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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think the Uk Standards of beauty are suited to White people

388 replies

QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 10:34

I have noticed as a black women that hardly any celebrities that are considered beautiful are black. In fact I can't think of one black (excluding mixed) or Asian British celebrity that is considered as beautiful by the whole nation.

Why is it that in this country we only find European features as attractive. It frustrates me as a black women that my features are not considered attractive outside my race.

So aibu to think this.

OP posts:
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itsbetterthanabox · 04/03/2015 22:15

Fauxlivia what a meaningful contribution..
I don't understand why seeing people of a different race in advertising, in the media etc would make anyone not watch or buy the products. Statistics show it does change people's watching and buying habits but in confuses me why. It would make no difference to me the race of the person in the ad.

babybarrister · 04/03/2015 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fauxlivia · 04/03/2015 23:27

box it depends on what's being sold. It makes sense in a majority white population to use white models to sell make up. Advertisers are selling us the idea that we can look like them if only we buy a particular brand of foundation.

For washing up liquid and cars and banking products I can't see why skin colour makes a difference to sales

derenstar · 04/03/2015 23:35

itsbetterthanabox - I never said I hadn't been impacted by racism or sexism nor did I claim it doesn't happen . I wrote about my experience of being judged for the way that I looked in relation to so called western beauty standards or for how I choose to wear my hair.

The racism that concerns me, that truly frightens me is the racism that will do myself, my children and my friends and family physical harm, purely for the colour of our skin. The racism that would deny me my basic human rights, to live, work, make my own choices. Thankfully, I have not experienced any obvious instances of this, again, this is not to belittle the experience of those that have. My parents experienced appalling racism when they first arrived here in the sixties; couldn't rent, wouldnt be served in shops unless they were in their uniforms, had dogs set on them by neighbours, putting up with daily, racist verbal abuse from the very patients they were trying to care for. The list goes on. That's the sort of racism that scares me, not whether I'm represented on TV or a magazine. I cannot imagine living the way parents did so I try not to trivialise it. Things have changed for the better for people of colour in the UK, it's not perfect but a hell of a lot better and i just think we should acknowledge that.

itsbetterthanabox · 04/03/2015 23:50

But just because you are white doesn't mean you look anything like a white model in the advert for makeup though. You aren't going to look like her so why is using someone with another skin tone any different.

itsbetterthanabox · 04/03/2015 23:53

Yes things are better than they were of course and that's only good.
But I think we should still always be striving for better, for complete equality. Cultural attitudes are a big part of that.

EmptySoulKindHeart · 05/03/2015 01:14

These type of things are just not important.
If people stopped looking up to celebrities like sheep then you would realise how unimportant this shit is. Who cares the colour of the models and if celebs want to bleach or mess with their bodies by getting nose jobs thats their business.
Celebrities don't sign a contract to be role models they sign a contract to entertain, so why do so many base their life's around them and look up to them like they're gods? They don't owe you nothing, you choose to buy into their entertainment, they don't make you.
be your own person and have your own mind.

EmptySoulKindHeart · 05/03/2015 01:16

just to add personal preference and racism are not the same thing

itsbetterthanabox · 05/03/2015 01:50

Emptysoul Biscuit

Fauxlivia · 05/03/2015 06:55

box, of course most people are never going to look anything like the model no matter how much make up they buy. But the advertiser is trying to convince us that we can, hence choosing a model whose skin colour is the same as the majority of the population they are selling to. That's the only thing most people will have in common with the model. That is not racism- it's just make up manufacturers spending their budget to reach the majority of the population.

I said way up thread that anyone who isn't tall, slim, young and usually blonde isn't represented in advertising.

Shannaratiger · 05/03/2015 07:05

That's probably because England is in northern Europe which is naturally a white country. Probably in Africa the advertisements are mainly black people and in Asia mainly Asian .

TheChandler · 05/03/2015 09:27

Itsbetterthan Yes things are better than they were of course and that's only good. But I think we should still always be striving for better, for complete equality. Cultural attitudes are a big part of that.

You seem to be looking for heavily positive discrimination in statistical terms, rather than complete equality. Unless you pick very specific magazines, there are plenty of WOC in magazines such as Heat and Now, etc., certainly enough if not more to equal or better the percentage of WOC in the UK. As pointed out above, it is Northern European country with a large majority of white people.

I do think that even if we had 50% or more WOC in magazines, you would still go through their racial ancestry with a fine toothpick, and find some flaw that you could criticise. And that of course, wouldn't be anywhere near complete equality, because white people in the UK way outnumber WOC.

What I'm saying is that you seem to be pushing for some unattainable, very vague and undefinable goal, rather than dealing with the important issues.

So perhaps you could do something slightly more quantifiable. Why don't you get the updated percentage figure on WOC versus all women living in the UK, go through 5 of this week's media type magazines, and count them. Do not rule out Americans, or WOC of mixed race, those who style their hair, or those who have been airbrushed, as you have tried to do in the past. Don't just pick really obscure fashion mags which are dependent on the stream of young Eastern European models (most of them aren't British either). Pick something like Now, Heat, Closer, OK, and Look. I did it with Heat magazine upthread, and WOC were over-represented in percentage terms.

And its getting very predictable when posters try to close down anyone who disagrees with them or challenges them by idiotic comments, such as "you're denying racism", "you're illegible", "you have demons", etc..

itsbetterthanabox · 05/03/2015 10:34

I think you might be mixing my comments and those of other posters up into one person. I haven't said a lot of those things.
This thread is about women who are revered for their beauty and heat magazine etc is not about doing that it's about body shaming and gossip. I'm not sure what point that would make at all. That heat make up lies and body shame woc as well as white women?

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