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Tag: colorism

  • Young People Breaking Generational Norms Surrounding Colorism

    Young People Breaking Generational Norms Surrounding Colorism

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    Young people are breaking generational thought patterns surrounding colorism despite making older generations “uncomfortable,” according to mental health professionals. This is the final entry in our four-part series on color and mental health. 

    Dec. 15, 2022– During bath time with their grandmother, 5-year-old Afro-Latina triplet girls were playing with toys that spurt out water.

    After filling the toy with water and soap, one of them innocently turned to their grandmother.

    “If I spray this, my skin will be lighter.”

    This became a pivotal moment for their parents — Marland and Anniella May — millennial mental health professionals of Caribbean and Argentinian descent, respectfully. Was their little girl thinking that lighter skin would be better? Colorism came early to their home.  

    “I took a more direct role in making their surroundings and being very intentional about what we’re presenting to them,” says Marland.

    Addressing colorism – a real or perceived bias based on skin tone and color — isn’t easy, especially since doing so means “trying to undo 500 years of systematic miseducation,” according to Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

    Across the globe, darker skin puts millions of people at a disadvantage. Within communities of color, lighter skin often bestows better access, privilege — and better mental and physical health.

    “While I may feel frustrated and angry when people make comments that are coloristic, I have to remember all of us have been exposed to that education before we were even born,” Chavez says.

    Fostering Community

    It can be tough to go against the grain in both your community and in your family, especially if you’ve repeatedly heard colorist comments or live in a non-diverse community, according to Josephine Almanzar, PsyD, a licensed psychologist and owner of Oasis Psychological Services.

    “It really is an act of full-on rebellion to fight against what you’ve been told your whole life,” Almanzar says. “Being able to find a community is important so that you don’t feel like you’re alone in this fight to be who you are.”

    It’s also crucial for conversations about colorism to take place outside of the home, too, like in churches, schools, the media, and through prominent members of society, according to Radhika Parameswaran, PhD, associate dean of The Media School at Indiana University in Bloomington.

    Social media has also been a major tool for raising awareness about colorism, as well as a means of support for those who may feel isolated by their family or communities in general. 

    “In South Asia, particularly in India, I hear young women talking more and more about how this [colorism] is wrong and how things need to be changed,” says Parameswaran. 

    Breaking Down Barriers

    While the burden ultimately lies on younger generations to break generational and societal thought patterns on colorism, Almanzar says young people give her hope.

    For example, they’re more likely to rock their naturally coily hair or maybe sunbathe even though they’ve always been told “they’ll get too dark” — both of which can make older generations “uncomfortable,” she says.

    Practicing positive self-talk, or your inner dialogue, is a key factor in helping young people embrace their skin tone and physical features, says Anniella, the now 6-year-old triplets’ mother. This could be asking children to reflect on what they see when they look in the mirror, or their inner dialogue after making mistakes. 

    “It’s the reinforcement of the fact that you are beautiful; you are smart,” Marland says. “We wanted to highlight other areas of their personality before we went to their beauty, almost as to validate who they were. But we needed to validate their identity and what they look like first.”

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  • Your (Afro-Textured) Hair Is Beautiful: The Trauma of Texturism

    Your (Afro-Textured) Hair Is Beautiful: The Trauma of Texturism

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    In our third episode in our four-part series, we’ll be diving into texturism and its impact on many Black and Latino individuals. We’ll also look at ways to gain more appreciation for your naturally beautiful coils and curls. 

    Dec. 1, 2022 – It’s your first day of work at a new job, and you’re a bundle of nerves and excitement. Your hand goes to press the “Join Meeting” button. As you take a breath, that pesky thought fights to gut-punch your self-esteem. 

    “What message will my hair send to my new colleagues?”

    If you’re not a person of African descent, you may have no idea what I’m talking about. Historically, our natural hair texture has been deemed unattractive, unprofessional, and, perhaps most upsetting of all, “unkempt.” Thankfully, the natural (afro-textured) hair movement has gained momentum (on and off) over the past few decades.

    In our new docu-series “Color by WebMD: WebMD’s Exploration of Race and Mental Health,” we’ll dive into what’s known as texturism and its impact on many Black and Latino people. We’ll also talk about ways we can gain more appreciation for our naturally beautiful coils and curls.

