11. joulukuuta 2014

Mustat naiset


Lähde

Yllä olevan kuvan naisten perusteella ei pidä tehdä yleistyksiä mustista naisista vaan on myös kauniimman näköisiä mustia naisia, kuten on myös rumia valkoisia naisia, mutta yllä olevalla kuvalla on tarkoitus vaan esitellä mahdollista ulkonäköä, joka ei todennäköisesti miellytä monia eurooppalaisia miehiä.

Alta löytyy mielenkiintoinen tutkimus, jossa valkoiset miehet tuovat esille enimmäkseen kielteisiä näkemyksiä mustista naisista liittyen varsinkin heidän rumaan ulkonäköön vaikka muutama valkoinen mies tykkääkin mustista naisista. Tutkimuksesta syntyy käsitys, että tutkija yrittää tuoda esille monia syitä sille, miksi valkoiset miehet eivät mustista naisista erityisesti tykkää, joista monet ovat hyviä, mutta lopulta karu totuus on vain siinä, että muiden rotujen naiset ja varsinkin valkoiset naiset ovat keskimäärin paremman näköisiä verrattuna mustiin naisiin, eikä tälle asialle tutkija mitään mahda vaikka kuinka paljon keksisi tekosyitä.
In considering heterosexual relationships, black women are the least likely group of men and women to marry, regardless of educational background. The low marriage rate of black women is exacerbated by the fact that black women do not have an interracial marriage rate with white men or other men of color at any significant rate. Analysis of census research over time identifies this persistent trend in black-white intermarriage, which is that black women continue to have the lowest intermarriage rates among groups of color. Additionally, a myriad of interracial dating studies have quantitatively identified that white men overwhelmingly exclude black women as a dating option. Thus, a long-standing persistent trend exists of black women as an excluded heterosexual relationship partner for white men and other men of color.

[...]

A study by Phua and Kaufman (2003) also found in their analysis of personal internet advertisements, for people seeking partners, that blacks were the least preferred racial group and whites the most preferred racial group. The majority of the advertisers in the study across all racial backgrounds “prefer either their own race or [w]hites, and least prefer blacks, regardless of sexual orientation” (P. 991).

A study by Feliciano, Robnett, and Komaie (2008), also supports these findings. The study finds distinct gender differences in the online dating preferences for white men and white women. White men are more likely to be open to dating outside of their race than white women, as white women tend to list a “whites only” racial preference more than men. Both white women and white men are highly likely to exclude blacks as dating preference, however, white men are over two and half times more likely to exclude black women as a racial preference than white women are to exclude black men. The study finds that of the white men who specified a racial preference, 93% excluded black women, which is the most excluded racial group for white men. Despite the fact that white men are more likely to date outside their race than white women and thus less likely to choose a racial preference in dating advertisements (Feliciano, Robnett, and Komaie 2008; Phua and Kaufman 2003), this “openness” to interracial dating is largely exclusive to non-black women. In terms of demographic trends, Feliciano (et al. 2008) find that white men who are religious are four times more likely to exclude black women and white men who are educated are five times more likely to exclude black women as a dating preference, partially supporting the results of Yancey’s earlier mentioned study.

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According to Glen Elder’s (1969) analysis of exchange theory, women of lower social status, exchange attractiveness in order to marry men of a higher social status. Thus, women of lower class status can use their attractiveness to “compensate” for their lower social status and exchange their attractiveness for marriage to a man of higher class. Elder (1969) states that men in America rank attractiveness as one of the top characteristics that they would like to have in a partner. The upper class of society usually defines, controls, and embodies the standards of beauty in society, thus for men seeking to move into the upper class, marrying or dating a woman considered attractive by this class will aid in his ability to be accepted by this higher social group. Elder(1969) also finds a distinction in attractiveness as it relates to skin color, in which the majority of regions across the world consider lighter or fair skinned women as more attractive than women of darker skin tones, allowing lighter skinned women more opportunity for social mobility through marriage. This concept falls in line with America’s European standard of beauty, in which white women of thin build and blonde hair are viewed as the most beautiful and the most feminine (Collins 2005).

