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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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KatyMac · 01/03/2015 13:18

DD is mixed - she is hoping to use the desire for 'mixed race' to help her in her career

But for her first (& only) Modelling shoot they picked up the same foundation they had used on the little blonde/blue eyed/fair-skinned girl before her & made her up (the photo is on my profile photos - she is wearing a red necklace - compare it with the photo below it)

She is less sure now about how she feels about modelling and confused about make-up - not helped by the foundation she was electronically tested for is called Warm Ivory.....I have pointed out she will only be able to wear it in the summer

Over the years I have struggled with finding role models for her, finding dolls for her , trying desperately to show she was an individual not a colour or a type.

But Beauty? in the UK? the general thought is that it is an English Rose/Celtic beauty

BoredFatCat · 01/03/2015 13:19

so only dark skin women in the media would be ideal for you because first you said black women now you are denining lightskin girls so what exactly is your problem

QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:22

Okay this is my problem light skinned girls are the only black women in the media or huge majority in the media.
Most black women don't have light skin without bleaching and most don't have thin noses without surgery as well as straight hair.

OP posts:
QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:25

Another problem I have with celebs with light skin is many bleach their skin this causes serious medical problems including skin cancer do you think that people should risk skin cancer to look more European.

OP posts:
Boofy27 · 01/03/2015 13:28

I'm far more miffed about the lack of diversity in boardrooms than on magazine covers. Handsome is as handsome does.

BoredFatCat · 01/03/2015 13:29

megan good
gabrielle union
michelle obama
niomi campbell
the woman from 12yrs a slave cant remember her name but i read a story on her dress being stolen from her hotel.
In the UK there isnt many black actresses or singers to be in the media so its usually americans being splashed everywhere and most of them arent media whores like the kardashians.

squoosh · 01/03/2015 13:29

It's undeniable that most black women who are held up as beauties are women with lighter skin and more European features. Lupita Nyong'o and the model Alek Wek are the only two dark skinned women I can think of.

And the high sales of skin lightening products shows that the message that lighter is better runs very deep.

YANBU to be pissed off about this.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 01/03/2015 13:32

"The woman from 12 Years a Slave - can't remember her name"

Fucking hell.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 01/03/2015 13:32

I think a racial mix is becoming the beauty standard in this country (provided you're tall and slim, that is). The classic 'English rose' look hasn't been fashionable in my adult lifetime.

KarmaViolet · 01/03/2015 13:32

YANBU, OP.

Fantastic article here on Eurocentric beauty ideals as a form of structural violence: twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/leizhang-delib2013.original.pdf

QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:33

Think of Cheryl Fernandez versini everyone finds her beautiful now think of any black celebrity in the uk or us that everyone universally finds pretty i can't think of one.

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QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:34

Sqoosh Alek Wek is stunning and has what I define are black features.

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TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 01/03/2015 13:35

Cara Delevigne, Lily Cole, Sophie Dahl, Georgia May Jagger, Rosie Huntington Whiteley, Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Kate Winslet

Won't someone shed a tear for these poor unemployable English Rose types?

TheCowThatLaughs · 01/03/2015 13:36

It's true to say that there are many groups of people that are discriminated against in mainstream advertising. Fat white women are underrepresented too, but to me that is less problematic than black women being underrepresented, because black women are also more invisible in society generally than white women. Perhaps if they were more visible in the media, they would be more visible in society too??
I'm sorry if that's wrong or offensive to anyone, I'm just trying to get my head round it and coming from the perspective of a white woman, and it's not something I've thought about that much in the past.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 01/03/2015 13:37

Also OP do you really think white models and actresses don't have nose jobs?

BoredFatCat · 01/03/2015 13:37

whats so fuking hell about not knowing someones name?
is she my relative that i must know her name?

DontDrinkandFacebook · 01/03/2015 13:40

YABU.

Why is it that in this country we only find European features as attractive.

Well actually I vehemently disagree with that statement, I don't think that only European features are considered attractive AT ALL. Far from it. Scientific studies have shown that there is a sort of beauty 'ideal standard' that most people of all ethnicities find very attractive, because it takes physical characteristics from all ethnicities and blends them in a way that attracts almost everyone and alienates no-one in particular. And this ideal standard of beauty is most often found in the very mixed race melting pot that is Brazil for example, hence why south American women seem to have had a higher success rate than most in Miss World.

But back to your question, European (and by that I assume you mean white) women may be considered more attractive, by more people in the UK, on the whole, and there is a very straightforward reason for that.

It's because this is a European country. The vast majority of the people in it are of European ethnicity. The theoretical 'ideal standard' of beauty apart, as a general rule most people are more likely to feel physically attracted to people whose ethnicity they share.

If you went to Africa or south east Asia you'd probably find that most Africans or south east Asians would choose African or south east Asian role models as their idea of being the most beautiful.

I think it's a pretty normal, anthropological 'thing' that happens the world over, I doubt it's a phenomenon that's confined to white people in Britain.

QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:41

White women do have nose jobs but they are usually to modify something rather than change the nose that is common with their race. For example think of widening your nose as the equivalent it's changing your races features and it shows self hatred and makes young black women think of their features as ugly.

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MistressMia · 01/03/2015 13:41

OP what is the consensus in African / Caribbean countries wrt to attractiveness ?

I ask because its not just in Western countries that Caucasian features are prized, valued and lauded. South East Asians are extremely colour prejudiced. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc most of the stars of TV, film etc are all pale skinned. So many Bollywood actresses wear light coloured contact lenses and I can think of only a handful of 'dusky' skinned' ones who've made it.

Dark skinned women despite being in the majority are not thought of as being attractive.

Marriage prospects are determined in a large part by your skin tone. Dating / marriage adverts both here in the UK and abroad invariably ask you to input your skin tone as well as the usual age, size etc.

Job prospects and status too are determined by skin colour.

In India there's a campaign to try and change attitudes but I don't think sales of skin lightening creams are going to drop anytime soon dark is beautiful

squoosh · 01/03/2015 13:42

Lorraine Pascale is another dark skinned woman I think most people would describe as beautiful. But I've only thought of her after racking my brains.

turquoiseamethyst · 01/03/2015 13:42

People coming up with two or three black women who are considered attractive and triumphantly stating that "there! There is no problem!" are being either very short-sighted or very foolish.

It is also not comparable to use height, weight or breast size to try and state that you therefore "know" how the OP feels - there is a reason most models are tall and slim and that is to do with the designs of the clothes. It doesn't dismiss an entire culture.

I am shorter than average (5'3) but have never felt slighted, excuse the pun, by the height of a model. Why? Is the message "to be beautiful, you must be tall" or is the message "to be a model, you must be tall." These are different things.

It really doesn't take a huge amount of imagination to "walk a mile in (their) shoes" - yet there is at least one black supermodel and some teenagers fancy Rhianna.

So we really don't have a problem, do we?

DontDrinkandFacebook · 01/03/2015 13:44

Lorraine Pascale is ridiculously beautiful, and very black.

QueenofSouthLondon · 01/03/2015 13:46

my first husband was black and my current husband is white I find every race as beautiful and if I can do that surely magazine editors and modelling angencies can.

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Alisvolatpropiis · 01/03/2015 13:47

MistressMia

When studying human rights i came across articles which discussed the caste system in India and it's inherent inability to tally with human rights. There, being light skinned has been held up as being beautiful for thousands of years and that attitude has likely been reinforced by colonialism.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 01/03/2015 13:48

It's Partridge-esque, bored

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