On ‘Light Girls’

Last night, I watched ‘Light Girls’ on the Oprah Winfrey Network, a documentary about the experiences of women of a fairer complexion. “Light brights”, “high yellow” or “redbones”, just to list some of the names given to light skinned women of the Black community.

The general consensus regarding the latest documentary by the OWN network was quite singular, in that everyone thought ‘Light Girls’ was ridiculous, frustrating and unnecessary due to the fact that light skinned women have privilege that dark skinned women don’t experience. Which is true. Dark skinned women get the short end of the stick in every area of life. Dark skinned women are more likely to be victimized, treated aggressively, bullied, disrespected and rejected for something they cannot control. This happens both outside of and within the Black community. The enemy here isn’t Black women, the enemies are the creators and benefactors of white supremacy.

When this blew up on my timeline I was hurt because of the in-fighting happening between Black women of all hues. I don’t think there was a need to bash the documentary or claim it to be invalid because it provides a controversial view into the deeply layered world of Black identity. The discussions on Twitter seemed to be coming from a place of hurt and I get that but we wish we had more productive dialogue considering white supremacy affects us all.

Colorism, a byproduct of white supremacy, is a very real issue in the Black community and by claiming that hurt experienced by light skinned girls isn’t worth examining, we cheat ourselves out of the opportunity to grow and become better as a society. And not just as a white/Black society but as a global community.

That’s what I liked most about this documentary, it showcased all sides of the issue when  giving perspectives from women, men and other people of color from other cultures, too. I wasn’t aware colorism was even an issue among the Japanese who favor a more western ideal of beauty. Western beauty that aligns itself with better opportunities and choices. Dark skinned people get mistreated globally.

I’m drawing an issue here because I believe the Black community perpetuates colorism within its own by showing favor to light skinned women. Let me call a spade, a spade. Black men, specifically, perpetuate colorism by favoring fair complexioned women. And this is wrong on so many levels but is especially wrong when I know that the opposite is true for dark skinned men. Men, no matter their hue, get to be sought after, seen as strong, seen as valuable. Dark skinned women don’t have the same and receive negativity more than their male counterparts. There are Black men that will say a girl is pretty simply because she’s fair regardless of how she looks. Dark skinned women are changing the game.

How can we fight racism but not address colorism as the issue it is?

We need to begin by broadening our view of what beauty is. Beauty is more than a high yella girl with curly 3b hair and a slim nose. We need to bring dark skinned women up on a pedestal so that more young girls and women can see themselves for what they are: gorgeous. By doing this we can turn the tide on what Black men find attractive. We must fight the enemy that is racism by being greater ourselves. Melanin is magic.