Black Is- The Truth About Beauty Standards
Everything was birthed from blackness. Black culture and black influence have been, and are currently, the blueprint of fashion, hairstyles, makeup trends and body goals. From Donyale Luna, Helen Williams, and Dorothy Dandridge of the past, to Lupita Nyong'o, Jordyn Woods, and Justine Skye of the present, and every black woman in between, blackness has been the inspiration of beauty, both subtly and blatantly.
Western society and standards of beauty have flipped the script into portraying a monolithic perception of what is desirable. There has been an attempt to criticize black features on black people, while praising the emulation of our traits on our non-Black counterparts. Almond eyes, thin bodies, small noses and light skin are considered the standard of beauty.
“It is an intentional and systemic act that Black women are minimized, belittled and criticized, while others are celebrated for being copycats.”
Somehow, blackness is left out of the phrase “traditionally beautiful”, while we are, in fact, the originators. The alteration of Black women to be less striking, soften features, and bleach skin has been societally praised, while the alteration of white women to tan, lift their cheekbones, and enlarge their features is glorified and perpetuated at the highest levels of our society. The dichotomy of this situation is glaring because we have been conditioned to believe that our skin and our features are less beautiful. The darker we are, the less beautiful, the bigger the features, the less beautiful, all while others seek to imitate the very features they have belittled Black people for.
Unfortunately, many Black women have fallen victim to the narrative that Blackness is somehow substandard to the European portrayal of beauty that exists. Simply put, that narrative is laughable, and it is a beautiful thing to see the shift in the celebration of Blackness and the standard that Black people have created.
The proof of our Blackness as standard is more evident than ever. We have seen the influence in the way braids, weaves, long nails, colored hair and durags have been deemed ghetto and tacky on Black people, but trendy and fashionable on white people. We have seen it in the way large hips and butts have been criticized and mocked on Black people, but celebrated on people like the Kardashian’s. From our hairstyles to our bodies, our fashion choices, our vernacular, our skin, our music, and our comedy, we are the image to be emulated. It is evident when you go on social media and see Blackfishing, lip injections, and Brazilian butt lifts. It is evident when you walk down the street and see how Black 90’s fashion is back in style. It is evident in the music that is popular and the language that is used, and it is evident in the fact that the word “culture” in the media has become almost synonymous with Black.
“Black is standard, Black is influential, Black is iconic, Black is the precipice on which everything people consider culture is based on.”
It is an intentional and systemic act that Black women are minimized, belittled and criticized, while others are celebrated for being copycats. There has never been a copy that was more valuable than the original. The more phrases like ‘traditionally beautiful’ are criticized, and conversations like “light skin vs. dark skin” are shot down, the more we interject ourselves in the beauty world that has stolen from us, while leaving us behind, the more we change the narrative. The more we embrace our influence, the more we can portray and celebrate the images of all the shapes, shades and beauty that are encompassed, just by being Black.
You are the standard. Black stretches from blonde hair and fair skin to flawless deep skin and coily hair. Anything that exists, exists in Blackness. You are the Eve of beauty, others try to emulate. You are the originator of styles that become trends. You are body goals, you absorb the sun, you are beauty. Black is standard, Black is influential, Black is iconic, Black is the precipice on which everything people consider culture is based on.
Black is.
BY: ALYVIA SYLVESTER
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