Here’s the Major Problem With White Beauty Standards

Editor’s Note: This video uses the word “crazy” in a way that has ableist connotations. While we love the informative content of the video, we know that ableist language is harmful, and we hope that as more and more people learn why, we will collectively erase this language from our vocabulary forever.

“You think you don’t matter as much.”

Light skin, slim nose, straight hair, big eyes – is this the only recipe for beauty?

Spend enough time with mainstream media, and you might think so – which spells out a recipe for disaster for so many women of color.

In this awesome episode of MTV’s Decoded, five women of color break down how whiteness is at the center of our cultural idea for beauty.

Find out what Decoded host Franchesca Ramsey, TV writer and Feminist Ryan Gosling creator Danielle Henderson, comedy writer Rekha Shankar, comedian Lily Du, and makeup artist Delina Medhin have had to deal with as women who don’t fit such a narrow definition of beauty.

Their stories show just how damaging white beauty standards are, and why representation matters. And if you still don’t believe them, they’ve got a little game you can play to find out for yourself how ridiculously whitewashed our society’s standard of beauty is.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

 

 

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Franchesca “Chescaleigh” Ramsey is a graphic designer and video blogger based out of New York City. With over 100k subscribers on her two YouTube channels, Chescaleigh and Chescalocs she and her videos have been featured on numerous style and entertainment blogs and news publications including MTV, The New York Times, Essence.com, and The BBC. In addition to making YouTube videos, she’s the writer-at-large for Upworthy.com and host of the MTV News webseries “Decoded”. Follow her on Twitter @chescaleigh.