DARK/LIGHT...SKIN COLOR.........Is this still an issue? Let's be honest Sorors & SF' - Page 11

Sahara · #1 04-03-2008, 06:06 PM

As far as people preferring to date people of a specific tone--that's their preference. Honestly, as long as they don't disrespect me in the process, I say live and let live. I have my own preferences, too. I believe the difference between a prejudice instead of a preference is when you won't even consider someone who is dark just because of sterotypes or whatever.

Good/bad hair--There are still morons who think straight hair=good hair and kinky hair=bad hair. If your hair is healthy and looks good, it's good hair. I've seen some women with the kinkiest hair but they looked great with it! I've seen people with naturally straight/long hair and they looked a hot mess! When people make stupid remarks about it, I confront them. It's offensive!

There are beautiful women in ALL skin tones! People are just too immature to appreciate it. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate how beautiful Grace Jones was. I was more caught up in her skin tone (the masculine thing may have also played a part). I'm dark-skinned and was lead to believe that I would never look as good as a light-skinned girl. I believed that mess because that's all I heard. As I've grown, matured, AND LEARNED TO THINK FOR MYSELF, I was able to see and appreciate that there isn't one way to be beautiful.

People naturally categorize people, things, experiences, etc... It's natural. However, some people have an 'us' against 'them' mentality and if those who fall in a different category as them become the enemy (or a threat in some way). The response to that is negative stereotypes. Those sterotypes get perpetuated by followers who just repeat what they're told and can't think for themselves. Unfortunately, this world seems to be made up of mostly those kind of people.

Sahara · #2 04-03-2008, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sahara

People naturally categorize people, things, experiences, etc... It's natural. However, some people have an 'us' against 'them' mentality and if those who fall in a different category as them become the enemy (or a threat in some way). The response to that is negative stereotypes. Those sterotypes get perpetuated by followers who just repeat what they're told and can't think for themselves. Unfortunately, this world seems to be made up of mostly those kind of people.

This applies to org membership too. Some people take the (supposed to be friendly) rivalry thing too far.
But that's a different topic.

Live2Serve · #3 05-11-2008, 10:26 PM

I love reading books about issues that are prominent in our race and I have ALWAYS found the issue of "color" to be a fascinating one. I also think that the the history of HAIR is just as deep and equaly important. Anyway I just wanted to toss up a few good reads
the first: Black No More by George S. Schuyler... this is a satire.. an extremely funny way of simplifying our problem I wont tell any part of the story however the title says alot. You should read it its not only entertaining but it really shows how even if color wasnt a problem we would still find another way to seperate ourselves from eachother.
the second: Hair Story I read it in under 2 hours. It was a totaly new topic to me when I first encountered it I thought it was silly that somebody would write a whole book about hair BUT it was AMAZING!!

so yeah, just thought I would suggest those to whoever! lol I hope you enjoy them if you have not read them already

Live2Serve · #4 05-11-2008, 10:29 PM

Oh, and it was written in 1931... I think thats WILD because it seems as though it could have been written just yesterday. "A classic sign of a timeless book" as my g'ma puts it.

DSTCHAOS · #5 04-03-2008, 01:21 PM

I remember when Oprah first began her talkshow and they were talking about colorisms. One thing that got me (and I was young, of course) was when this light skinned black woman with blondish-brown hair stood to talk about how blacks need to stop separating ourselves.

Well, what got me is that she made a point to say "yeah, I get treated a certain way because my skin is light...oh and this is my real hair and my eyes are really blue." And Oprah was nodding her head like "wow, really?" It wasn't like the woman just just stating the obvious--it almost seemed bragadocious. It's just funny to me when people want to say "don't separate...but I want to be on the record as pointing out my features that make me distinct from the average black person I encounter."

Colorism comes from all sides. Even those of us who are conscious about this may find ourselves guilty of it subconsciously, in some regard, if we don't challenge ourselves (and others) to do better.