Guest Author - Stephanie L. Ogle
Society’s perception of what is considered beautiful differs from culture to culture but for many black women, white America’s ideal of beauty has kept us somewhat enslaved even in the year 2001.
Decades upon decades ago, it was believed that the lighter skinned you were, the more beautiful you were thus making more opportunities & privileges come to you. To achieve that, many women resorted to bleaching their skin with products that promised a “lighter, brighter complexion”. Many women suffered burns and discoloration vs. the lightened skin coloring they desired.
Hair relaxers where also used to make black women’s hair straighter. The early hair relaxers were Lye based. These relaxers causes scalp burns if applied to irritated scalp or if left on for too long. The feeling was the longer the relaxer was left on the straighter the hair would be but the danger in that was that the straighter you wanted your hair you ran the risk of burns and/or the loss of hair completely. Hair relaxers went to a no-lye formula, which was safer and little better on your hair & scalp, decreasing the chance of burns or hair loss if applied correctly.
For those who didn’t want any sort of chemical treatment to process their hair, the hot comb & curlers were used. Most often just placed on a stove burner, heated metal, that looked like a metal comb was the method used to straightening hair. While the assurance of not using chemicals was a bonus the downside was the hot metal could also burn the scalp or skin and even cause breakage & burning to the hair itself.
Nowdays, more & more black women are opting for cosmetic surgery. Whether it’s to increase their bust, alter their nose and get a nip & tuck here & there. Celebrities such as Toni Braxton, Janet Jackson and the rumor mill circulating whether or not actress Vivica A. Fox did or didn’t has many in this community wondering why we still, after so many years, are not satisfied with the way we are or the way we look. The 70’s created excitement over blackness & the love & beauty of that. We’ve somewhat gone back to the retro look of wearing our hair naturally (afros, dreads) to braids (beaded & not beaded) to cornrows.
Everybody is entitled to do what he or she wants to their bodies as long as they are happy. If you should chose to go for cosmetic surgery of any sort, make sure you have done your homework & researched the pros & cons to such procedures.
In essence, anyone wanting to change their appearance should so do for themselves only. Remembering the simple but oh-so-true saying that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is something that we must remember as adults and instill into our children.....that “black is beautiful” no matter shade or shape.
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