Recently, Mac Cosmetics posted a picture of the naturally plump lips of stunning African model Aamito Stacie Lagum to their Instagram page. After finding the picture, I couldn't help but be in awe at the beautiful lip color and how the model's lips resembled a heart when looked at from a different angle. Others did not share the same view; many comments of hatred and racism were thrown at this picture of mere lips. There are comments comparing her lips to those of fish, and one user said they mistook the photo to be that of music artist Jay Z.
Brace yourself — it gets worse. One Instagram user thought it amusing to write "Nigga lips?" with a laughing emoji. Another went so far as to compare the model's lips to monkey lips. This raised my eyebrow, seeing as monkey lips are in no way large or plump, but actually very thin. It seems the user wanted to strike a nerve by reaching down into their racist vault and pulling out the ole "black people are animals" or "black people specifically resemble monkeys" fiasco.
Another user went on a rage, saying that "Black women will never be as beautiful as white women." Other comments proceeded to call the photo downright ugly and showed disgust simply because she is a black woman. Although many of these comments remain, they are currently being washed out by the many comments of adoration and support, with 30,000 comments and counting.
This shows why support for black self-love and empowerment movements such as #blackgirlsrock and #ilovebeingblack are needed. We are still being put down and turned away simply because of our features. From black women having to "maintain" their naturally curly and poofy hair (or style it so that it's more suitable for the workplace) to the mocking of big nostrils and lips, we have to remind ourselves that these differences just add to our beauty.
Had this been a picture of Kylie Jenner — who maintains the plumpness of her lips through lip-plumpers and lip injections, which are all the rave right now — would the comments have been different? Maybe, maybe not. But Jenner is a women manually giving herself plump lips and getting praised for it, whereas this model is being hated on for her naturally plump lips.
It seems that, no matter what a person of color does, there will always be a panel of critics waiting to voice their negative opinions. From those wanting to boycott Beyonce's music (because of her black history tribute to the Black Panthers during the Super Bowl) to those adamant about their negative feelings toward the #blacklivesmatter movement, it seems that many are becoming a bit uncomfortable with speaking up against the status quo.
MAC Cosmetics responded to the situation with the below tweet.
@LauraDonovanUA M·A·C stands for and respects All Ages, All Races, All Sexes. We do not tolerate any abusive comments in our community.
— MACcosmetics (@MACcosmetics)
Aamito Stacie Lagum also responded to the haters by promoting the hashtag #PrettyLipsPeriod and encouraging others to take pictures of their lips. The best way to quiet the haters is to show that you still have love for yourself despite what they have to say.
Take a pic of you #luscious-lips and hashtag #PrettyLipsPeriod #mylipsgotitsownhashtag 😜 #berryblue 💙💜💙💜💙💜 #Heartshapedlips @maccosmetics
A photo posted by Aamito Stacie Lagum (@aamito_lagum) on
"Love yourself, girl, or nobody will." -J. Cole "Crooked Smile"
