Lately, one might notice that women of color like Avatar's Zoe Saldana and Halle Berry have been the "it" actresses in Hollywood, portraying a diverse range of characters. Not only are they success stories of how actresses of color rise in Hollywood and penetrate into the mainstream, but are often painted as the poster children of beauty. In a society where beauty is closely associated with femininity and gender, sustaining the "in" look becomes a priority for women of all types. But for Caucasian, women Hollywood and the media provides them with a variety of options to base their beauty off of ranging from Cameron Diaz and Drew Berrymore to Megan Fox and Keri Knightley. For women of color, specifically examining African Americans, their mainstreamed idols of beauty are limited to the light skinned, ethnically versatile women like Rihanna, Beyonce, and Tyra Banks. This plays a key role in how middle-class African American women present themselves as beautiful and choose to "dress for success".While being white has its privileges as Peggy McIntosh points out in White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, being considered beautiful in America also has its privileges. This is seen in the marrying choices of richer men, where the "trophy wife" becomes more common. Many women get plastic surgery to become beautiful relative to the media's portrayal of beauty so they can be more desirable to the opposite sex or obtain a job that is based on beauty, which tend to be higher paying than the average job. This is seen in the salaries of super models, exotic dancers, big name actresses, call girls, and luxurious lifestyle of famous porn stars. Let's not forget that when it comes to endorsements, especially for beauty products, the best looking of the crop are chosen, many of who are listed in the above paragraph. While white women have to face this pressure, African American women have to deal with both the racial and the beauty factor to obtain privilege or become more favorable in America where media sets the precedent.
For African American women the pressure to be light-skinned and have straight hair may be present across the class border, but it is more prominent in middle and upper middle class where the most privilege conscious individuals are located. It is the middle class women who can afford to go to expensive salons to have her hair chemically straighten and if desired weaved with 100% non-African American human hair. The rarity of extensions made of African American hair itself shows that natural African characteristics are not desired in the beauty world. It is also these women who can afford the bleaching creams or the more popular term "complexion clearing" products made for women of color, and sold mainly in beauty stores in areas with high a black population. As a result, being dark and having "bad" or "nappy" hair has gotten the stigma as ugly. In the fan constructed top ten list of African American actresses only two of the women were of a darker complexion. This can explain why these women of color try to mask the ascribed features of their race. This Americanized idea of beauty for them contrast drastically from Africa where women of many complexions are desirable and wear their heads shaved.
This stage of socialization is prompted at early stages of an African American girl's life. This is seen in story that my roommate (Caucasian) shared with me about one of her elementary school friends who happened to be African American. One day when they were playing together, the girl reached and grabbed some of my roommates shedding hair and places it on her head. Then she makes the comment, "Now if I water it my hair will grow to be exactly like yours"(which at the time was blond and straight). At early ages children see the ideas of beauty forced on them by the media. Despite her ethnic background, Dora the explorer is not portrayed with curly, lively hair, and none of the original Disney princesses had the darker skin this little girl. She immediately noticed that characteristics of white women were more desired. This is reflected in who is considered beautiful in this race. Even when an African American Miss America is chosen, she closely resembles and bi-racial woman than an African American woman. This is seen with the 2010 winner of the competition who won a $50,000 scholarship, which reinforces the idea of beauty carrying privileges. In the case of the African American woman, beauty is also tied to the nearness of whiteness. While Hollywood and the media is slowly diversifying, faces like Jada Picket and Gabrielle Union are the ones to make to cover of mainstream (non-African American) magazines showing the world what a beautiful African American women should look like. Women like the William sisters will remain second rate and labeled as manly, and actresses like Tara Thorton will remain unknown. The interesting thing is that both races in America accept these definitions of beauty for African American because it has been long standing, showing just how powerful the media can be. As stated in Giltin's Media Unlimited How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives, the supply for these images will continue if there is a demand.
Want to see what America thinks African American beauty should look like for yourself?
Type in African American Actressess into google and see what comes up. http://www.google.com/
How many dark skinned, natural haired, mainstreamed women can you find?
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