It's Hard To Find Pretty Black Girls In America.

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon. I went to the gym this morning and in my fervor to get fit, I think I pulled a stomach muscle (gotta get the abs tight for the summer!) so instead of doing some much-needed work, I've been watching the Death Wish marathon on AMC and periodically checking emails.

So a couple of minutes ago, I checked my Google Reader and came across a couple of posts from one of my faves, Black Snob and was appalled at this:

After writing two posts about the advertising/modeling industry suddenly scratching their heads and having their worlds turned upside down by clients wanting a more "ethnic" look in the kid campaigns due to First Daughter Fever, and reading unadulterated BULLSHIT like, "(T)he First Daughters are tough subjects to match" and “It’s a very specific age and a very specific ethnicity, so there aren’t that many girls that would necessarily fit the bill,” I can no longer stand idle and say do nothing.

 So apparently advertisers and marketers are trying to make a buck by trying to find child models who resemble Malia and Sasha for upcoming campaigns - and are having a difficult time trying to find brown children who are.....biracial? Or 3/4's Black? or, as the above statement suggests, attractive, wealthy and Black?

Give me a f#$cking break.

First, all this marketing crap, such as T-shirts, mugs, the "Drunken Negro" cookies (created in sheer ignorance by a baker as a throwback to the good ol' minstrel days, I guess) , posters, flags, hairstyles, watching what Michelle Obama is wearing..caring about what Michelle Obama is wearing.......is wearing me thin.  

I understand that the world has rapidly changed in terms of our dependence on technology and the overabundance of consumerism, since the days when Chelsea Clinton or even the drunken Bush twins entered the Oval Office. The first Black folks to enter the White House by the front door instead of the back have proven to be a very lucrative marketing tool for many Madison Avenue advertising firms to manipulate for their own gain. But what is really sad is how out of touch many people were prior to Obama entering the media's eye that yes, there are black people in America who actually have Ivy League educations, can afford designer clothes without being signed to a Hip-Hop label or slinging crack, and their children actually speak the Queen's English!  But I've mentioned that before so I won't bother ranting about that nonsense again.

What unnerved me about Danielle's post was what initially came to my mind.

Thank God I don't have children.

It's not that I don't like kids or don't want kids - I am mildly afraid of kids, though, as I think that they can see right through me and realize I'd be a horrible, selfish parent - but what scares me most is if I were to have girls,how would they be received in this world?

Don't get me wrong - I see pretty black girls every day. But I also know pretty black women who have severe issues with self-esteem, depression, drug and alcohol abuse and other issues. They grew up thinking that they were not pretty or as worthy as their white counterparts. They grew up in a time when black folks were not regularly seen in mainstream media and as bullshit tends to run downhill, they had parents who did not validate not only their aesthetics, but their worth - that their beauty was equal to the white, Asian, Latina, etc. girls that they went to school with. They were told - sometimes directly that their natural hair is ugly, their round behinds, thick hips and full lips are unacceptable, and that when they voiced their opinion, that they would be feared, ostracized or even worse, simply ignored like they weren't even there. And again, as bullshit runs downhill and most importantly because so many people have been ingrained with the negativity that exists in society about black beauty, these pretty black women I know will most likely pass the same negative issues and messages on to their daughters. which is why I am glad I do not have girls of my own.

So I take great offense to the subject matter in Danielle's / Black Snob's posts. Not because it is ridiculously false, but because I see the hidden connotations behind advertising fims / modeling agency's ' struggles' to find black models who look like Malia and Sasha.

Comments

[erikdanielle]

No he is right! black women do have issues with drugs & alcohol and do have low self esteem! it's just not voiced out. which makes the numbers of reports black women less. and denial is a huge factor as well. . im black as well. . i know. .not all women are but yeah most are.

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what? not all black girls have drug problems, alcohol problems! actually 62% of depressed people are white. It's mostly white girls who have self esteem, black girls do to! But it was very untrue what you said. you are so stupid

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[Sarah]

Okay, I see where you're coming from a little more and I can agree with that.

That and I think more individuals of varying backgrounds need to be in lead roles in films. I'm not a big movie-goer myself, but so many children watch television and films so often that I keep wondering when there will be more Disney-type movies involving varieties of people and stories instead of just white Cinderellas, etc.

[Lainad]

Hi Sarah;

Thanks for your comment.

Just to clarify, I do beleive that there are many people who do think that black girls are beautiful and just as worthy as everyone else. We just need to get told that more - from the people around us. I wasn't saying that white folks don't think so - my parents are pretty cool!

But I do think that more diversity in advertising - not just black girls but people of all ethnicites - is needed. We are way ahead of where we were when I was growing up, but as Danielle's post indicated, there is still a long way to go.

[Sarah]

Wow.

I have no idea where to start. I linked to your blog through BlogHer and the next thing I know, I'm engrossed in reading every post you've ever written.

What this post in particular reminded me of is a little Black girl my husband and I saw in the grocery store a few weeks ago. Her mother was teaching her colors in the produce section, pointing out fruits and vegetables while she tried to remember what the color was: green, orange, yellow, etc. And she was soooo cute, she kept making shy sheep eyes at us, so when her mother was bagging up something, I asked her what her name was and told her she was beautiful and very smart with all of those colors, did she know that?

And I thought I should tell you because if you do one day have girls of your own, I think you should know that there are some people out there who have never thought a little Black girl is any less worthy/adorable/intelligent/etc than any other child.

I don't think it should really matter, but if it does: I'm white.

[Lainad]

Tru Dat.

Thanks Danielle!

[Danielle Belton]

And let the church say, "Amen."

But then, you were agreeing with my post and taking it a step further with the fact that BECAUSE agencies don't promote black models, because Madison Avenue does not hire them for campaigns, millions of black girls still grow up thinking like poor Pecola Breedlove, dreaming of that "Bluest Effin' Eye."