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Long standing negative images such as this one in figure 3 assert black women’s beauty as laughable and have black women feeling the strain of the incapacitating beauty standard. Thus, some black women (as well as Asian American women), in contemporary Times, more than ever before, have sought out plastic surgery, attempting to “refine” their noses among other procedures, in hopes of meeting the white ideal (Patton 2006), and thus achieving more societal acceptability in beauty and femininity. Black women are a marketed group for “beautifying” or “whitening” products to help them modify their aesthetic to emulate that of white women; this includes pressing combs, chemical hair straightening products, and bleaching creams. These products are appealing to many black women and have become normative “beautifying” regimens, because often those black women physically closest to the white norm are praised for their beauty within the black community and by the broader white society. In her work Black Looks: Race and Representation, hooks (1992) critically analyses how 1970s iconic black supermodel Iman was praised, in dominant white society, for her “Caucasian” features. The entrance of supermodel Naomi Campbell a decade later, although with darker brown skin, also sparked similar praise as Iman. Campbell, who dons lengthy straight and wavy wigs and weaves, was praised by fashionistas as the “black Bridget Bardot.” hooks (1992: 73) notes that the aesthetic that Naomi Campbell represents and the praise she received for that aesthetic “suggest black women, while appealingly “different,” must resemble white women to be considered really beautiful” (P. 73).

This white constructed notion of black women’s beauty based on a white standard, as stated earlier, affects how blacks view other black’s attractiveness, specifically other black women’s attractiveness. A study by Mark E. Hill (2002), examines how black men and women, growing up in different periods, including a cohort of individuals “coming of age” during the black power and black is beautiful movements, rank the attractiveness of black women (and men) who range in skin color. Overwhelmingly, the study shows that black male and female perceivers ranked the black women with the lightest skin color as the most attractive on a “seven-point attractiveness scale,” whereas for black women with the darkest skin only four women were given a high attractiveness rating on the scale. Hill finds that these finding are not statistically different across, sex, age, education, or region, and thus black men and women had similar views about black women, skin color, and attractiveness. Additionally, those blacks “coming of age” during the black is beautiful movement were just as likely to have “color biases” as those not coming of age during that period of black empowerment (Hill 2002).

In focusing specifically on hair, black women’s hair textures continues to be a central component defining black women as outside of the norm of contemporary beauty standards. As aforementioned, a large market is targeted at black women for hair care products, weaves and wigs, with a designed purpose of making black women’s hair mirror that of the hair texture norm, white women. Black women spend over $200 million on these services at a rate that is three times more than white women’s expenditures on hair care products (Patton 2006). Hair texture and length from historic to present times have long been a central component defining women’s femininity and beauty. According to Collins (2005) hair texture, in terms of having “good” or “bad” hair is integral to “constructing hierarchies of femininity.” Black women with unstraightened, short, kinky, or the derogatory “nappy” hair texture are viewed as having “bad” hair and as masculine, “as short, unstraightened hair was the “norm” for black men (Craig 2002). However, black women with naturally long, straight and/or wavy hair are viewed, (in the black community as well), as having “good” hair and more beautiful as they are closer capable of meeting hegemonic femininity and beauty standards that follow a white woman norm (Craig 2002).

[...]

Sexual attraction for me is a combination of physical and personal attributes. If I find a "black" woman attractive, it is because their hair type and facial features are more representative of the [C]aucasian race. If that aspect is attractive, then their speech and intelligence level would have to be more representative of that found more prevalent in other races (such as [C]aucasian or [A]sian - i.e.: anthropological mongoloids.

[...]

When asked what would need to change for more white men to marry black women, he stated, “Social pressure can dissipate, but being attracted to black women can’t change.” Thus, he seems to provide as a fact that although social pressure from friends and family may quell down, white men will generally never be attracted to black women, particularly black women with black traits. The important thing to realize here is that often what white men view as attractive and unattractive is rooted in how society has been socially constructed in racialized, gendered, and classed terms, a construction that privileges whites and makes it seem generally natural that blackness, such as black facial features, dark skin, or hair texture, is unattractive.

Another respondent, Dan, an older, working-class male from the Midwest plainly articulated one of the most racialized and gendered components of the construction of black female bodies when he expressed, “I tend to read African features as somewhat masculine. The ‘blacker’ the person, the less femininity I tend to see.” Whereas the other respondents alluded to black or too-black features as being a negative “extreme” that incites unattractiveness, Dan articulated that perceived unattractiveness as a sign of masculinity.

