By: Ernest F. Camel, III
While it is often a topic of discussion within the black community, I doubt most of white America even realizes… we have always wondered why some White Americans, while not seeming to like us subconsciously admire what has been given to us at birth. Our dark skin, full lips, plump rear ends and sense of style, or as youth today call it “swagger” has been emulated on a wide scale by White America and is evident in the media.
Maybe you have seen Kim Kardashian and wondered if those cheeks, and not the ones on her face are indeed real or saw a white celebrity who you knew didn’t have lips like that years ago. What was your first thought? And I often hear white American women’s obsession with a bigger rear end started with J-Lo and Shakira, while I can’t believe that, since black women have been walking around with these assets since the beginning of time, what do you think?
Statistics obtained from realself.com show that there was a significant rise in buttock implants from 2000 to 2008, with approximately 850 procedures performed. The number slightly declined in 2009 but the procedure generated approximately $3,483,530.
Yet, my biggest question of all is… what is the underlying factor for White America's obsession with darker skin.
I’ve heard numerous Caucasian women say their type is tall, “dark,” and handsome. And they spend a lot of time in tanning beds trying to obtain perfection, though experts have said it could lead to skin cancer.
Recently I spoke with a white female friend of mine who said, “White people pay to be dark skinned.” When I told her it was a topic of discussion in the black community she was shocked. She also said she even thought about lip injections herself. When I asked her why, she said just to have a little extra. There were 21,651 women who received lip injection surgery in 2009, which was up 16 percent from 2000 realself.com shows.
I would assert that White America has always had an obsession with what God naturally gave the darker skinned people of the earth.
Slave masters had black mistresses and their wives followed suit, but in recent times I feel the social climate has allowed people to be more upfront about their true ideals of beauty and the obsession White America has with bigger butts, lips and darker skin has reared its head and been put on display for the world to see through the ever expanding media sources.
This is just one mans opinion. What is your perspective?
3 comments:
What is my perspective? I see this topic in a much different light. I am fully aware of the direction the writer is trying to make but I am not ready to agree. We can pin this obsession of beauty on White America or we could pin it on the real culprits. This is not a white phenomenon. This has more to do with sex then race. A “YWCA Report on the Consequences of America’s Beauty Obsessions on Women stated “Every woman in the United States participates in a daily beauty pageant, whether she likes it or not.” Admit it; we are all engulfed by a popular culture saturated with images of idealized, air-brushed and unattainable female physical beauty, women and girls alike cannot escape feeling judged on the basis of their appearance.
That is the very reason why women of all shades feel chronically insecure, overweight, and quite inadequate, as these images of beauty apply to an ever-shrinking pool of women. The diet, cosmetic, and fashion industries are too willing to exploit these narrow beauty standards so women and girls will become cradle-to-grave consumers of beauty products, cosmetic surgery, and diet programs. We can’t attribute this quest for beauty to one single race. This is affecting women of every race. In America white women focus on having fuller lips, more hips, a rotund backside, and voluptuous breast. This has nothing to do with them being white women. It has everything to do with the culture. In the land of the Brazil, where many men proclaim is the land of the “booty” girls as young as 15 get booty implants to keep up with the Joneses. A lot of men believe Brazilian women are some of the most exotic women in the world, but they are taking the injections as well.
This is not prevalent in the African American community because of socioeconomic situations. While there are a number of women in the African American community that we refer to as “thick” many of them are actually quite out of shape. She may have a nice backside, curvy hips, full breasts, and nice lips. The only problem is she also has a lot of weight to go along with that. Women like Buffy the Body turn men on day in and day out. Guess what? She took backside injections to have a rear end like that. The only difference I see is African American women don’t like to give up their secrets. Look at Star Jones. This woman got the gastro bypass surgery in order to lose her weight yet she lied for a couple years. Even though White American females go out and get surgical procedures don’t assume that means they are more consumed with beauty then any other woman. This has everything to do with money. African Americans may not get a lot of surgery but they wear tighter jeans and look for wonder bras which give the same effect. The problem is our culture has created an image of beauty that most women will never be able to achieve and that is unfair. We can’t say this is due to a particular race because around the world men and women are superficial. The way we look on the outside is more important than what is on the inside. White women may be consumed with getting a tan, but that is because people believe tan skin looks better in clothes. During the Roman Empire the fad was to not be tan. The only people who were tan were the workers. The well off families did their best not to tan. The less of a tan you had the more money you likely had. Now I will live you with a question of my own? Can we say this due to race or can we say it is due to sex?
I don't think it is due to sex or race, but the models that the media portrays as acceptable standards for women. The urban images that are primarily shaped by the hip-hop of course have a preference for more robust backs and breasts. Those who are into fashion, which is controlled by the elite in Paris and New York, favor the rail thin body types, and often have problems with anorexia. One could even say Black Americans have an obsession with white beauty and this is why Billion$ are spent annually to have more relaxed and straighter hair, or why the lighter women are favored amongst African Americans. I think this topic could be broaden to ask why are whites so obsessed with Black culture and identity as a whole, clothes, music, icons, and everything else that they adopt as their own.
I think both of you speak some truth. @ALexander, examining this from a cultural standpoint would be awesome, especially with artists like MGK(Machine Gun Kelly) and Mac Miller on the scene and groups like The White Girl Mod out. I think Hip-Hop is a mjor example of how black culture has been sampled. @Richard, While I understand tanning was not a great thing to do back in the day, it is now, just wondered why. Also, it would be interesting to find out if those girls in Brazil who are getting the butt implants at 15 are more of African Decent or European decent. While I think that White women may be mimicking black attributes on some level and i'm not saying all are doing it for that reason, I would be out of line not to offer up the alternative perspective. While doing my research I also found that Asian women are getting eyelid surgery to look like everyone else in society, black women are definitely getting nose jobs to cut back their African features and there are probably many instances among other cultures where cosmetic surgeries are being done as a means of succumbing to the larger societies ideal of beauty. What do you think?
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