Shades of Beauty

Growing up in a Post-Apartheid South Africa, the topic of race has confronted me in every aspect of my life. But recently, my fellow “black” young South Africans have moved beyond the colours of black and white and rather to the shades of black.

This is rooted in the idea of Colourism. 

This, by definition, is a discrimination of African Americans based on skin colour, usually done subconsciously. Colourism disadvantages dark-skinned people, while privileging those with lighter skin, within ones community.Although, the concept of colourism developed in the African American community, I have noticed that it has trickled into the South African community, especially amongst the youth. A recent trend that I have seen within my social circle and the “Black” youth is a discrimination against the darker shades of African woman and an admiration of lighter skinned African women.

So many young people (many male) have taken to the social media site- Twitter, to publicly declare their dislike of dark skinned girls with tweets such as- “I swear #DarkSkinnedGirls be looking mad scary” or “Dark skinned b*tches must fear us”… while on the other hand, light skinned girls (also known as Yellowbones) are admired with tweets such as - “I automatically love all #YellowBones” or “Don’t get me started on God’s gift to earth #LightSkinnedGirls”.

As a darker-skinned young woman, it has puzzled and frightened me to see such a trend occur in our country, considering the wounds that were, not so long ago, left by the racial discrimination during Apartheid in South Africa.

I have tried to figure out what is to blame for this form of discrimination and all I can think of is subconscious conditioning or pure ignorance.

Subconscious conditioning would refer to the things that we have subconsciously been taught growing up...  

Firstly, with reference to colours- Lighter colours such as white are associated with pureness, innocence, happiness, perfection and that is why a bride wears a white wedding  dress…but on the contrary the colour black has a negative connotation and is associated with evil, sadness, grief and is therefore the colour worn to a funeral.

So, I guess this could be one of the reasons why people would choose, subconsciously, to associate beauty with something that is closer to the colour white rather than black…

Secondly, the things you are told while growing up... I remember from an early age, my mother would often tell me to stay out of the sun, not because of its harmful rays but purely because it would result in me becoming darker, …which I now I question, would that have been so wrong? Would I have been less beautiful dark skinned?

Lastly , the images that surround us-it is rare for us to see beautiful dark skinned women on the  covers of magazines or play positive, empowered lead roles in the film or music industry. It is as though, a handful of people have decided that light skinned women are the most attractive women and should therefore be the “ideal’ image of beauty in society. Because of this, women have, by the aid of the beauty industry, been encouraged to forgo their dark skin with the help of skin bleach products or complexion lightening creams.

People forget that the human mind is so complex that it can shape a person’s perception of the world without them even knowing it.

I wish that the youth could realize that their “preference” to find beauty in light skinned women is not purely their choice but a choice that is highly influenced by others.

Society needs to realize that discrimination against darker skinned women is subconsciously affecting the way that they not only view themselves but their worth.  It is affecting how generations to follow will view themselves.

Many of these young people forget that thousands of people have died to remove the racial discrimination between the different races in South Africa and that colourism is indeed bringing back the social implications of discrimination.

I am hoping that this trend will quickly disappear, not only from my twitter timeline but from the ideas and opinions of the black youth.

I pray that dark skinned women will not let the ignorance and ideas of others, influence the way that they view themselves. I want them to know that somebody out there thinks that they are the most beautiful being in the universe and that although your dark skin is beautiful, it is nothing but merely a layer of skin.

I hope that people will take more control on the extent of which people and the media influence their perceptions. May people take more responsibility on shaping their own values and ideas.

I cannot wait for the day when the shades of colour whether white; black or even the shades in-between do not matter in our country. A day when when a person’s beauty is determined, not on the artificial layers of their physical attributes but, on their actions that bring positive change to society.

So go on, find and embrace your own beauty...
A beauty that goes far beyond your own self,
A beauty that brings change to the world,
A beauty that belongs to nobody but you!