Psychological Effects of Colorism

Colorism is an issue among African Americans and many other ethnic groups that have been 'colonized' that is slowly disunifying there cultures. Along with every other ethnic group in the United States, colorism has been passed down generation after generation and this shows how systematic it is. Colorism is prejudice or discrimination of one's skin tone and favoritism of the opposite skin tone that occurs in the same race. There has been a trend of colorism in the black community. Such is the augment problem that degrades and lowers the self-esteem by glorifying lighter skin tones.

They do this by putting them on a higher pedestal than darker skin.

Colorism has mainly one cause and that is slavery even though colonization is considered almost the same but in a different country and taking control over it. Likewise, slavery has impacted African Americans mentally and systemically in many negative ways. Colorism is like racism only worse, people are mainly against others of their own race.

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Light skin is considered better (above) than those of dark skin, but this is all due to slavery because slave owners only really gave special treatment to slaves with fairer/lighter skin complexions. This then led slave owners offering them with better opportunities. Even though most slave owners didn't acknowledge their biracial children, they were known for giving them preferential treatment. So, it's clear that slavery was the start of colorism, but it also wasn't the end. In the United States, those with light skin is more likely to get 'privileged' than, those with darker or medium skin tones that are African American.

An effect of Colorism is the 'Ideal European beauty standard' which is also what can give people of other ethnic backgrounds insecurity. Some people (women) have been told 'you look pretty for a dark skin girl' this is nugatory it's saying that being a person of dark skin can't be pretty because of their skin complexion. This can have many negative impacts on a person, child, and teen. Think about if someone constantly said those things and how it would make someone you know feel. Colorism can be traced back to 'European imperialism and colonialism, in the 18th, 19th, and 20th Century'. This was when European settlers spread/oppressed their ideology of beauty standards to people of color and many other races. Europeans told people of color and different ethnic groups that not having white hair and features are considered 'unattractive'. In history, this idea affects the world on colorism because it can lead to stereotypes and dehumanization. Therefore, many people disregard the fact nor care that some people are treated differently than others in their own race based on the color of their skin. Even though those that aren't European follow the ideal standard they can sometimes be colorist to other ethnic groups or people.

Another effect of Colorism is that sometimes due to the Ideal standard of beauty in society it can result in self-hatred and insecurity. There's this idea that light skin is superior than darker skin likewise this is immensely rooted with slavery and the African American community. Majority of people must deal with colorism in their everyday life in every aspect such are relationships, job force and social media. Many people don't even know the meaning or rarely know about colorism because they don't hear about it. This can be perceived as a hidden topic, something no one wants to talk about it since many don't know about colorism. The effect of colorism on the politics of beauty is explored. The influence of impossible beauty ideas on some women of color emphasis on skin bleaching products. Many women and men from various ethnic backgrounds use these types of stuff to get their skin lighter cause there not happy with their self or how they look. So, colorism is solely based on skin color other things like eyes and certain feature would be considered featurism. People are taught colorism growing up at a young age unconsciously and then they don't discern the effects it has on their culture, because then it's normalized. In other countries besides the United States, colorism is more related to class levels in society the lighter they (people) are the closer you are to the ideal standard. Even though European colonialism has indeed left a mark worldwide, colorism is said to predate contact in places in Asia and Latin America in both places they also use bleaching cream to convert to society ideal beauty standards. This is a form of self-hate, changing yourself for the benefit of others due to colorism and insecurity.

Colorism is an issue amongst African Americans and many other ethnic groups that have been 'colonized' and it's gradually disintegrating their cultures in many ways. Along with every other ethnic group in the United States, colorism has been passed down generation after generation and this shows how systematic it is. Colorism is still an issue amongst African Americans furthermore it's still gradually tearing down their culture and it still is today. Slavery is the cause of colorism and it resulted in disadvantages, insecurity, and self-hatred. Even though there is a long way to go for change it's going to take years (decades) for action to be done.

Work Cited

Phoenix, Aisha. "Colorism and the politics of beauty." Feminist Review, no. 108, 2014, pp. 97-105. Academic OneFile, . Accessed 31 Jan. 2019.

Jones, Trina. "Shades of brown: the law of skin color." Duke Law Journal, Apr. 2000, p. 1487. Academic OneFile, Accessed 1 Feb. 2019.

David Knight

Issue 51, Fall 2015

Ash, Erin. "Emotional Responses to Savior Films: Concealing Privilege or Appealing to Our Better Selves?" Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, vol. 11, no. 2, 2017, p. 22+. Academic OneFile, Accessed 1 Feb. 2019.

Sarah Al- Barkawl, Opinion Editor

November 27, 2017

Colorism issue impacts beauty standards