A BadGal Says - TheSUSS: hair

Showing posts with label hair. Show all posts

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Today I ask you to look into the mirror of your soul and ask yourself, Who Are You Really ?

Shadeism is a very hot topic these days in Women's Circles. it throws the covers off of that offhanded but too often used term Exotic..

Shadeism from Shadeism on Vimeo.

This trailer for the soon to be released Documentary hits the problem in a very sensitive area. Personally speaking I lived this problem for my whole life. my skin is light brown; my hair is curly yet softer; and my eyes are lighter green and hazel.

This makes me stand out in a group of Black People always. it never matters how much we say we are one and the same, I can always feel that someone is looking at me with some emotional baggage, that belongs to neither of us.

The most hurtful comments always seem to come from women who are closer to my skin color. it seems that the lighter your skin color the more you seem to stick out in peoples eyes. much like a sore thumb.

Pigmentocracy : a society where pigment determines ones social class and life possibilities.

This social substructure greatly impacted people like me, whos' Caribbean backgrounds were linked to miscegenation and rape. last year we wrote about the problem with skin bleaching in the Caribbean. yet we still see the sales of these deadly creams climbing globally. it's as though people have adopted the view that to be White is to be Right.

When will we be able to accept each other for the People We Are, instead of the color of our skins ?

That question is larger for me in someways because no matter what I do, I will never be acceptable to either Black folks who are darker than me and have an issue with being Color Struck; or with White folks who seem to want to think that my skin color would make me more of a threat to them, being closer to theirs.

It's an ugly jagged point to always have to live with, regardless of what you may be doing with your life. you are accused of getting ahead because of your skin color; as shown in the video. women look at your hair and often wonder if it's chemically treated or even if it's your own hair. then your eyes really cause the most discomfort when people realize that they are yours, and not contact lenses.

I said I'd never write this post, but tonight it was so obvious to me that if I didn't add my voice to those of the women in the video, no one would understand my personal pain.

The pain of never being the right color. never having the right hair, texture or eyes. always being too close to that forbidden and hated thing. always being the secret that crept out of the closet and declared myself valid. yes valid as a woman, valid as a Black Woman and Valid as a woman who has suffered because of who I AM.

Today I ask you to look into the mirror of your soul and ask yourself, Who Are You Really ?

Sunday, September 5, 2010

People Isn't it Time We All Just Tried to Be Honest About Who We REALLY Are ?

Reading Blogs every week I run across some that are extraordinary. Like my friend Ms. Lady Deborah - From My Brown Eyed View. she blogs about the reality she sees all around her everyday. her blog highlights many of the worlds atrocities, as well as a few personal points of reflection.

I read her post on a personal tragedy that happened in her family recently.It was about a road rage incident where a person in her family was killed, basically due to someone elses stupidity. It was so upsetting. I watched the video that was above the post and tried to make more sense out of it, only to feel myself being sucked into the vortex of it's pain.

I Too Am a Light Skinned Black Person.. and I'm sick of being defined by my skin color not the content of my character..

this is the crux of many of the ills that Blackfolks deal with on a daily basis. what skin tone you are.

Yes My Whitefolks I'm hanging out some of My Blackfolks Laundry today and I know you are sitting back wondering why.

well it's damn well time we started hanging out our laundry and letting it air out. Ms. Lady Deborah does it so well, and on a daily basis. I believe that if more of us dealt with the plain facts, we'd be able to deal with our rage, not only on the road - but in real life on a daily basis.

You see in America there seems to be some perception of skin color as a measure of a persons' real character. NAAAAAAAAHHHHH NAHHHH. THAT'S SOME BULLCRAP BUDDY. If It were true, then what's the deal with folks who are extremely Light or Dark ? we have no measure of a persons character, other than a persons words and deeds, and we all need to get that straight right now.

Skin Color is determined by your genetics, not your mindset. Got It ?

This is the legend from the video to give you a little more explaination on who he is and why he's doing the video -

FF: Ladies Do Your Drapes Match Your Carpet ?

Yes that question is not an ordinary decorators question; but more of a Lady Clairol question, if you get me,

Sitting waiting for a table in a restaurant recently, we overheard some men talking about the women in their lives; and the conversation was on of all things - Hair. yes Hair. but not just any hair. the men were talking about if the Womens Drapes (hair on her head) Matched her Carpet (hair on your personal parts).

Whoooo HA !

Talk About Deep, and Leaning - these men had me about to roll on the floor. so today we ask you

Ladies - Does Your House Have the Same Color Scheme, or are you doing a lil custom decorating ?

Amazingly the White men said that they didn't know the real color of their womens' hair until they saw her nude and in the shower. two of them said they didn't really know if it was all their womens hair after seeing the new wigs and clip in hair thing that's hitting the white beauty market finally. that's crazy. they said that All White Women Colored Their Hair. Somehow I doubt that.

Infact I'm curious to know how many of my Female Visitors Do Actually Color Your Hair

The Blackmen in the conversation said they were unsure of their womens hair peroid, as they wondered in lots of cases if the womens' hair Was Real or My Indian Hair - yessss,,,, Sistawomen We got the mens confuzzled. the question of color with the Blackmen was simple - they assumed that with that much action going on up there; that there had to be color and something. most said that they expected the Black women to have hair that was similar to what they remember their moms' having naturally - underneath their hair.

What ? Underneath their hair ? apparently the men think that the women have two types of hair; which explains why they have no expectation as to the Carpet and Drapes matching. What the.. Had I known this about thirty fiiive years ago, I shoooo wouldn'ta took all them trips to the hairdresser to be initiated into the sisterhood of Miss Clairol. actually it was Creme of Nature; since I am after all a woman of color.

one of the men commented on how he didn't know if all women had carpet these days since his wife didn't. apparently she's had it removed, or keeps "Her Floors Waxed" if you know what he means. Whew ! that's just too high maintanance to be real; or useful. and no she's not a supermodel but a suburban soccer mom.

I hope that you will spend a moment and give us a few clicks to figure out if there is a difference in how women of certain ethnicitys decorate. Some how I'm curious to see how many folks will answer such a personal question. even though it's clearly visible when you're on the chemicals. I admit that I do use the stuff myself, and probably will continue. the color change for me is all about accenting my Green and or Hazel eyes; and Light Brown skin. Somehow it just became a part of who I am.