Colourism and Its Betrayal of Those Who Are Dark Skinned

by Eternity Uwaifo

“Anybody who thinks that shadeism does not exist is not being honest…There is a lot of pressure on women to conform to a certain image, shadeism is another manifestation of that.” – Sharon Hurley Hall (author of Exploring Shadeism).

Colourism has existed for centuries, determining how attractive and worthy you are in today’s society based on your skin tone. It is embedded in all parts of our society, especially in beauty standards and entertainment, teaching especially young women that they’d be more successful or have more opportunities if they were lighter, due to this many young ethnic minorities suffer from a sort of self-hatred for the skin that they’re in.

History
Colourism emerged from the Western world as a consequence of slavery, as white masters usually favoured their lighter skin or mixed-race slaves who were more often children birthed from rape of darker skinned slaves. These slaves were generally given preference over those who were darker skinned, as they looked whiter. Many masters allowed their lighter skinned slaves to work in the house as maids or servants, while those with darker skin were made to do more physical labour, out in the fields. However, colourism does not only exist in the Black community, it’s also very prominent within the Asian community too, where those with darker skin are stereotyped as being dirty and poor due to the fact that many peasants, who worked in the hot sun, had darker skin while those who were richer and more elite had lighter skin [1]. Consequently, this created inequality and a class divide between the two.

Beauty Standards
Colourism not only limits beauty standards but it also creates a dislike towards darker skin, creating a huge market for skin lightening products. By the year 2024, approximately $8,895 million dollars [2] will be spent around the globe by people desperately trying to appeal to Western beauty standards by chemically lightening their skin. Several dark-skinned successful actresses have spoken out saying that they prayed to be lighter when they were younger such as Lupita Nyong’o, Gabrielle Union, and Keke Palmer [3]. Although Lupita Nyong’o was People’s magazine most beautiful in 2014, this proves that many young black women will ignore the beauty of their own darker skin tone, in an effort to appeal to the strong conditioning submerged deep within today’s society. Likewise, many dark skinned models who are successful in the industry are perceived as being divas or a lot to handle, thereby undermining their work or even them as a model, for example Naomi Campbell who is known less for her class and dedication to modelling but more for her explosive and diva moments, with her most viewed video on YouTube being “Naomi Campbell’s Shades Are Really Entertaining”. Even though, colourism is rife in the Black community, it still proves to be a massive problem within Asian and Hispanic communities as well. YouTube couple Bilal and Milma in an interview with the BBC stated that in the Asian community, they were always looked down upon for “being a bit too brown”. The couple say that colourism is very prominent in South Asia where “white is more desirable” [4]. In South Korea the skin whitening industry is one of the top industries that rakes in the most revenue, with many surgeons promoting skin whitening treatments and injections.

The Entertainment Industry
It is no secret that in the entertainment industry there is an absence of dark-skinned female celebrities, whether this be singers or film stars. Several of our female chart-topping singers and/or rappers are light skinned: Mariah Carey, Doja Cat Nicki Minaj etc. In an interview with Ebony magazine Matthew Knowles acknowledged that the success and fame of his daughters Beyonce and Solange was mostly because of their light skin, supporting his point by saying “Do you think that’s an accident [that they’re light skinned]?”[5]Alexandra Burke further affirmed this saying that through her career in music she was frequently “asked to bleach her skin to look more whiter”[6] being told that having her look whiter would appeal more to a white audience and market. Colourism portrayed through today’s media conveys the pre-existing tendency in media companies to which people have been oblivious to for years where lighter skin actresses or singers have preference and benefit more than those with darker skin and enjoy a more successful career. In many films the actors who are darker skinned are thugs or criminals while their lighter skinned co-stars are able to play the love interest or have a more civilised role in the movie. Take Coming to America for example, a film that was majorly popular during the 80s and 90s for the humour of Eddie Murphy and the laughable antics of his character Akeem and his best friend Semmi. But even though the film provided plenty of laughs, the film also pushed a more subliminal message to its audience between Lisa (Akeem’s love interest) and her sister Patrice, Lisa who was light skinned was portrayed as desirable and sweet while Patrice who was noticeably darker was portrayed as loud and hyper-sexual. This is also similar to Bollywood where dark skinned actresses have to work ten times harder to get their foot in the door and play lead roles. However, times are slowly changing, and this is getting easier with dark skin actresses such as Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Brandy Norwood and Viola Davis paving the way for other dark-skinned actresses in the Western World.

The effects of colourism in our society can be devasting, as dark skinned children grow up and understand that dark skin is not praised or appreciated by those around them whether that be by in their community or society, they will eventually grow into feelings of contempt or even hatred towards the skin that they were born in. Thinking that they would be more attractive or that their life would be easier if they were lighter. As a mixed-race person with a black father hardly any of the TV shows or movies that came out when I was young had many black people or even mixed-race people in them, there was certainly a lack of representation that I was oblivious to when I was younger. Even though this is getting better with having some Disney movies showcasing ethnic minorities or being recast with ethnic minorities such as Mulan, Pocahontas, Cinderella and Princess and the Frog there are still too many Disney movies and children’s books that are catered towards white people, perpetuating the ideals that colourism stands on, the whiter you are the more attractive you are and the more you have to offer society.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/colourism-entertainment-world-feminist-issue-mathew-knowles-beyonce-a8205181.html
[2] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/1685903/0/en/Global-Skin-Lightening-Products-Market-Will-Reach-USD-8-895-Million-By-2024-Zion-Market-Research.html
[3] https://www.thoughtco.com/the-effects-of-colorism-2834962
[4] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-46826620/colourism-is-big-in-the-asian-community
[5] https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/colourism-entertainment-world-feminist-issue-mathew-knowles-beyonce-a8205181.html
[6] https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/entertainment-arts-53120390

---