“The reasons for the unacknowledged self-hate that leads to skin bleaching, wigs, and straightened hair (In reference to the article IT IS TIME TO STOP LIVING A LIE that discusses the alarming rate at which Blacks are trying to escape their skin)”
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whites straighten and perm their hair, indians do the same. whites tan their skin, leading to skin cancer later in life. God has bless the black woman with the type of hair such as a diamond in the rough, it looks beautiful as is but has the potential to speak volumes with many varieties of styles. whether it is cut, straighten, texturize, has extension, corn roll, press etc. God has bless the black woman with many options of looking beautiful. if the sun darkens her skin and she wants to have the colour of her face as the same colour as her breast, why then do u assume she is trying to be white? i am mixed. i love my hair but i texturize it ’cause it is too thick and curly. i use sun block on my chocolate skin, so i won’t get any blacker. i love my complexion. if it looks as if i am shading, i use a bleacher for a few weeks, until i have my normal colour. u can say what u may but i have no inclination to be white. in fact i love chocolate complexion to the max or dark brown. my skin is very smooth and perfect to me. but i think some females, the black ones especially might tend to feel inferior because of all the hype people place on the brown skin or white girl. they go overboard in their desire to enhance their complexion the only way they know. i have no problem with drawing the attention of white, Indian (especially Indian) and black but i am only attracted to black men of mixed ancestry like me
from the article “Many Africans actually fell for the Missionary’s story and ended up worshiping the image of The Real Devil.” and there’s a picture of who Christians worship as Jesus. Tell me where in the character of Jesus is he depicted as evil? in his scriptures, does he not teach that we should love our neighbour as ourselves?
we all know by know that the portray of Jesus could never be the Jesus that walk the earth, it is only a drawing. no one worships the drawing, they worship who it depicts. we should really not get drawn into such simpleton thinking. i find the article is offensive due to the statement about Jesus being the real devil. the real devil goes all out to make sure man does not believe he exists. obviously, the one who posted that blog has fallen for this trap
Smooth Chocolate,
Because white people or other racial groups do something doesn’t automatically make it right. As black people (or people of colour) we have to learn to think for ourselves and stop using white people as the default or template for what all other racial groups in society should be doing.
Let me also add that white people do not tan their skin to “look black”. They do it because a tanned skin was sometimes considered a sign of good health (comparable to glowing skin) and also wealth and privilege. There was a time that only very rich white people could afford to vacation in hot, “exotic” locales. When you came back from your vacation all “tanned and glowing” you would be envied.
@Nia | May 17, 2011 at 10:38 AM |
likewise all black women who bleach do not do it to get white
We are people who have become adults. Racial discrimination, prejudice, inferiority complex, slavery are words and terms that we can research learn their meaning. In addition, love, joy, peace, faith, goodness, gentleness, longsuffering, meekness and temperance can be researched and lived daily.
Should we do the latter, reasoning, frank discussion, agreeing to disagree without being hateful or bitter or even angry will be diffused because we exercise the fruit of righteousness or good living.
These discussions are just not conclusive.
If I relax my hair or wear a wig do I hate my ethnicity? Am I doing it to improve my lot? Of course not!!! I can comb my hair much easier – let’s face it for women who have to deal with detangling natural hair.
Neither does straightening makes a statement of progression.
Look at my work – my mannerism – my gentleness, tone of speech, clean clothing, well kept shoes or footwear, colour coordination and my ability to conduct a meaningful purposeful conversation that enlightens and motivate. People make a change to improve themselves and surroundings when I speak. They want to get more education, they read the blog when I introduce it as a means of getting on the ground information and notes discussed behind closed doors.
David, Bring your participants should bring a conclusion and recommendation when positing their views. Many will be helped.
Should read “David, Your participants should bring …”
@Home
You are correct we need to bring forward the arguments.
Blacks seem to be so insecure in our identity. Given where Blacks are on the social ladder, perceived or otherwise, not sure if comparing decisions by Blacks compared to Whites is valid.
Every black woman who wears extensions or relaxes her hair is definitely not self-hating. I personally find there is way too much policing of Black women and women in general when it comes to our hair and our bodies and how we choose to present ourselves – that is what I find more objectionable.
Bu it’s not so much the action, but moreso some of the comments and reasoning that I hear from some women to justify some of our alterations:
For example, this: “I can comb my hair much easier – let’s face it – for women who have to deal with detangling natural hair.” Huh? I have natural hair as do many other black women I know, and detangling is not a problem that any of us have to “deal” with.
It’s this underlying idea that natural hair, especially the coarser, thicker variety, is deemed as something “problematic” that I take exception to.
