Beyoncé’s L’Oreal print ad (in which she appears totally whitewashed) has been sparking discussion all over the blogosphere. I was reading some thoughts presented by one of my daily reads, The Black Snob, and came across a comment to her post:
“…who cares how light or dark Beyonce is? She is an incredibly talented singer and she has done well for herself. She doesn’t go out and get trashed or forget to wear important articles of clothing under short skirts, like certain other celebrities. Actually, she is one of the few celebrities I would actually call a good role model. It’s really none of my business what shade her skin is.”
This really got me to thinking. Does the commenter have a point? Is Beyoncé a good role model? Why do we all seem to care so much about her complexion?
I had to travel back in time to find my answers to these questions. Back to when I was about 10. Even though my mom wore her hair naturally, I seriously believed that light skin and straight hair were the norm.
Why? Well, ever notice that there are virtually no ads on TV or in mainstream fashion magazines for Black beauty products?