[...]

Similarly, James, mentioned earlier in the section during the discussion of white traits, declared that what he finds unattractive about black women, along with facial features, hair and skin texture, is that black women’s “rear ends are too large and out of proportion.” Providing his take on a proportional buttocks and black women, Nelson, a middle class male in his 20s from Idaho, shared what he ideally looks for in women:

White in ethnicity, tan in complexion. Between 5'3 and 5'7 105 to 140 lbs. Hair color isn’treally that important, although blonde is preferable. Breast and ass should be well proportioned to the rest of the body. Long hair is good. And blue or green or grey eyes.

When asked if he could find his ideal woman in black women, he stated:

…I have yet to meet a black woman who is well proportioned and has a good personality. And for the most part, they don’t have blue green or grey eyes.

He later stated that “Beyonce has an ass that is well proportioned to the rest of her body. Alicia Keys is very petite with gorgeous eyes. That is about as far as it goes with me being sexually attracted to black women.” Similarly, Wallace, another respondent from Delaware, who is college educated, middle class and in his 40s, described himself as rarely attracted to black women, stating, “I think some normal weight black wom[e]n have nice above average breast and plump butts that [are] nice. Most black wom[e]n have fat butts and are ugly.”

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I rode a bus with black females (and black males). My interaction consisted of their Rude obnoxious behavior, their foul smell and their disproportionate and ugly bodies. This is not a racist statement because I do not judge people based on their race. My statements are my FACTUAL experiences.

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In describing his attraction to black women, he stated, “I have no more attraction to them than I would to any primate. They do not strike me as truly evolved humanity.” He continues this logic by stating, when asked what would need to change for more white men to marry black women, “Some form of mass insanity or a disease which killed all [A]sian, [C]aucasian and [H]ispanic women. It would have to decimate the sheep population too.”

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I think that black men date and marry white women because they are considered a trophy for them. It is telling white men that they can get their women. 100 years ago, if a white woman was seen with a black man, she would be beaten and him shot. For white women, it is forbidden, taboo love. It wasn't thought much of if a white man had a black woman, it was just for sex.

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Influential sexologist Havelock Ellis (1927), in his work Studies on the Psychology of Sex, intimates, in agreement with German author Stratz, that there is an objective, not constructed, standard of beauty that is “fundamentally” the same throughout the world, by which this objective beauty is found “commonly” and in “perfection among the white peoples of Europe” (P. 40). He states that "savages” or “lower races” admire European “beauty” or “half-caste” members “crossed with white persons” of their race as more attractive than “their own women of pure race” (P. 40).

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Whereas many may see black women as experiencing beauty standards no different from white women, this example shows that a white woman who is averagely attractive is still white and still deemed more beautiful than a black women who is averagely attractive, because a black woman never becomes white, and inherent in the standard of beauty is whiteness.
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Furthermore, given the continued pervasive influence of racism, skin color also plays a significant role in perceptions of ideal beauty for Black women as well as hair and facial features. For example, dark-skinned women have been viewed as less successful, popular, happy, in love, physically attractive, intelligent and healthy than light-skinned Black women. These perceptions are similar to how overweight people are viewed in American society. Therefore, while Black women may appreciate a heavier figure, they can still face discrimination related to other aspects of their physical appearance. Skin tone can influence ratings of attractiveness, and increased skin color satisfaction is related to more positive body image perspectives. Persistent self-monitoring of skin tone has predicted specific both skin color dissatisfaction and depression. However, weight concerns are a growing issue for the younger, Black female community, as they, too, are inundated with media promoting the ideal body type as a thin one. Further evidence suggests that body dissatisfaction is not limited to White women, including a 2009 report suggesting an increase in the number of Black women seeking liposuction and breast enhancement surgeries.

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Research shows that Black women watch more television than White women. Per cultivation theory, one might anticipate Black women to be more heavily influenced by the societal standards being communicated, but existing research suggests this is not the case. Therefore, it could be that they do not invest as much in what the media are communicating. Alternatively, the type of media they consume might focus less on the Western ideals of beauty. Social comparison theory would suggest that Black women are less affected due to the fewer number of Black women depicted in the media. Perkins suggests that the thin-ideal portrayed in the media is most often of White women, thereby making it seem less attainable for Black women. As a result, Black women may be less likely to internalize such images. For example, one study found that exposure to and identification with portrayals of Black women as sex objects contributed to the emphasis on appearance in Black adolescent females.