Or like, for example, when Beyonce’s sister Solange cut her hair and sported a natural afro, the hateful comments she got on her Twitter page. Or even a few years ago when our own Liz Thompson decided to rock some natural twists – she got a lot of flack and negativity. Or the fact that if any black or mainstream publication were to list the black women they found most beautiful very few, if any, would include a woman with natural hair or dark skin.
Or, for example, when CBC recently did a piece on the skin-bleaching craze currently taking over Barbados. One lady justified it by saying that we live in the tropics and we don’t want our skin to get “too dark”, hence it is acceptable to bleach it. So you don’t want your skin to get unnaturally darker, but it is perfectly fine to chemically alter it to look unnaturally lighter?
It’s simply some of the justifications and acceptance of the status quo that I find interesting, more than anything else. However, as a black woman I do have bigger issues to fight right now than what other black women choose to do with their hair.
Video Response to Ras Jahaziel | May 18, 2011 at 9:05 AM |
as·sas·si·nate ( -s s -n t ). tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas· si·nates. 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, …
It’s that ‘WHITE JTSUS’ thing that nurture self-hatred in many Black/African people (Because “God created man in his own image”)
my previous ‘posting’ is suppose to read: “WHITE JESUS” thing that nurtures self-hatred in many Black/African people (Because “God created man in his own image”)
THE BIBLE IS A FICTIONAL BOOK CREATED BY EUROPEANS.
JESUS CHRIST NEVER EXISTED ,HE IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER .
After the Greeks invaded & seized control of North Africa , Greek ruler, PTOLEMY I created an image of himself and made it a god. The image was originally called SERAPIS (320 BC) . In 431AD the Eoropean image/icon of SERAPIS was transfomed into the CHRISTOS /CHRIST (ANNOINTED ONE) at the Council of Ephesus. In 1245 AD , the name of this European icon was changed to JESUS THE CHRIST. The name JESUS was borrowed from the Greek word ZEUS.
JESUS mean ‘HAIL ZEUS ‘ in greek.
Greeks in Europe who worshipped the image of Ptolemy I called it Zeus.
The image of JESUS CHRIST is based of the Greek Ruler PTOLEMY I who was also called SOTER (means saviour).
WHITE SKIN IS GENETIC MUTATION.
Heres why white horses are white
Sunday, July 20, 2008 4:39:39 AM by ANI ( Leave a comment )
London, July 20 (ANI): They say white horses are a mythical image of purity and sanctity. Now, a group of scientists have come up with a scientific answer for the white colour mystery.Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden say that the white colour of these horses is a result of a defective gene called greying with age gene.
In their study, the scientists have claimed that white horses are in reality mutants whose defective DNA carries a gene that speeds up ageing and rapidly turns their coats grey.
The studys key finding is that almost all white horses apparently carry an identical gene, which indicates that they all belonged to a single common ancestor.
Its not easy for white horses to survive in the wild as the white colouring makes them easy prey for predators, while the gene sharply raises the risk of such horses getting skin cancer.
This led the researchers to conclude that humans probably intervened to make sure they flourished.
More at : Heres why white horses are white http://www.thaindian.com.
MUTANT SLC24A5 GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY
[And end your alienation from who and what you are]
by H. Millard © 2007 .
“There is a very high incidence of hereditary whiteness among those who received two mutated copies of gene SLC24A5, if recent research is correct. In fact, approximately ten percent of all humans on earth carry this mutation–the entire white race, to be exact.
No one knows exactly when the mutated gene entered the human population, but those with the gene interbred constantly so that it spread throughout whole families, then communities, then nations and then all of northern Europe. It then jumped to the North American continent with the Europeans who left Europe to settle here.”
Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005
Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology’s most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity’s greatest sources of strife.
The work suggests that the skin-whitening mutation occurred by chance in a single individual after the first human exodus from Africa, when all people were brown-skinned. That person’s offspring apparently thrived as humans moved northward into what is now Europe, helping to give rise to the lightest of the world’s races.
Blue Eyes:
In 2008, new research revealed that people with blue eyes have a single common ancestor. Scientists tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. “Originally, we all had brown eyes,” said Hans Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen. Eiberg and colleagues showed in a study published in Human Genetics that a mutation in the 86th intron of the HERC2 gene, which is hypothesized to interact with the OCA2 gene promoter, reduced expression of OCA2 with subsequent reduction in melanin production. The authors concluded that the mutation may have arisen in a single individual in the Near East or around the Black Sea region 6,000–10,000 years ago during the Neolithic revolution. Eiberg stated, “A genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a ‘switch,’ which literally ‘turned off’ the ability to produce brown eyes.”
