It is awfully difficult to consider that one day my granddaughter’s biggest accomplishment in life will be how well she can contour her face, not realizing the struggles her ancestors had to endure to even walk in a department store. In today’s society, women are viewed as just objects of desire, mere vessels of entertainment and pleasure, not serious intellectuals with ambition and goals. In schools, students are rarely taught about the history of women let alone the history of African-American women.
How do we create a generation of leaders if they are not taught their history? Especially now in America, where racial tensions are high, everyone wants to be a part of “the movement,” but when asked who is Harriet Tubman, people often mistake her for Sojourner Truth. In such cases, it trivializes the whole struggle of gaining racial harmony. Growing up as a girl, you're taught how to behave in public: be lady-like, chew with your mouth closed, sit with your legs crossed, do not be too outspoken (men will get intimidated).
Growing up as an African-American girl, you are taught to be twice as good to get half of what they (white people) have. Throughout my entire life media has structured my perception of beauty. I remember when my mother would comb my hair as I pleaded for a perm. I wanted it to flow in the wind and bounce like the white girls. I suppressed it. My crown of glory wasn't glorious at all, in fact, I hated my curls. Society shaped me to believe that I had to deny my culture in order to be accepted. Now, of course, there were no commercials that overtly stated "black girls are ugly" but no one on television resembled me, and when they were on TV, they were depicted as the loud ghetto girl or vixen in a music video. Many of us think this is a coincidence. In reality, the majority of executive board members of corporate television companies such as ABC, CBS, even BET (Black Entertainment Television) are white males, go figure.
If the only perception they have of black women are loud and uneducated, then that is what they continue to perpetuate. It is ironic because Black women are beating out all other groups, no matter the race or gender, when it comes to overall college enrollment. Also, the same features that are idolized and celebrated on white women in the media: big butt, big lips, thick hair, these features are mocked on black girls. I've come to realize with my short 19 years of life that despite the constant discrimination and my anger and painful ancestral past, Black girls rock!
Our hair is hard to comb because it represents how resilient and strong our past is. It can be tamed or combed or suppressed like society wants it to be. Black girls are seemed to be undesirable because mainstream media wants to make black culture a trend. College and writing have truly allowed me to embrace who I am. Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
