"The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected woman in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman." – Malcolm X
This famous quote was presented by Malcolm X during his "Who taught you to hate yourself?" speech given on May 5, 1962 at the funeral service of Ronald Stokes, who was killed by LAPD police, in Los Angeles. His speech delivers profound questioning and reasoning behind the self-hatred black women impose on ourselves starting at a very young age. Most of that self-hatred stems from society's standpoint on what the "ideal" beauty women must possess in order to be seen as "attractive" or "desirable." According to a November 2013 TIME Magazine article, "Dating App Reveals Troubling Racial Preferences," David Stout shares the preferences that men and women have when it comes to dating and which race is the most and least desirable according to this survey between men and women.
As you can see in this survey, in the "lowest response rates" men of Black, Asian, Latino and White races have said that Black Women are the least desirable when it comes to dating.
The absurdity, right? There should be no excuse as to why Black women should hear that we are the least desirable women on the planet along with hearing, "Black women are too loud," "Black women are too ghetto," "Black women have too much of a strong personality," "Black women don't have 'good hair,'" "Black women are too this and Black women are too that" -- the list can go on and on like the Harry Potter series. As a Black woman, I would like to say that we do not have to prove our beauty to anyone, nor do we have to compete with any other race to be seen as "noticeably beautiful."
*Insert Intense Eye Roll.*
In my 20 years of experience of being a Black woman in American society, I have noticed the favorability for lighter skinned women with more European features. There is nothing wrong with being a beautiful lighter skinned woman with European features, but for men to compare and contrast European looking features to Ethnic looking features while degrading women of color who were naturally born with more ethnic features is wrong. Such features include: kinky/coily hair, medium to dark brown skin, broad nose and full lips. The subject of cultural appropriation has come up a lot this year, including celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, who try to achieve the natural look that Black women were born with but are later praised because of their European skin which make people see them as more "attractive" and "exotic," especially when Kylie Jenner had her lips surgically plumped and her hair in cornrows. Now, everyone is making it seem as if big full lips and cornrows are a brand new mystical thing.
Kylie Jenner can do whatever she wants with her lips, hair and body as long as people don't try to make it seem as if it looks aesthetically pleasing on her and not naturally aesthetically pleasing on Black women.
Don't even get me started on Rachel Dolezal......
With all that being said, the hashtag circulating all over the internet, #BlackGirlMagic, has been empowering Black women to notice their beauty and importance in American society. That we are more than just some sleazy ridicule men of our own race and other races put forth in front of us and that we hold just as much power and desirability than any other race of women out there. It's kind of mind boggling how we set aside a group of women and base their desirability and their importance in American society based off of the color of their skin, eyes, hair texture and even facial and physical features. What's also mind boggling is that, as an American society, we sit here and let it happen as if it's a form of social status and authority. It is also important to teach young black girls that their beauty is far more beyond than just looks and their skin color. We should teach them that they shouldn't aim to be the "most desirable" girl in class or the girl that every guy would kill to date. We shouldn't teach them to fight for a guy's attention either just because people tell them that they're the "least desirable." It's ridiculous how, as an American society, we are still blinded by our own form of colorism. #BlackGirlMagic should be known to all the little black girls and grown black girls that we are magical goddesses that are proud to possess every inch of our black beautiful features. With all that being said, run along and spread all that #BlackGirlMagic among every single person you meet and surprise them with all the magic you possess in all that black beauty.
Oh and don't forget.....
