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

I don't believe that this is because there is no one to conform to, this whole thread has been about conforming to a European ideal.

I think it is her hair and she can do whatever she likes without.

Other people get tans and I went through a goth phase of dying my blonde hair black.

I dont see how Beyonce dying her hair blond# can be perceived as her negating her roots.... Whatever next hey

I see where the reporter of the article is coming from, which I agree with the statement in the eyes of a child. But as an adult Beyonce is not doing anything wrong. She is mixed race, hence she could look more like a black person or a white person if she wishes. She also works in an industry where appearance matters a lot. If it means that more people will buy her records then good on her. Its Business.

But, I'm really short and have never been skinny, even when a size four I had a shape, I don't try to conform to 'Jordan' type woman because I can't.

I still take exception to the idea that skin colour has anything to do with self esteem.

I understand the concerns expressed in the OP. I feel the same about media expectations on the image of ALL men and women, whatever their ethnicity. We are all made to feel inadecuate in the light of all those perfectly skinny, tanned (neither pale nor dark), and flawless men/women. They all have groomed hair often with expensive extentions. They have all spent a long time in the drssing romms with make up artists, and they have personal shoppers, stylists and personal trainers etc...

None of us can compete with the unrealistic image portrayed to us. Whatever our skin colour. All I can do is try to instill in my (mixed race) DS that the most important thing about people is what is on the inside.

Can I just say again that Beyonce is not mixed race, she may look so but she is black. She may, like many black people have white ancestry, but she is not the result of a black parent and white parent, they are both black. Rhianna looks more black than Beyonce but she's mixed race. They are an example of why the concept of race is meaningless because we are all mixed to a certain degree, we are all related to eachother to varying degrees.

Also Beyonce's skin colour will change in photos depending on the season and how strong the flash bulbs are on the paps camera's.

If she were bleaching her skin, her skin would be visibly patchy, thin and damaged.

It really annoys me that a white celeb can dye their hair, put in coloured contacts, hair extensions, plump their lips, have facelifts, bum lifts, botox, lipo etc and it doesn't have to seen as a big political statement whereas a black celeb puts in blond extensions and all of a sudden its this big thing. Beyonce only represents Beyonce and like any other celeb she changes her look to stay relevant.

Mary J Blige has always had blond hair but nobody would say she wanted to be white, she clearly just likes dying her hair blond.

I think a lot of black woman would like to have naturally easier to manage hair and thus opt for straighteners, weaves etc but I don't know any that actually want to be white. I have a white friend who is a tanning junkie, she does not want to be black either.

The article made me sad. I'm mixed race, and I remember wanting to be white and painting a picture of myself with pink skin when I was little. This was 20 years ago. My mum also grew up wanting to be white 50 years ago. Sad to see that nothing's changed.

I don't see a problem with straightening or dyeing hair = most of my white friends do this too. But skin bleaching is completely unacceptable.

The poster who says that black women obsess less about their weight is correct IMO, so whilst there is more pressure for us in some ways, there is also less in other areas.

Capricorn76, Frm what I have researched Beyonce's mother is not black. Beyonce's grandparents (frm her mother's side) are European origin.

I think Beyonce dying her hair is a non-issue. If she is bleaching her skin then that is a completely different matter. If that is true then why is it ok for her to do it but not when Michael Jackson did the same?