The genetic switch is located in the gene adjacent to OCA2 and rather than completely turning off the gene, the switch limits its action, which reduces the production of melanin in the iris. In effect, the turned-down switch diluted brown eyes to blue. If the OCA2 gene had been completely shut down, our hair, eyes and skin would be melanin-less, a condition known as albinism.
———— Eiberg H, Troelsen J, Nielsen M, et al. (March 2008)
————— Bryner, Jeanna (2008-01-31). “Genetic mutation makes those brown eyes blue”
white skin is a genetic mutation #2
Teen tanning before prom increases risk of skin cancer
Written by The Skin Cancer Foundation
Monday, 04 April 2011 07:03
Despite a link between indoor tanning bed use and an increased risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, 2.3 million teenagers visit tanning salons every year. In the spring, many tanning salon patrons are college students getting ready for spring formals, and high school students gearing up for prom season. So it’s no surprise that melanoma is now the most common form of cancer in young adults 25-29 years old, and the second most common form of cancer in adolescents and young adults ages 15-29.
“The damage caused by the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from tanning beds and the sun is cumulative and often irreversible, and the earlier people start to tan, the higher their risk of developing skin cancer in their lifetimes,” said Perry Robins, MD, president of The Skin Cancer Foundation. “In fact, melanoma risk increases by 75% when indoor tanning begins before age 35.”General Health News
Wealthy White Women More Prone to Skin Cancer
By: Lauren Brunelle | Tuesday 22 March 2011 15:01 PDT
According to a new study, wealthy white women are nearly six times as likely to develop skin cancer, or melanoma, than women who are not as affluent. Researchers presume that wealthier women are at higher risk because they have more opportunities to tan, including easy access to tanning beds.
@ ASAMA
ASAMA, do you have anything to contribute on the ISSUES of SKIN-BLEACHING, HAIR –STRAIGHTENING, and SELF-HATRED? ‘White’ mutation might be a fact, so is white susceptibility to cancer from ‘tanning’ but what can you tell us about the above issues?
@ Nia
“… It’s simply some of the justifications and acceptance of the status quo that I find interesting, more than anything else. However, as a black woman I do have bigger issues to fight right now than what other black women choose to do with their hair.”
Nia, since the ISSUES of SKIN-BLEACHING, HAIR –STRAIGHTENING, and SELF-HATRED are too trivial for you can we also discuss those “Bigger issues”? I presume they are not personal since they come via the compliments of you being a black woman
@FrankTalk,
I’ve already discussed my feelings on, and opposition to, skin-bleaching, self-hatred and our unhealthy adherence to Eurocentric beauty ideals amongst black women dear, had you actually READ my comments in their ENTIRETY on both this post and the previous post which first dealt with the matter a couple months ago. Instead of cutting and pasting one single paragraph of what I said in an attempt to distort my comments.
Oh, do you mean issues like: The subtle and overt misogyny and sexism inflicted by black men against black women? The spiralling rates of murder, rape and violence against black women in majority black constructs? The constant devaluing and degradation of black women through the media and popular culture under the guise of “black entertainment” and other morally repugnant social messages? The state-sanctioned rape and murder of black women in the Congo and South Africa? Seventy-percent out-of-wedlock pregnancies for black women? Virtually non-existent rates or prospects of marriage and healthy relationships for black women? The glaring lack of self-esteem amongst young black girls – along with their premature sexualization and dysfunctional emphasis on their physical attributes? The black community’s approval of sexual and gender-based violence against lower income black women or black women of unsympathetic character? The misplaced and unreciprocated loyalty that black women continue to show towards black men? Teaching black women to be more selective when it comes to the men they choose to partner with and have children for? Teaching black women that their constant enabling and support of dysfunctional and damaged black men will be the death of them? The unusually high rates of aggressive breast and cervical cancer amongst black women, especially now younger black women ?
Do you mean THOSE kinds of issues FrankTalk?
Oh yes, I could talk about those issues all day.
However, I only discuss those issues with people who genuinely care about the welfare and empowerment of black girls and black women and are actively involved OUTSIDE the blogosphere in doing something about them.
So pardon me for having the audacity to give priority to the issues that are actually and literally a matter of LIFE AND DEATH for black women, as opposed to getting bent out of shape everytime I see a random black woman walking down the street with some $10 yaki on her head.
In the real world I think they call it setting priorities and choosing your battles.
Not that fighting Eurocentric beauty ideals is not also important. Part of what I do outside the blogosphere is create positive, healthy and full-dimensional images of black girls and women.
The blogmaster invites you to join and add value to the discussion.