[...]

Really small waist. Just like, a pretty face. Tiny body. And really fit; how they are when they do that Victoria’s Secret fashion show. They can just walk down in a bra and underwear and have no worries about what they look like because their body is so, considered, perfect. (Black participant)
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Alle poimin muutaman kohdan kirjoituksesta, jossa varsinkin tarkastellaan Zora Neale Hurston:in Their Eyes Were Watching God novellia koskien osaltaan mustien ulkonäköä. Onhan tämä valitettavaa monien mustien naisten kannalta, mutta ei tälle taida mitään voida, jos varsinkin eurooppalaiset miehet tykkäävät enemmän naisista, joilla on pitkät kiiltävät hiukset ja vaalea ihonväri. On typerää kuvitella, että nykyisen helpottuneen liikkuvuuden ja eksotiikan ihainnoinnin takia miehet tai ihmiset muutenkin tykkäisivät ihan millaisesta ulkonäöstä tahansa vaan jos jossain etnisessä ryhmässä valitettavasti naiset ovat keskimäärin ulkonäöltään huomattavan erilaisia länsimaisen kauneusihanteen mukaan joutuvat nämä naiset syrjinnän kohteeksi vaikka joku viidakkokuumeen omaava mies olisikin näistä naisista innostunut.

Moni tekee virhepäätelmän koskien sekarotuisia parisuhteita kuinka ulkonäöllinen erilaisuus viehättäisi vaikka todellisuudessa kyse on naisen osalta feminiinisestä ulkonäöstä, joka miellyttää monia miehiä ja tämä on yksi syy, miksi länsimaalaiset miehet tykkäävät paljonkin aasialaisista naisista. Jos aasialainen nainen olisi huomattavan maskuliininen ja alkukantainen ulkonäöltään eivät varmasti eurooppalaiset miehet olisi heistä yhtä innostuneita kuin nyt. Tietenkin aasialaisen naisen ulkonäössä koskien varsinkin silmien muotoa ja kasvojen lättänyyttä on mukana kivasti eksoottista ulkonäköä, mutta nähdäkseni syy heistä tykkäämisessä on pitkälti miehen näkökulmasta feminiinisestä ulkonäöstä vaikka toisaalta aasialaisella naisella ei aina vartalo ole feminiininen, jos ajatellaan takapuolen ja rintojen kokoa.
This paper is written to shed light on racism in general and internalized racism in particular. The application of the study of internalized racism on Mrs. Turner in Hurston’s novel illuminates a very significant fact about the Black females now and then. Under racism which is the white imperialism and superiority, the back women have been programmed to believe in White standards of beauty and this latter is called internalized racism. Hurston so skillfully characterizes Mrs.Turner who is psychologically oppressed under this system of internalized racism. Her esteem of white skin and straight hair while she is black with kinky hair oppresses her because of her being a colored woman. Thus Race and gender converge on this issue of evaluating beauty and this purports to the belief of Black feminists that women are oppressed not only because they are women but also because they are black women.

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According to Tyson, institutionalized racism leads to internalized racism. He contends that many African-Americans suffered from internalized racism and despite the success of black-pride advocates, many people of color continue to suffer from it today. Internalized racism, argues Tyson (2006), results from the psychological programming by which a racist society indoctrinates people of color to believe in white superiority. African-American women, argues Collins (2002), experience the pain of never being able to live up to prevailing standards of beauty used by White men, White women, Black men, and, most painfully, one another.

[...]

According to Collins, within binary thinking, blue-eyed, blond, thin White women could not be considered beautiful without the Other—Black woman with African features of dark skin, broad noses, full lips, and kinky hair. He (2002) argues that within this binary, White and Black women represent two opposing poles, with Latinas, Asian-American, and Native American women jockeying for positions in between.
Lähde

Vaikka voidaan sanoa myös mustien naisten joukossa olevan kasvoiltaan hyvin siroja ja söpöjä naisia verrattuna moniin valkoisiin naisiin vaikuttaa tässä kuitenkin aina lopulta myös samankaltaisista tykkääminen, että länsimaissa varsinkin eurooppalaiset naiset saavat varsinkin eurooppalaisten miesten takia paremman aseman, että heitä pidetään kauniina vaikka toisaalta myös aasialaisistakin naisista tykätään. Tästä joidenkin aitojen ja usein sekarotuisten mustien naisten kauneudesta huolimatta eivät monien mustien naisten kasvot ja Yhdysvalloissa usein myös lihava vartalo miellytä valkoisia miehiä vaikka joidenkin valkoisten naisten himo mustaa miestä kohtaan on ymmärrettävää.


