Plump lips. Wide hips. Cornrows and big butts; hottest new trend not only common among women of color, but recently noticed in pop culture and social icons around the world. These features are very common among black women and contrary to popular belief, several black women historically were and still are verbally and physically assaulted for having bigger backsides and full lips. They were talked about and publically ashamed because they looked different than the dominant white culture. Their busty features were looked upon as signs for wanting sexual encounters or attention. The way they looked was just not accepted or wanted in society. Generally speaking most people of white decent genetically do not have full lips, wide waists, and big backsides, but recently celebrities such as: Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, and many others have unadmittedly paid for surgery to enhance their features to mirror those of black women.
What was once an issue among minority women for not looking like majority of other women, is now a fashion trend and mirrored by other young girls around the country.
History shows white men and women believed that because a woman of color genetically received bigger breasts, bigger lips, and butts they were asking to be sexually assaulted. Slave masters believed because slave women were black, female, and had bigger physical features they were not appealing to anyone. Slave masters would rape and sexually assault them and thought they were justified because no one wanted women who looked the way they did.
For centuries black bodies were abused and mortified to the point where little black girls cried to their mothers tears of sorrow because their hair was too curly and they had to “tame” it with braids to fit into the majority of people they saw in popular media, or they wondered why they didn't see any women that looked like them on television. They cried wondering why they were born with darker skin than their white peers because the normal beauty standard wasn't their natural self.
Black women have been shamed for centuries for being who they are. Their physical bodies were disrespected. They were physically abused, emotionally torn, and shamed as women of color and now it is “cool” to mirror their imperfections as enhancements. Reshaping your natural features and mimicking cultural traditions of a minority group not only shows that it is not accepted from the minority group, and the majority will take it, make it their own, then it is acceptable and popular. It’s amazing how society accepts the enhancement and hairstyles as hip and trendy. The social media world has been very active with showing young girls all across the world over drawing their lips with makeup to attain a fuller look and favor the look of the Jenner-Kardashian Klan. Or altering their skin tone to be darker like the women they see on Instagram and Facebook. Black women, including myself, have been shut down and humiliated for our natural features because their too big, but society will praise white women for having those exact facial features, darker skin, and cornrows.
The evolution of popular white girls in influential positions, turning into lightskin black girls with cornrows, and big lips has struck a vital nerve for me and many black women. It has become plain to see that our features and styles are a seasonal fashion trend and only acceptable on white bodies. It's ok to look like us, but be us. What we can contribute to society and popular media is what we look like, but not who we are.
What we got is “hot”, but we are not!