    The Four Main Hair Types

    Texturism – or discrimination based on how close or far your natural hair is to European (fine, straight) tresses – can be commonplace within many communities of color, according to Vanessa Gonlin, PhD, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Georgia. To help explain where and how texturism works, she breaks down the four main hair textures.

    • Type one: Straight hair
    • Type two: Wavy hair
    • Type three: Curly hair
    • Type four: Coily or coarse [afro-textured] hair

    Not only may people inside your racial group treat you poorly based on your afro-textured hair texture, but those outside your race may also view afro-textured hair in a negative light, according to Gonlin. 

    “I have type 3 hair, and I’ve never been concerned that I would have a difficult time at a job interview because of my natural hair,” she says. “But I know other people who have coily, type 4 hair who do have that concern.”

    It Starts Early 

    As someone born with afro-textured hair, I have a strong connection to texturism – and so does my sister, Liz Davis, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Kansas City, KS. Liz traveled to the WebMD office in Atlanta, and we discussed how texturism affected our self-concept without us fully realizing it. Liz says some of her earliest, most traumatic experiences surrounding hair happened when we went to beauty salons to get our hair relaxed, or chemically straightened.

    “I just remember my scalp getting burned and scabbing up in different areas,” she recalls.

    Many people don’t consider the psychological factors of getting your hair relaxed, as well as what type of message it can send about what type of hair is considered “attractive,” Liz says. 

    “I don’t even think that I had cognition to understand that my hair texture was being changed.”

    Liz and I also talked about what it was like growing up in predominantly white communities, and how much Eurocentric standards of beauty influenced how we viewed our hair. In college, Liz remembered showing a friend (who was white) various photos of haircut styles and asking her which one she should get.

    “I remember her saying to me, ‘Liz, these are all white people. Don’t you want to pick a hairstyle that’s representative of you and your skin color and your culture?’” Liz says.

    Liz began researching Black, natural hair content creators on social media who talk about their natural hair journeys, as well as share about how they’re taking care of their afro-textured curls.

    “I wanted that for myself. I started to become more empowered in my own sense of self and in my culture,” she says.

    Facial Features

    Featurism is often less spoken of, but it still plays a major role in how people of color are treated within their own communities and can have damaging effects on one’s self-perception, according to Radhika Parameswaran, PhD, associate dean of The Media School at Indiana University in Bloomington. Featurism centers on how close or far one’s physical features are from typical Eurocentric (narrow nose, thinner lips) features. 

    “If your features depart from the very sort of ‘European ideal,’ then you’re not seen as beautiful. Hence, you have eye-altering surgeries in Japan and people in other parts of the world getting cosmetic surgeries that help you achieve features that are more approximate to this ‘European ideal,’” she says.

    This phenomenon is widespread within many Latino communities, says Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

    “For example, if a person has light skin and a wide nose, then there is still that stereotype with comments like, ‘Your skin color is beautiful, but look at your nose,’” she says. 

    Mental Health Effects of the ‘-isms’

    The mental health effects of texturism can be seen in “the most subtle ways,” Liz says. Statements like “I don’t like my skin. I don’t like my hair. I hate social media because everyone on there is so much more beautiful than me” are commonplace with many of her Black and Brown therapy clients, she says. 

    When Liz asks for examples of these “exceptionally beautiful” people, they’re typically pictures of lighter-skinned people of color, with looser curl patterns and Eurocentric features. 

    “It’s an incredibly painful place to sit in when someone is hurting and in pain because of who they are,” she says. “There’s nothing wrong with their hair, skin, or facial features. There is something wrong with our society that’s privileging a Eurocentric standard of beauty.”

    Next, we’ll look at what’s being done to combat colorism, featurism, and texturism. WebMD traveled to Dallas to visit the May family – two millennial parents with Afro-Latina triplet girls.

    Their example is a great lesson for people of color, and non-people of color alike, on how to tackle these harmful thought patterns that children can often adopt at a young age.

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  • Mental and Emotional Effects of Colorism Are Often Hidden

    Mental and Emotional Effects of Colorism Are Often Hidden

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    As children, we equate self-worth with the messages we receive. Seen as less favorable, darker skin tones often contrast with biased beauty standards. (Second of a four-part series on colorism by WebMD)

    Nov. 17, 2022 – “Get out of the sun girl, you’re already dark!” 