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Löytyi taas uusi tutkimus afroamerikkalaisten naisten ulkonäköpaineista, jota voi tietenkin verrata tuohon vietnamilaisia naisia koskevaan tutkimukseen. Näissä tutkimuksissa tehdään usein sellainen virhe, että ei katsota, mitä kauneustutkimukset kertovat naisen kauneudesta vaan yleensä puhutaan siitä kuinka valkoiset tai länsimaalaiset aiheuttavat ulkonäköpaineita ja halua täten muokata ulkonäköä. Tämä on yksi syy, miksi olen tätä kauneustutkimustani tehnyt, että nämä perhanan tutkijat ovat usein yksipuolisia samojen juttujen toistajia. Eiköhän usein totuus löydy siltä väliltä, että valtaväestöllä ja länsimailla on varmasti vaikutusta, mutta tämä vaikutus perustuu lopulta myös valkoisen naisen kauneuteen, koska jos eurooppalainen nainen olisi hyvin alkukantaisen näköinen, niin ei varmaan aasialainen nainen sanoisi eurooppalaista naista kauniiksi ja lopulta aasialainen nainen haluaa olla enemmän siro kaunis nainen, eikä varsinaisesti eurooppalaisen naisen näköinen, koska eurooppalainen nainen on kuitenkin aika suurikokoinen ja kasvot ovat myös voimakkaammat, koska aasialaisella ne ovat lättänämmät.

Alla olevassa lainauksessa tuodaan esille kuinka mustilla naisilla olisi itsentuntoon liittyviä ongelmia vaikka tutkimuksissa on usein kerrottu korkeasta itsetunnosta ja myös siitä kuinka medialla ei olisi niin suurta vaikutusta mustiin naisiin, koska musta nainen ei pysty samaistumaan valkoiseen naiseen yhtä paljon kuin aasialainen tai valkoinen nainen ja tämän lisäksi mustien keskuudessa ei nähdä naisella lihavuutta tai kurvikkuutta yhtä kielteisesti, joten tältäkin osin ei ole yhtä paljon ulkonäköpaineita kuin valkoisella naisella. Tämä ei tietenkään poista, etteikö mustilla naisillakin olisi paljon huolia ulkonäön kanssa ei vaan valkoisten takia vaan myös afroamerikkalaisten keskuudessa, koska monelle mustalle naiselle esikuvana on helposti Nicki Minaj, Tyra Banks ja Beyoncé, jotka kaikki jossain määrin lähestyvät valkoiselle naiselle tyypillistä ulkonäköä. Kuten olen myös aiemmin kertonut esiintyy mustien keskuudessa colorismia kuinka usein varsinkin mustat miehet suosivat vaaleampia mustia naisia, joilla on myös hyvät suoremmat hiukset.

Tässä tutkimuksessa, kuten usein muissakin mainitaan ihonväri ja hiukset, niin nämä tekijät eivät ole ongelma aasialaiselle tai vietnamilaiselle naiselle vaikka toisaalta aasialaiset naiset selvästi haluavat tehdä itselleen vieläkin vaaleamman ihonvärin, johon liittyen ihmettelin eilen Filippiiniläisen yrityksen Maxi-Peel tuotteita, joissa on kuvissa hyvin eurokeskisen ulkonäön omaavia naisia, että ovatko mahdollisesti osittain eurasialaisia. Onhan tämä tietenkin valitettavaa monien mustien naisten kannalta, että heillä on tällaisia ulkonäköpaineita, joista eivät muut naiset samalla tavalla kärsi, kun taas musta mies ei samalla tavalla joudu hiusten tai ihonvärin takia kärsimään, koska nainen ei samalla tavalla vaadi mieheltä pitkiä hiuksia ja vaaleampaa ihonväriä, kuten ei aina vaadi edes eurooppalainen nainen vaikka hänelle itselleen pitkät hiukset ja vaalea ihonväri olisivat tärkeä osa feminiinisyyttä.
Black women today still struggle with self-esteem due to the perpetuation of lighter skin and long hair continuously used as the representation of the collective Black women of our community. This is reflected among popular Black women such as Nicki Minaj, Tyra Banks and even Beyoncé who have lightened their skin tone and lightened and straightened their hair to fit a more favorable perception of Black women, which young Black girls idealize.

