I hate that people think that whitewashing happens in a vacuum and affects no one
It does have actual, tangible effects on real people.
First - I’m not dark by any means and definitely have light-skinned privilege. In terms of skin color, I have to admit I never really felt that bad. Tanning got big, so my white friends wished they were around my shade anyway, probably a little lighter. In other words, it’s not that I ever wanted to be white.
Not only that, but I was always happy with my own dark hair and eyes as a child. I was naive and didn’t understand why anyone would be unhappy with their appearance.
Most of the singers I liked as a child had dark hair (at least some of the time) and eyes. Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Brandy, Monica, Amerie, Mya, most of Total and old Destiny’s Child, and so on. I loved Ashanti and Christina Milian, and I was so happy to see artists who had dark hair. Then around 2003, both dyed their hair. With the exception of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, India.Arie, and Jill Scott, most of my favorite artists followed suit. After that, I feel like a lot of artists started having lighter and lighter hair. Not to mention the fact that their skin got progressively lighter on magazine covers and commercials. Now, this is not meant to be an attack on the individual artists, but rather the trend.
The Inexplicable Whitening of Beyonce:
The other day, when Beyonce was named the most beautiful woman, it hit me: she is now lighter than me. Me. Me, a mixed girl.
Which leads me to being mixed; as I said before, as a child I had no problem with my features. Slowly, even I began feeling dysphoric about my appearance. I started hating my nose. I started dying my hair light in the summer. I tried out color contacts (and probably would have worn them if not for my aversion to touching my eyes). At 5’ 5” and 120 pounds, I felt like my hips and thighs were huge. The reassurance of my family and friends was not enough for me to accept this. I began to think that it was some divine curse that I had to be mixed, but without any of the “good features”; and this is coming from someone who is lighter and has “good hair” (fuck that statement and norm).
It does matter when you whitewash characters and actual women of color, because there is such a limited representation of women of color as is. Often, the women of color who are represented are those who are thin enough, light enough, with European noses, light hair, or light eyes. I’ve had some people message me asking if I could give my opinion on how this could really make a difference, and I couldn’t give a good answer at the time (and sadly asks are gone once you answer).
When you selectively exalt some women of color to a higher level than others, you are saying that those are the most beautiful women. When those women all happen to adhere as closely as possible to some Eurocentric norm of beauty that is impossible to attain, you’re making a statement about beauty - and it’s not some coincidence.
