How Eurocentric Beauty Standards Are Harming Black Women

How Eurocentric Beauty Standards Are Harming Black Women

Sydney Clark is not a dark-skinned black woman, but her complexion is not as light as her mother or sister either. This difference, however small, is why she believes she was treated differently than the rest of her family. While strangers complimented her mother or sister, they didn't speak to her, just smiled or nodded approvingly, she remembers.

"It's something I've struggled with for a long time - kind of wishing I was whiter so I could fit in with my family - and trying to understand why I ended up looking the way I did," Clark says. “And then it occurred to me that people who look like me aren’t valued as much as people who look like them.”

Clark now leads the Mending Wall Project, an online diversity, equity and inclusion content hub focused on issues such as mental health and reproductive justice, and is pursuing her master's degree in public health from Tulane University. Clark says she began to process how Eurocentric beauty standards — a reference to physical characteristics such as hair type, facial features and skin color that are commonly associated with people of European descent and perceived as "beautiful" — really influenced her as she earned her bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University. At the time, she said she experienced a series of microaggressions and outright aggression. For example, people were either in love with her natural hair, which she wore in an afro, or against it, she says. These experiences led her, along with other students of color on campus, to deconstruct how these beauty standards and their impact on their mental health.

Sidney Clark

"It's something I've struggled with for a long time - kind of wishing I was whiter so I could fit in with my family - and trying to understand why I ended up looking the way I did."

–Sydney Clark

While the representation of Blackness in entertainment and media has increased, data suggests there is still much room for improvement. A 2020 report from Women and Hollywood found that Black women made up 26 percent of female characters on television programs in 2019-20, up from just 12 percent in 2010 and 2011. Following the Black Lives Matter uprisings in 2020, models of color appeared in nearly 50 percent of the 50 major magazines in 2020, a notable increase from 2020 17.4 percent in 2014, according to Fashion Spot's 2020 report. And a March McKinsey report found that Black leads made up 14 percent of lead roles on cable TV shows, up from 12.9 percent in 2018.

Entertainment is just one area where Eurocentric beauty standards are pervasive; Black women fight these ideals both in the workplace and in family and romantic relationships. Of course, this idea that society dictates what facial features, hair textures, and body types are considered more "attractive" can affect the self-esteem, mental health, and overall perception of Black women.

Black beauty under the white gaze

hair

Chanté Griffin, a journalist and natural hair advocate, says she noticed people treated her differently after she cut her hair. Growing up, she ironed and wore her long hair straight, but in 2016 she decided to cut it all off, in part because it was difficult to transition to natural, healthier hairstyles after years of straightening it.

One memory that stands out, she says, is when someone she was dating suddenly stopped complimenting her on her hair after she swapped long braids for a short, natural style, she recalls. She says she believes the flattery has stopped because Eurocentric beauty standards dictate that longer hair - even longer, natural hair - is somehow "better" than short hair.

Before Africans were brought to the United States as part of the slave trade, their hairstyles were an important part of their culture, signaling everything from their tribe to their status within their community, says Lori Tharps, author of Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America and Same Family, Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America's Diverse Families. But when they were brought to the New World as slaves, Europeans shaved their heads, Tharps explains. Now, even generations after the end of slavery, black women and girls' hair texture is punished in the workplace, in schools and even at the airport.

Lori Nixon-Bethea, Ph.D., a Black licensed professional counselor based in Oakhurst, New Jersey, says she has heard from clients who are concerned about how their hair will be perceived at work and in their relationships. One client felt her African-American husband was unhappy when she cut her hair because she thought he was attracted to her conventional looks, she recalls. The hope is that women can find affirmation within themselves, explains Nixon-Bethea, who says she encourages her clients to use positive affirmations and find what is beautiful about their qualities. (

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Skin color

When Clark was growing up, she says, people would ask if she was related to her family because she had darker skin. These interactions led her to long for lighter skin so she could fit in with her family and maintain features that were more valued by society, she says.

The idea that lighter skin is more desirable than darker skin in black Americans stems from white Americans' historical belief that black Americans with white ancestry are more civilized than Africans without white heritage, Tharps says. Before the idea of ​​white biological superiority was debunked in the early to mid-20th century, white Americans largely believed in biological differences between racial groups, and therefore blacks with white ancestry and "whiter" characteristics were considered superior.

In the early 20th century, the cosmetics industry emerged, encouraging dark-skinned people to lighten their skin tone - skin bleaching products were widely advertised - and straighten their natural hair. This created a dialogue among Black Americans about whether they should reject such beauty products and embrace their natural properties or conform to these standards in order to survive, Tharps says.

anatomy

Sabrina Strings, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine and author of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, credits Francois Bernier, a French doctor and traveler, with attempting to establish a racial hierarchy amid dialogue about the legality and morality of slavery.

Scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries built on Bernier's work and concluded that the ideal body type for white women should be slim because African women's bodies tend to be curvier, Strings says. At the time, researchers equated the slimmer bodies of white women with the ideal female figure, she explains.

Today, Black women struggle with how their facial features and body types are perceived by non-Black people. Features commonly associated with black women include large, round butts, curvy hips, large breasts and noses, says Tiffany Barber, Ph.D., assistant professor of Africana studies and art history at the University of Delaware.

Karen Balumbu-Bennett, a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist from Long Beach, California, a first-generation Congolese American, recalls working with an educator who changed her clothing to avoid being oversexualized by her teenage students and colleagues. Even though she dressed more modestly, she still felt singled out, Balumbu-Bennett recalls.

"She noticed that she would get weird comments from some of her colleagues, even female ones, like, 'Oh, girl, you have a nice body,' or 'That looks good on you,' or 'I can't get away with it [but you can] because you're curvy,'" Balumbu-Bennett shares.

In the United States, fatphobia directed at black women emerged during a so-called obesity epidemic in the 1990s, when discourse among many doctors focused on helping Americans who had become "too fat," Strings says. But for all the panic about obesity among Black people — especially Black women — science has not taken into account the factors that could contribute to this inequality, such as genetics, environmental conditions and the lack of fresh produce and healthy food options in some Black communities, she says. “There are a number of reasons why black women may weigh more than white women,” Strings adds. (

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The healing process

Along with traditional media, social media platforms are perpetuating Eurocentric beauty standards, but licensed clinical social worker Sydney James says her clients are conflicted about whether they should change their appearance to keep up with these trends, she says. Black women using these platforms see content featuring thin noses, hourglass figures or athletic builds, and straight hair or looser curls. Constantly seeing images on social media that don't match their natural features can make it harder for Black women to celebrate and affirm their own beauty, James explains.

Over time, Balumbu-Bennett says, the workplace stressors associated with Eurocentric beauty standards can contribute to Black women suffering from depression, anxiety or problems in their interpersonal relationships. Taking time for yourself through exercise, yoga, meditation or rest can help, she says.

And if you haven't considered therapy yet, now might be the time to explore the option, says James. This may be useful for those who have experienced racial trauma resulting from attempting to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards in the workplace or other social circles. The potential rejection in these situations for not fitting a certain mold can lead to anxiety, panic attacks and low self-esteem, she adds. (

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The healing process is not final. Even for Black women who have found acceptance in themselves and their appearance, a television show, a social media post, or simply seeing others could set back their progress toward greater self-love, leaving them feeling like they have to conform to beauty standards, Nixon-Bethea explains.

This is not to say that Black women wearing weaves and extensions and makeup always comes from a desire to appeal to mainstream culture, as hair and makeup often serve as a form of self-expression and creativity. However, the pressure to measure oneself against Eurocentric standards can play a role in these decisions. Black women caught up in the misconception that their beauty isn't enough can try body enhancements, change their makeup, lighten their skin, narrow their noses or wear lots of extensions, she says.

For Clark, relying on her friends and going to therapy helps her process the impact that Eurocentric beauty standards have on her mental health and self-esteem, she says. Therapy helped her understand how to find more value in herself than in what others think of her, she adds.

Griffin, who also runs an Instagram page dedicated to natural hair humor, admits there were times when she thought about pursuing an Insta-model figure to gain followers, but then she remembers how she values ​​her spirit and the impact of her work more than her physical appearance — a perspective she attributes to years of developing her Christian faith.

For Black women seeking Black therapists to address these or other culture-specific issues, options may seem limited. According to 2020 numbers from the American Psychological Association, only four percent of U.S. psychology workers are black. Having a Black therapist doesn't guarantee a good fit, but having a culturally competent therapist who has a similar background or experiences can be a good start, James says. Finding a therapist is an important first step because it is an acknowledgment that you have unmet needs and are looking for someone to ease your path to better mental health, she adds.

If she could make systemic changes to undo some of the damage caused by Eurocentric beauty standards, James says she would like to see more diverse representation of skin tones and body types in the media. She also wants to see mental health education integrated into public schools, particularly around body image, and undo dress codes that can target Black people, such as skirt length or hairstyle rules, she adds. James believes these policies perpetuate the idea that you must adapt to learn, work and exist – or face the consequences.

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