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Beauty definition is classified as any instance where the participants would pinpoint certain physical features that were favorable and/or desired leading to what they considered beautiful. Key words and phrases that surfaced around beauty were ‘lighter,’ ‘smaller nose’ “if your hair is not straight…” “you’re pretty for a black girl,” that emphasized a Western beauty ideal. Eurocentric qualities of light skin and straight hair was emphasized as the message of what beauty is in our society through comments the participants make in regards to how they are compared to others.

[...]

The young women that exuded more positive perception of self-image usually mentioned comments from family as an influence. An example of this is one participant mentioning that her father said, “no matter what, if the KKK comes through this town, it does not matter if you are light skin, dark skin. If you’re not white, you’re getting hung. And so to me, that’s always been my thing like I don’t care if you’re light or dark.”

[...]

Study findings show that family influence was the strongest component to how young African American women perceive themselves considering most conversations stemming from family experiences. Experiences within the home and conversations with family members directed the lens of how these young women viewed their physical appearance as well as their sisters. Interestingly, media had a lower influence on the participants but was mentioned as a tool for conversations around the color complex to occur. Media is a main indicator of the division of skin color within the Black community through representation and trending topics such as #teamlightskin and #teamdarkskin.

Interestingly, men played a prominent role in the way younger African-American women assessed their beauty in comparison to male preferences. Many of the participants can recall an experience regarding African-American men that confirmed their beauty or led them to question their beauty. Social science data suggest that African American men have long found fair-skinned women the most sexually desirable; African American men adopted Eurocentric notions linking femininity to whiteness (Clark and Clark 1980; Drake and Cayton 1945; Freeman et al. 1966; Urdy et al. 1971; Hill 2002). Young African American women are affected by this phenomenon, which is evident in my research through Black men preferring lighter skinned Black women or these women expecting be considered attractive based on the interest Black men reflect in their choice of the ideal woman.

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That very feeling of belongingness is made clear through treatment and comments whether they are positive or negative which I found evident when a participant, Sarah, mentioned her mother using skin whitening products but still telling the participant that her black skin was beautiful. Ironically, her mother did not believe her own skin tone was valuable which leads her daughter to begin to question her value as a Black woman.

[...]

The connotations with black skin are usually classified as negative and unfavorable leading some of the participants to want to disassociate with the term and rather be called brown; what they believe their skin color really is. Shanice, a focus group participant, states a powerful realization explaining, “I mean it’s sad cause for so long white people or the Caucasian race was against people darker skinned. And I think people in our own community are against each other because of like dark skin…” putting the intra-group conflict of the color complex, specifically skin color politics, into context.
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Enimmäkseen mustien naisten Lipstick alley sivustolta löytyy mielenkiintoisia keskusteluja, että voi myös havaita kuinka mustilla naisilla on monenlaisia huolenaiheita, jotka eivät taida samassa määrin vaivata esim. eurooppalaista naista koskien varsinkin ulkonäköä.
No the problem roots from the white standard of beauty that was imposed on black women hundreds of years ago through slavery and white domination. Instead of black men fighting it and encouraging black women to love their natural beauty, they bought into it and that is why 90% of black women either relax their hair or wear weaves. Black men elevate non-black and mixed race women over mono-racial black women, while no other race of men places women mixed with black or full black women above their own women.
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Black Men Who Think Kinky/Natural Hair Looks Good On Them But Not on Black Women?
"Stop trying to force us to call her beautiful"
Biracial Women replacing Black Women in the media
White people didn't see he was Black ??

Alla voi havaita kuinka mustat naiset laitetaan ulkonäön perusteella hierarkiaan ja kuinka hyvät hiukset ovat tärkeitä.


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