    It’s like a razor-sharp blade pierces your heart, but the pain is still as stunning and overwhelming as the first time. You suddenly wish you were alone, so you can drop in a fetal position, bury your face in your hands, and cry. 

    But you can’t do that. People are watching. An eye roll, fake chuckle, and a half-hearted “shut up!” will have to do.

    This might sound extremely melodramatic, but countless people of color know exactly what this feels like and might even be re-traumatized just reading this all-too-common example of colorism, or skin-tone discrimination, from those within your same racial group.

    Colorism is usually expressed through microaggressions and indirect messages about which skin tones are deemed “beautiful,” says Josephine Almanzar, PsyD, a licensed psychologist and owner of Oasis Psychological Services. These types of comparisons are often a means to get closer to a “white [European] reference point,” she says.

    In WebMD’s new docu-series “Color by WebMD,” we will be looking more into the mental health implications of experiencing colorism, often from those closest to you, as well as how to deal with the trauma that can come with these encounters. 

    Your Core Belief

    One of the biggest psychological impacts of colorism is the damage to one’s “core belief,” says Almanzar. Core belief is built during early childhood and is largely based on interactions and messages about our self-worth. She uses the example of wearing sunglasses to illustrate her point.  

    “If we have a certain tint to our sunglasses, we view the world through that color,” she says. “For children of lighter skin, they receive certain messages about who they are. So, if my skin color is praised, that means ‘I am inherently good. I am worthy. I am lovable. I belong.’”

    Children with darker skin can receive a separate type of messaging about their skin color. 

    “This informs their self-concept or core belief in a different way, where they might feel worthless, unlovable, that they don’t belong – and that impacts their lens and how they view the world,” Almanzar explains.

    Due to this wounded core belief, emotional distress and symptoms like depression, hopelessness, loss of motivation, and lack of  interest in activities may occur. 

    Colorism’s Ugly Relatives

    One of colorism’s counterparts, featurism, can also play a huge role in how people of color are treated within their own communities, according to Radhika Parameswaran, PhD, associate dean of The Media School at Indiana University in Bloomington. 

    “If your facial features depart from a ‘European ideal,’ then you can be viewed as less attractive,” she says. “Hence, you have eye-altering surgeries in Japan. All these cosmetic surgeries help you achieve features that are approximate to the ‘European ideal.’”

    This damaging ideology has continually been spread within many Latino communities, according to Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

    “A person may have lighter skin, but if they have thick lips or a wide nose, or if they have curly or coarse hair, then there will be that stereotype, with comments like, ‘Your skin color is beautiful, but look at your nose,’” she says.

    Have a Strategy  

    While you might not be able to stop someone from treating you differently based on your skin tone or facial features, you can have a plan in place to help offset some of the emotional effects of these encounters. 

    Finding a community who can offer you support, journaling, and talking through your story with people you trust are all ways of building up your sense of self, says Almanzar.

    “What is your current core belief about who you are and what do we want it to look like?” she says. “On an individual level, that’s how we can work on building people up and facing these beauty standards.”

    Next, we’ll dive into texturism – or discrimination based on hair texture – which is a huge phenomenon within Latino and Black communities. Look for that episode, the third in our four-part series, on Dec. 1. 

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  • Color By WebMD Part 1: Call Colorism Out, Loudly

    Color By WebMD Part 1: Call Colorism Out, Loudly

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    Nov. 3, 2022 – In Asian, Black, and Latino communities, colorism is the elephant in the room, sitting at the family dinner table, the group photoshoot, meeting strangers for the first time, or even playing in your kindergarten classroom. This phenomenon is so deeply rooted within communities of color that it is almost taboo to talk about. Or maybe it hurts too deeply to call out by name.

    But, if you’re not a person of color, this concept might sound completely foreign; but that’s OK, keep reading. To boil colorism down to a simple explanation, it is discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry, based on skin tone and color. 

    “The similarities in colorism across [Asian, Black, and Latino] communities are specifically related to the adoration and glorification of whiteness and the perception that anything that’s European and of lighter skin is better,” says Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

    This includes thoughts like, “white people – followed by people of color with lighter skin – are smarter and more capable and deserving of societal privileges, like access to better jobs, wealth,” she says.

