Michelle Obama was on ABC's The View when Whoopi Goldberg, one of The View’s regular commentators, made a remark about Michelle Obama’s complexion and her impact on society. Summarizing Whoopi’s statement, she said it is such an honor to have a beautiful dark-skinned black woman represented in the media. Whoopi’s comments were meant to address the negative images of dark-skinned people in the news and society.
Complexion and Relationships
The complexion issue is a controversial one that affects several cultures. However, women in the African-American community have debated it silently for years. They believed it could even affect the quality of potential mates. In fact, Tameka J. Raymond, the ex wife of Usher Raymond, expressed her consternation with complexion rejection in a The Huffington Post blog admitting, "Debates regarding Light vs. Dark have plagued our race for years and continues to impact millions of Black women."
Ashraf Esmail, a sociology and criminal justice professor at Delgado Community College in New Orleans, and Jas M. Sullivan, an assistant professor of political science and African American Studies at Louisiana State University, conducted a study revealing that African-American college students still overwhelmingly find lighter skin tones more attractive.
Goldberg’s remarks exposed what a lot of women silently thought: Our first black First Lady will be a dark-skinned beauty. This is bound to affect America's ideology of what is acceptable and what is beautiful.
Complexion and the Media
You can now see Michelle Obama on the covers of Vanity Fair and Vogue being compared to other icons of American beauty such as Jackie Kennedy. Although these magazines speak in terms of style, the historical comparisons are profound. They will, no doubt, have an affect on society’s view of Black women.
They are also profound because they say something about where we’ve been in America and where we’re going. Where we’ve been is in a place where Americans (both white and black) identified lighter complexions as superior complexions. Where we are now is in a place where we are more open-minded and can debate these issues openly on a national forum.
Finding women like Michelle Obama represented in the media is few and far between. Usually in the media, you see black beauty demonstrated by African-American women from the lighter side of the spectrum. Many of these women are biracial black women as well. Halle Berry, Tyra Banks, Vanessa Williams are a few from that “light” side of the spectrum. Yes, there are others like Naomi Campbell and Iman, but they also represent Europe, which has actually gone out of its way to recruit and accept very dark African beauties long before American culture did.
Now, things have started to change. When actresses Gabrielle Union and Kerry Washington hit the scene, the wheels started to turn. Gabrielle Union was even included in Maxim's Hot 100 among numerous blond beauties. This can only have positive results. There are young girls all over the world who are affected by what they see in the media. If they do not see themselves represented in a beautiful light, they will feel inferior.
Whoopi should be commended. What she did took courage. Many blacks do not want to admit or even talk about this aspect of our culture, but it is real, it exists and should not be swept under a rug. If Americans do not learn to find all the complexions represented in their country beautiful, then others won’t.
Complexion and Opportunity
Some may say looks are irrelevant in regards to progress, but they may be mistaken. Your complexion could affect your quality of life. Many studies suggest that preconceived notions about beauty may affect opportunities.
In a 2006 study, Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at UGA, discovered that dark-skinned African Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs, even if they have résumés superior to lighter-skinned black applicants. Hopefully seeing more women like Michelle Obama and children like her beautiful daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama, in the media will diminish this complexion divide in the black community and give young girls of all races more confidence.
Wesley Snipes and Michael Jordan made dark-popular for men in the 1990s. Perhaps Michelle Obama will do the same for dark women in the 2000s. For that alone, Michelle Obama means hope - hope that everyone will be judged equally regardless of complexion, race, religion or gender. Many women can be grateful to Whoopi Goldberg and Michelle Obama for opening more doors, but more importantly, we are grateful to them being smart, beautiful, strong, and insightful women.
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