“You’re so pretty...for a dark skinned girl.”
Growing up, I heard these words countless times from people whose complexions were similar, if not the same, as mine. Fashion magazines and movies and music videos featured light-skinned or “fair” (which I find to be a problematic designation, as it’s archaic definition means
beautiful, and the term implies that its opposite is unfavorable or non-beautiful) women. I rarely—if ever—saw myself in these images. The present-day proliferation of images of Eurocentric standards of beauty, combined with intraracial colorism stemming from slavery-era practices of
classification based on skin tone, can lead to self-esteem issues in young people —particularly young women—of color. Inundated daily with images that deny our beauty, where does the young Black girl turn for validation?
Representation matters. In 2014, Lupita Nyong’o was honored with the award for Best Breakthrough Performance at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon. In her acceptance speech, Nyong’o discussed black beauty, telling the audience about a letter that she had received from a young fan. The young girl credited Nyong’o for “saving” her, as she was about to begin using skin-lightening products. Nyong’o herself experienced low self-esteem because of the color of her skin, praying nightly to “wake up lighter-skinned.” It was after she saw Sudanese model Alek Wek strutting