love the skin their in. When I was younger I always wanted to be darker with straighter hair we'll get to hair next segment that's a whole issue in itself , like Eva Pigford's complexion or Stacy Dash's complexion. Back then I used T.V. shows to describe how I wanted to look I'd say "Lisa Turtle"(Lark Voorhiees) from Saved by the Bell or "Dionne/Dee (Stacy Dash)" from clueless, "Ashley" Tatianna Ali from Fresh Prince, "Tiffany" Maia Cambell from In the House" These were the only black girls on the shows I watched then, and some shows didn't even have Black, Spanish , or Indian women. I started feeling more comfortable about my complexion when I saw Denise Huxtable in the Cosby show or Whitley Gibert, Freddy, & Jada Pinkett from A Different World or when I started being compare to "Hillary" from Fresh Prince when it came to style. I even embraced it more with "Gina" from Martin, "Regine" & "Sinclaire" from Living Single, Tia & Tamara & Jackee' from Sister Sister, Ms.Grier from The Steve Harvey show.
My point is as a girl growing up in America television shapes the way you view yourself. On top of that there are family and friends influence as well. I had my days as a young girl when I admired little white girls on t.v. such as Shirley Temple, even cartoons Little Audrey & Little Lu Lu, some of you readers may be too young to know about these but my grandmother made me watch them, along with I Love Lucy, to this day I love Lucille Ball. I never wanted to be Annie because I never wanted to be an orphan and not know my mother or family. There was Blossom, Clarissa from Clarissa explains it all, and many others, I never wanted to look like them just wanted to be like them. I then began looking at Left Eye, Aaliyah, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Pamela Grier, Angela Davis and a host of others I found to be beautiful. I had the same idol since I was 5 which is Marilyn Monroe, many people ask why? Growin up with her stories, movies and pictures surrounding me, and the way she remains a timeless icon, I can't let her go not to mention I've been compared Marilyn Monroe since I was 3.
Today I admire a lot of women who are successful, Vanessa & Angela Simmons are my top 2. I also think they are both beautiful and love their sense of style, I love Gabrielle Union, Tarji P Henson, Kerry Washington, Eva Longoria, America Ferrara, and Kristi Yamaguci as well, oh yeah can't forget Beyonce.LOL. I just hope my daughter can view Sacha & Maliyah in The White House and say Mommy I admire them and they look like me!!! That will be the day I await to see. I hope we can all take from this what we can, and realize we women of color are all beautiful and should all celebrate our beauty and our complexions.
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