Some Facts about women:
We are our own worst enemies when it comes to empowering each other.
We do not support each other’s growth and development; instead we bash one another in all manner and form.
We seek refuge in the images given to us by the world on a silver platter and spend our lives trying to live up to the expectations of six billion people of whom 99.99 percent, we do not know.
We follow blindly in the footsteps of those we know will offer us temporary solutions to our long term problems and leave our eyes wide shut to the chance of better living.
Some Facts about black women:
We are not confident enough to embrace our own culture and heritage; this has left room for us to be extremely inundated by slight changes in the flow of the world.
We are no longer interested in feeding our own needs first before fulfilling anybody else’s, we have no identity hence.
We are on a constant prawl for the next thing that will bring us closest to a Caucasian appearance, implying that this is “true beauty” obviously admitting that our own look is as good as a fish on a bicycle (not a sight!)
We do not appreciate diversity as a means to the end as intended by God in the first place (ref. Genesis Chapter 1 through 10)
Other facts
So many women in our society today have taken to the belief that anything that is not dark, or brown, is beautiful. The one gift given by God and is most unappreciated is the diversity in human beings. Women especially have taken this on another tangent that is proving to be more and more dangerous than just a simple concern for the society. In our society, conforming is the norm and “being like” is the term, black women have reverted to a point where it is more important to give the illusion of being like a white person than behaving like a cultured and well brought up person. The number of black women that do not feel appreciated and secure has vastly increased and so has the need to bleach their skin in order to be in the market (whichever market that is).
Being darker skinned for a black girl is comparable to a curse that has one bound for eternity (ref. society’s preferences); they can never look at a girl and tell her that she is gorgeous, when in actual sense she truly is, just because she is a tone down from all their expectations of this certain gorgeous. Instead synonyms such as ethnic and or African beauty or chocolate girl are employed and meant to make one feel like she fits in somewhere. We have even coined a new phrase “she is pretty…for a dark skinned girl” how juvenile! I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King would do if he lived in our time (WWMLKD-what Would Martin Luther King Do)
We have made ourselves believe that men will not look at us or accept us if we do not fit into their quota of beauty that includes brightened skin and Caucasian looks. Not even by the greatness we have achieved in our lives and the people that we have come to be. Yes. We have stooped as low as making males choose our identity for us, and help us define our path in a not so very constructive manner. These so called “men” have proceeded to put pressure on women by indirectly suggesting their preferences through all channels possible, and being the driving force behind all sorts of negative demeaning pressures and challenges all black women will ever face in their life time. We bend over backwards and peg our every move on how to “improve” our looks much to their delight.
The way that we have seen the different color skinned girls treated in this day and age is alarming, when you watch television its nothing but almost white girls (originally black or bi racial) in all your commercials, music videos, even singers and actresses and you wonder whether the dark skinned girl ever made it to the auditions. Beyonce was always looked at as one of the hottest members of destiny’s child while Kelly Rowland took a back seat and was always considered the odd one out, not pretty, weird, bitchy. These stereotypes have reflected greatly on our viewers at home and they now perceive what they see on there as the holy truth.
You can keep Beyonce, thank you. I’ll have two Kelly Rowlands.
Disclaimer:
I would never like to put anyone else down by making this seem like a sermon about dark skinned women being the Jesus’ and shun everybody else. It is important to acknowledge that people are born different and have no choice in how they turn out to be, it is also importance to preach that we should embrace ourselves for who we are and appreciate our cultures and upbringing. We are therefore at liberty to entertain and mingle in other cultures as we please, as long as you are always a true representation of yourself.
It makes me sad to know that after the pain and torment black people have been through, we have still managed to come out the victims of our own struggle, we are now almost “racist” in our thoughts and deeds towards the different versions of ourselves. We have made a majority of girls insecure and afraid to believe in their own capabilities to come forth as the strong, brilliant and empowered women of the world because of the kind of segregation we have bestowed upon them.
I wonder who sets these kinds of standards in our society, is there a board of directors and trustees entrusted with this over the moon task of painting the world white? What a brilliant job. They must be the Picassos of our day with such refined skills. It must be the highest paying job in the world, bearing the weight of billions of the world’s population on your shoulder and daunting thousands more, I’m pretty sure whoever you are you wake up every day with the confidence of a thousand Spartans thinking that you have added value to the world. Pathetic.
Women for centuries have been oppressed and then when we have just overcome the final hurdle we realize that we still have to compete with ways of the world. The last thing any woman needs in this trying times is to have to cope with a rotten society, we need to be empowered and to seek happiness from within ourselves the kind of happiness that even when you are alone in the confines of your bedroom left only with your thoughts, you are able to smile and be satisfied with all the things you have done and decisions you have made.
One of the mysteries about skin altering I came across after watching the Tyra show one evening was as follows:
Some women are willing to do almost anything to lighten the color of their skin … including the use of bleach, despite the negative or harmful side effects. What’s really scary is that you can buy bleaching creams in stores across the country. While these creams are intended to be used on small spots to reduce scarring, as we saw on the show, some women slather creams over their entire bodies. But is the result worth the risk — even if the risk is cancer? Read on for the scary side effects of these controversial creams.
Mercury
Even small doses of Mercury can cause neurological damage. This concern is so great, Minnesota has outlawed cosmetics like skin lighteners that intentionally feature it. But some “mom and pop” shops carry creams with that contain extreme levels of such ingredients.
Hydroquinone
This component of many skin-bleaching techniques is also found in film developing products. (Note: Your body is a work of art, but should you treat it like a chemically processed photo in a darkroom? We think not!) The idea of using this ingredient didn’t sound good to the French, who banned it for fear of cancer risks.
Alpha Hydroxy Acids
These are most commonly found in facial chemical peels, which are better known as procedures reserved for serious and infrequent skin overhauls administered by professionals. These should not be in anything you use at home regularly.
Arsenic
Most people hear this word and immediately think “poison,” which is exactly what arsenic is. Not something you want to find on the list of ingredients in your face cream, but that might be the case with some skin lighteners.
SO WATCH WHAT YOU ARE PUTTING ON!
I hope that I can start up a conversation with this cause and let all the women out there know that they are beautiful no matter their skin tone and race. We need to create an atmosphere where we make our own standards and respect each other, this way we block out all negativity that comes in with the breeze of the ‘MANsoon’ and all other aspects of society that advocate for the destruction of women and their self esteem. This is just the beginning of something great, only as soon as we realize what we are capable of achieving.
peace and love
xx
