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

Good post crystal

I really believe that it is not about the colour of your hair or skin it is about knowing your roots mentally. I know people who dye their hair and others who have a afro (natural) but it is down to being educated knowing your roots, your back ground not what your like on the outside. My cousin is mixed raced and very light to the point where she does not have any black features but she is very clued up on her backgroung thats important what counts.

another good point crystal - I think because I spoke to my friend about it and she said it made her think about her daughter and how she felt about her hair (she is black) it made me think...

but some really good points here

I've worked in schools and found some young black girls already having a perception of themselves as not pretty

I'm white, btw, but this does worry me. I can't say it's actually wrong, but I do think little kids need to see people of achievement who reflect them, as they look

and I reckon there's a world of difference between Beyonce lightening her skin (possibly) and lightening and straightening her hair, and Cheryl Kerl getting fake tan spray and sticking a bit of casting creme gloss on her hair extensions

Unfortunately, there are pressures from many non-caucasion societies for women to be pale skinned as opposed to dark. I don't think this is the same as white women getting a tan. The Koreans I knew looked down on Turkish women for having naturally tanned skin. I hope Beyonce doesn't bleach her skin, as for the hair, I have far less a problem with it.

Should be "caucasian" - sorry, don't use that word that often.

I don't think this is the same as white women getting a tan

It definitely isn't. White people haven't been told for hundreds of years that they are inferior due to their skin colour.

I think you could say generally that women today have an 'ideal' of beauty held up to them that is impossible to live up to. We live in a world of airbrushed and photoshopped images.

I don't think this is a colour issue. A short, plump, brunette white girl is as likely to feel alienated from the accepted concept of beauty as a black girl.

Perhaps we should be doing something about unrealistic images being everywhere we look. Take Barbie dolls for example. If a real life woman had Barbie's proportions, she wouldn't be able to stand up and walk!

I was out shopping last week and I saw an orange girl. She'd gone for the full on WAG look and was convinced that she looked beautiful. But she was orange. Something has gone very wrong somewhere.

Presumably Beyonce is mixed race? I'll confess that I know feck all about her and intend to keep it that way. I like her music though. But if she is mixed race, then why can't she explore/embrace the Caucasian part of her heritage? That's just as valid a part of her IMO.

Her mum is mixed race.

maybe teh orange girl had an oompa loompa parent.

from what i have read her mum in not mixed race

Maybe she doesn't want to 'represent black women' and just wants to get on with her singing and acting career?

Maybe she likes having hair that colour. Is she (the journalist) saying that only white people with natural blonde hair can have blonde hair?
Just because she's black doesn't mean she has to walk around with an afro.
Let people be who they want and look like how they want for whatever reason they want.

Beyonce's Mum looks mixed race to me

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Knowles

Beyonce isn't mixed race, her mum is black but very fair. Similarly Vanessa Williams is often mistaken for mixed race when she is black. I have a couple of friends who are that fair and don't have a white parent. I'm mixed race and darker than one of my friends who is fully black.

Black people come in a wide range of shades especially American and Caribbeans who probably have some white ancestors somewhere down the line. Some black people even have naturally blond hair.

I personally don't believe Beyonce bleaches her skin. She is very fair skinned and I guess she tans in the summer and is pale in the winter. The blonde hair would also make her appear paler.

Slightly off topic, someone mentioned Cheryl Cole. I've always wondered if she was fully white. Her mum looks Indian. Is she?

Interesting thread! And I agree with most people, women want to experiment with their hair and that maybe what Beyonce is doing. I had an afro for seventeen years, my mum insisted on it, she hated the idea of me doing anything to my afro. Washing and combing that afro was the bane of my life (imagine passing a comb through cotton wool) It was painful to keep it out unless I had it in plaits.
I have mixed race DDs now and their hair is much tamer than mine was. Their faces get lost under all its cockscrew glory .
I have lost my afro and I occassionally wear weaves. I dont feel less black because my hair is straighter. On a practical level I dont have to spend three hours in the morning getting my hair into some sort of order.
I have never gone blond so cant comment on that but I have sure seen black women with blond afros.

Capricorn

I've seen someone ask that question before on a forum - I think the reply was that she was indeed of mixed heritage - "part English, part spray tan"

The problem is not with the hair that everyone seems to be concerntrating on.. who cares what hair you choose to have as a woman seriously??...

If she has used lightening cream/gels (which imo she has I have seen her at the beginning of her career and lighting just doesn't cut it as an excuse)then it is an issue.. why do some black and asian women(predominately) feel the need to lighten their skin? this is not about fashion, it is deeper imo..

"Black people come in a wide range of shades especially American and Caribbeans who probably have some white ancestors somewhere down the line."

Then they are mixed race, aren't they?

Mumcentreplus

There's absolutely no proof she has lightened her skin.

My kids look a different colour from one month to the next depending on how much time they've spent in the sun.

Very presumptious.

Yes I think so Hec - however in the USA there is the 'one drop' way of thinking (see recent articles re Halle Berry & her divorce). Whereas one drop of "black blood" qualifies you as "black"