    In our new docu-series, “Color by WebMD: WebMD’s Exploration of Race and Mental Health,” we’ll start by addressing colorism and the costly mental health effects of this phenomenon. We’ll also look at ways to break these multi-generational thought patterns that prevent some people of color from truly recognizing and appreciating the beauty of varying skin shades.  

    Colorism vs. Racism

    Differentiating colorism from racism can be tricky because one bleeds into the other, according to Radhika Parameswaran, PhD, an associate dean of The Media School at Indiana University in Bloomington. Racism pertains to attitudes, behaviors, and treatment from one racial group to another. For example, the way a white community treats an Asian community. Colorism, on the other hand, looks at how members of a community of color treat one another. 

    “So, in some ways, colorism is also about internalized racism,” says Parameswaran.

    Where Does Colorism Come From? 

    While colorism is rooted inside certain racial groups, we can trace its origins back to European colonialism, says Vanessa Gonlin, PhD, an assistant sociology professor at the University of Georgia. For African American communities in the U.S., colorism stems from chattel slavery. Colonizers created a skin-tone hierarchy where lighter-skinned slaves were more likely to be “put in the house” and tasked with cooking, cleaning, and other duties often deemed as “easier,” Gonlin explains. Darker-skinned slaves often worked it the fields. 

    “This led to literal divisions among enslaved people,” she says. “You’re less likely to band together for a slave revolt if you have these perceived differences that actually are enacted based on your occupation.”

    Even after emancipation, some African Americans kept colorist ideas going within their communities. Gonlin gives the example of the notorious “brown paper bag test,” particularly among certain Greek fraternities and sororities throughout the 20th century. 

    “If your skin was lighter than a brown paper bag, you were allowed entry into certain spaces,” Gonlin says.

    Colorism in Asian and Latin American Communities 

    When Spaniards began to colonize Latin America in the late 15th century, they created a ranking system. People with lighter skin were at the top and those with darker skin and non-European facial features (for example, a narrow nose or thin lips) were at the bottom of the ranking order, according to Chavez-Dueñas.

    “They used this [ranking order] to dehumanize and exclude people who were indigenous people or of Afro descent,” she says. “That system has been at work for centuries throughout Latin America.”

    And in many Asian cultures, colorism began long before Europeans arrived. Rather, skin tone bias was connected to social class.

    “If you were lighter-skinned, that means that you’re not toiling outside in the field,” Gonlin says. “It was this idea of having the luxury or the means to be able to stay inside. If you were darker-skinned, then you were a laborer.”

    It Starts at Home

    Perhaps the ugliest reality across cultures is that colorism usually starts at home. Ideas of self-doubt can be introduced very early and can be hard to shake, says Chavez-Dueñas. In fact, colorism often begins before birth. Comments like, “I hope your child turns out white” or “I hope they have good hair” can be commonplace for pregnant women, she says. 

    In some families, there will often be praise heaped upon siblings who have a lighter skin tones, Parameswaran says.

    “They will be sought out for presentation to the public.” 

    This may sound horrendous, but it’s important to keep in mind that many families just want the best for their children, Parameswaran says. The idea that lighter skin provides children less social stigma and more career opportunities, romantic partners, and an overall “easier life” fuels colorist narratives.

    The Harsh Reality for Darker-Skin Children

    Colorist comments are usually uttered during casual conversation and often become normalized. Darker-skin children can develop feelings of exclusion and low self-esteem, even to the point where they believe their parents “don’t love them as much as, perhaps, a sibling who’s lighter-skinned,” says Parameswaran.

    “The child ends up carrying a lot of stigma and shame – it’s like a heavy backpack,” Parameswaran says. “Sometimes they don’t have that vocabulary to articulate those feelings. So, they hold it within themselves, and it can be very damaging over the long run.”

    Some children carry this shame into adulthood, which can make it hard to sustain romantic relationships and simply “be themselves to the fullest extent possible,” she says

    Next, we’ll chat with mental health experts about how to overcome psychological trauma from colorism. We’ll also explore ways more people of color – at their core – can truly esteem the beauty of rich skin tones and other ethnic features. 

    Stay tuned! The next episode is scheduled to launch Nov. 17.

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