We Are More Than Just A Color
Do you see dark skin as a weapon, or a Spanish-speaking woman as a threat? The answer to that question should be no. Black women and other people of color are perceived through social media as ghetto, ugly, worthless, and angry. However, we never get positive recognition in the media which prevents modeling agencies from wanting to sign us due to prejudicial views. We peacefully protest, own businesses, educate ourselves and our communities, and nourish our
fellow people. If we are taking time out of our lives to do this and look good while doing it, then we definitely deserve to be represented in the modeling industry. I say this because a beautiful, fashionable, educated, and kind woman is a role model that any child deserves to have, especially one that looks like them.
Unjust Standards In Modeling
Eurocentric standards make it hard for anyone “different” to be accepted in the beauty and modeling industries. According to them, you must be 5’10 and 90 lbs, your cheekbones must be higher than the Empire State Building and your stomach absolutely needs to be nonexistent! Since when were these rules fair? Since when could people not be selected to model for talent and natural beauty rather than forcing people to lose 30 lbs just to walk across a stage in some
clothes? Well, the answer to this question is that this has been happening since almost... forever. Presently some agencies and brands are just beginning to select a diverse set of models to represent their brand, but most of them are only doing so because they have competition. Allowing short, dark, hairy, big, and cultured models shouldn’t now just be a thing... they should’ve been included from the start of the agency and brand promotion. Just because there are agencies now allowing assorted groups of models into their campaigns doesn’t mean that they still don’t judge unfairly, because they do. They’d rather pay for skinny than pay for talent, and
that’s a deep issue that needs to be resolved immediately.
Intolerance Of Natural Beauty In the Industry
There are various examples of the ignorant intolerance that people of color face in the modeling industry. There is this one story that really hits close to home to me personally as a person who is of Caribbean descent and who loves her natural hair. Gabriella Bernard, a contestant on Caribbean's Next Top Model was asked to relax and straighten her natural hair, or go home. Of course, as an Afro Caribbean person who built their brand in order to embrace their natural beauty, she said no and refused to relax her hair. Instead, she allowed them to texturize
her hair as long as her beautiful curls would be in the same condition afterwards. Why should straight hair be a standard in a contest for a model within a culture that embraces their natural kinks and curls? Why was it okay for a white beauty consultant to tell a black woman what to do with her hair? It’s not okay for anyone to tell somebody to fix their hair to match Eurocentric standards in order to continue to pursue their dreams. While Gabriella was being judged on the
show she was called “so unbelievably naughty and unprofessional,” and this came from a black woman judge. As you can see, the system is brainwashing our own people and it’s forcing them to make the decision between accepting their natural state or being altered to be accepted by a segregated society.
Features That They Change On BIPOC
1. Natural Hair Textures
A lot of BIPOC models end up having to chemically alter their hair in order to model
with certain brands. They most likely end up getting texturizers, perms, or just get their hair straightened a lot, which can chemically or physically destroy their hair.
2. Skin Color
Skin bleaching and lighter foundation shades are commonly found in the modeling
industry. Makeup artists use foundation that are up to 3 shades lighter than the models’ actual skin for two main reasons. One is because there aren’t enough dark foundation shades that provide great coverage to the model. Two, the models actual skin tone isn’t genuinely accepted by the brand, so they feel as though they should look lighter to match the rest of the models. Also, skin bleaching is used in the modeling industry so they can look “prettier” or “more beautiful”. Multiple black models have been asked to bleach their skin in order to continue modeling.
3. Weight
In modeling , most people have to weigh around 110 - 130 pounds depending on what they’re modeling for. The reason for this is because they’ll be able to fit into most clothing. However, modeling should showcase all body types, which the industry is just starting to do. BIPOC are normally more heavy and rounded than some white people, so this essentially means that in order for a black woman to model they’ll most likely end up altering a lot about themselves moreso than a white or even Asian woman.
Altering Melanated Skin
As previously mentioned, skin bleaching is popular in modeling. Most black women are almost forced to lighten their skin, so they can look more appropriate and “beautiful,” which isn’t true at all. There are multiple black models who experienced these trifling rules. Nyakim Gatwech is a Sudanese model with beautiful skin that’s deeply melanated.
She was born in Sudan and then moved to America when she was then bullied by classmates. Due to bullying, she suffered lots of doubt in herself and then wanted to bleach her skin to be accepted among her classmates. At first, she thought that she wasn’t beautiful enough to become a model and showcase her skin. She was instilled with self-doubt and had a lack of confidence up to the point where she wanted to bleach her skin.
Her sister persuaded her not to by saying, “You would not just be bleaching your skin, you would be bleaching your mind. I did it and I regret it.”
Nyakim then took those inspiring words into account and pushed through all
the self and peer hatred in her atmosphere. Numerous people still ask her about skin bleaching.
For example, an Uber Driver asked, “If you were given $10,000 would you bleach your skin?” she fiercely replied, “Even if being lighter would make my life easier, I’d rather take the hard road.”
Now, she has 950k+ followers on Instagram, and she has partnered with plenty of high fashion brands and is a great role model for BIPOC around the world.
The Overall Concept
To conclude, despite the negativity, discrimination, prejudice, jealousy, and angst against black and indigenous communities....there is always beauty in us. However, it’s you who can determine if your beauty will be showcased in a whitewashed community. You can help to encourage and grow BIPOC in the modeling industry in numerous ways. Here are some: sharing their posts, saving their posts for more engagement, commenting hashtags on their posts, tagging potential brands, and just being supportive as a whole. It’s imperative that we, the BIPOC community, uplift the natural beauty in our society that gives the limelight to women with
European features. Yes the game is changing, but we need to make a larger impact on our own!