"I love your features. You have strikingly sharp features. Can you imagine how lovely you'd have looked with a lighter skin tone?"
I wonder why is it that 'pretty'/'beautiful' and 'dark skinned' are considered an oxymoron. Why do you have to be either or; why can't you be both?
How often have you seen a full busted, dark skinned woman take on a role that was tailor written for her? The only times I've seen it is when Whoopi Goldberg did movies like Sister Act. Hell, I can't imagine ANYONE else pulling off Sister Mary Clarence with such elan! That role was meant for her; or someone who was exactly like her. Some size 2 actor with fair skin would just not have cut it. Am I sounding judgmental here? May be so!
Every time I look in the mirror, I see someone smiling back at me. 'That is a pretty face', I tell myself. I wonder if you do the same!
Nonetheless, come to think of it. It's not every day that one gets to hear a compliment about how stunning they are looking, or how pretty their hair looks, etc. Well I guess that happens to my lighter skinned counterparts who sport slimmer waistlines and blemish free skin. Haven't we all seen the million comments em pretty fair skinned chicas get when they change their profile pictures on facebook, eh? Don't get me wrong. I don't hate them for being fair skinned, just like I don't automatically love people for being dark skinned.
However, its the fact that skin color becomes a factor to love or hate that makes me feel anything but absolute disdain.
Some day, I hope there will come a time when people will let go for the prejudices that have been around for years. I hope people will stop trying to sell their fairness creams to me. No, I don't want to get a facial done because you think I have a tan. I don't have a tan. This is just the color of my skin. It's chocolate-y and it's gorgeous. If only you could open your eyes and see!
I wonder why is it that 'pretty'/'beautiful' and 'dark skinned' are considered an oxymoron. Why do you have to be either or; why can't you be both?
How often have you switched on your television set and seen a dark skinned protagonist. Correct me if I'm wrong; but don't most dark skinned people who land protagonist roles also fall into the category of 'lighter skinned dark tones with fabulous bodies that are to die for'. Eh?
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| Whoopi Goldberg as Sister Mary Clarence in Sister Act (1992) |
Every time I look in the mirror, I see someone smiling back at me. 'That is a pretty face', I tell myself. I wonder if you do the same!
Nonetheless, come to think of it. It's not every day that one gets to hear a compliment about how stunning they are looking, or how pretty their hair looks, etc. Well I guess that happens to my lighter skinned counterparts who sport slimmer waistlines and blemish free skin. Haven't we all seen the million comments em pretty fair skinned chicas get when they change their profile pictures on facebook, eh? Don't get me wrong. I don't hate them for being fair skinned, just like I don't automatically love people for being dark skinned.
However, its the fact that skin color becomes a factor to love or hate that makes me feel anything but absolute disdain.
Some day, I hope there will come a time when people will let go for the prejudices that have been around for years. I hope people will stop trying to sell their fairness creams to me. No, I don't want to get a facial done because you think I have a tan. I don't have a tan. This is just the color of my skin. It's chocolate-y and it's gorgeous. If only you could open your eyes and see!
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