Is Beyonce betraying her roots/heritage by having blonde hair etc?

[MissyKLo]

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown has written an interesting article about Beyonce and the 'impact' her 'look' has on impressionable youngsters.

I am not white myself and would be interested to see what people think about Beyonce's look... is she trying to look more 'European'? Is Yasmin right when she says that:

black celebrities appear to deny their heritage by trying to make themselves look white, I despair for the youngsters who see those images

and she also says:

The answer is that every woman of colour has an important social and cultural history that cannot simply be bleached away or denied by the use of hair straighteners. That?s why I passionately believe that Beyonce?s ignorance of how this betrays her heritage is so insidiously damaging to all peoples of colour

I do think that people should always wear and be however they want to be, but I can't help but feel that Yasmin has made some good points here, especially about young women of colour having strong role models of colour - I embrace my skin colour and would never dye my dark hair blonde because that is my taste, but is there more to Beyonce's new look? Is she betraying her heritage?

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1358119/Beyonce-Knowles-Why-I-believe-betraying-black-Asian-Women.html

manic

i am working on banishing the bloody hairy lip forever but the older i get the worse it gets

attacks my bleedin chin now too! aghhhhhhhh

Beyonce does look weird in that picture. i can understand why black women find it offensive. it is not the same as getting a tan

my two asleep too

i should be cleaning the bloody messy kitchen but can't be arsed

I'm a man of colour.

Mainly red when i'm abroad but it doesn't make me an expert on red people.

The only Woman it concerns is the lovely Beyonce and her own self esteem.

Most black woman do not embrace the whole afro hair thing do they? Lots of famous black woman wear wigs/weaves or have extensions such as Tyra Banks, Alexandra Burke, Naomi Campbell etc. In fact I am struggling to think of a black celeb female with natural hair - can you?

Agree Beyonce does look paler but I'd be very surprised if she had bleached her skin.

I spent about 5 years perming my hair and tanning. I think women want to experience looking different & experiment. People in the public eye/artists like Beyonce can experiment much more widely with their looks. Everyone I know with curls (regardless of colour) would LOVE straight hair, whereas until the poker straight trend of recent years, women with straight hair were often desperate for a bit of curl.

Having said that my DP/inlaws are British Jamaicans and the women ALL have straight hair and go though a heck of a lot of hassle to keep it that way. I do talk to them about it and I think alot of it has to do with the fact the women feel their hair has been effectively ruined by straightening (sadly even a 17 year old) and so they are all on paths of no return as far as hair grooming goes. Who's to say hot iron hair straightening/relaxing isn't simply about being black & finding ways for some variety with afro hair as opposed to wanting to be white?

I find the subject quite fascinating and would love to look into gender roles/hair/colour etc a lot more given the (fat) chance on an academic level.

DD is mixed race - she has my dark blonde fine hair, but with a very mixed race curls/corkscrews. It's so gorgeous and everyone comments on it - including loads of complete strangers. However my DP & inlaws just see her hair as an issue, or a problem to be dealt with. They would much rather see it plaited (which looks great) than curly (which looks amazing). The curly mop which is gorgeous to most is a bit of an abomination to them so I know they see her hair differently - though it's def NOT afro hair like theirs. I guess they look at her hair through their own "hair issue goggles".

But at the end of the day I see Beyonce as a proud black woman & I think it's insulting to her to suggest she wants to be white.

Lightness of skin in black culture is sadly equated with beauty. The lighter you are, and more caucasian you look, the more beautiful you are considered.

I told my husband about this thread.

He looked confused and said "Good grief. She's just done her hair. People try to create problems where there are none."

I think he's right.

Oh & guess what Yasmin, black people tan in the summer too & go paler when they avoid the sun - like after a long winter!

Agreeing with StarlightPrincess, Beyonce is just a very stark example of a particular (very white) standard of beauty being used as the standard of beauty for all women. It's why, as DrNortherner said, pretty much all women on colour in the spotlight have very white-seeming features, particularly when it comes to hair.

finding

your daughter sounds gorgeous!

I have always thought that Beyonce was a proud black woman too but I don't know...

Yes, of course, everyone should dress and have their hair how they like, I just thought it was interesting

I too straighten my frizzy mophead all the time as I hate it! lol

hymie - lol you made me laugh with your red man statement

use spf 25 at least!

i have not read everything but i think the article is total racist bollocks.

A person of colour what the fuck is this?

Everyone has a colour and it does not mean that they represent everyone with that same colour. She is not letting her side down because she chooses the change her style. this is totaly racist to say that she should be ashamed of the impact she is having on young balck kids.

she will only be betraying her roots if she forgets to top it up every six weeks

ffs

he should be ashamed of the impact she is having on young balck kids.

To be fair to Beyonce, she's only conforming to the white beauty stereotype, she can't be held responsible for the actions of others.

I don't even remember what colour my Mothers hair used to be, she's got a head like a traffic light.

This article is an insult to Beyonce and doesn't offer any reasoning other than suggest that it's a product of colonial rule.

there's her reason for publishing it.

spoc and starlight you make some valid points

when i read the article i was just not sure but i think you are right that she is just expressing herself - yet, if some children of colour start to dislike their hair etc because they see women like Beyonce being blonde etc, that is worrying but of course it is not Beyonce's fault

Starlight she aint conforming to anyones idea. she has done it for herself and to think otherwise is stupid and ignorant.

I doubt Bouncy Knowles has given a whole lot of thought to how her barnet signifies in relation to colonial rule and modern black culture

she's a pop singer, not a scholar

and what is all this "woman of colour" crap? it makes my teeth itch

i have blond dd, i worry about her seeing lollipops like cheryl cole etc and thinking that is normal. basically it would be nice if society generally was so fucking obsessed with the superficial.

MissyKLo how many white women do you see chaning thier hair style? how many dye thier hair? how many have forgotten what their natuarl hair colour is?

Just because black kids are doing this now does not mean that she has let black people down.

Women and men just like change. to spice up thier image. to make themselfs feel better. nothing more and nothing less.

Now if she was to get rid of her ghetto booty then i would say sh is trying to conform.

if you have a better suggestion stiflersmom i am up to hearing it! what should i call myself as a non-white person? i dunno?

an olive coloured person?!!!!!!!!

hey spoc i am not saying the article is right, i just raised the subject as i thought it was interesting! i know i change my hair from the dark frizzball (which is from my meditteranean roots and probably african roots further back than that) it is to straight a lot

MissyKlo - everyone is a person of colour.
i.e white person, black person, olive skinned etc.

I think this is where Stiflersmom is coming from.