Gabrielle Union is going there. The actress is speaking out about colorism and getting the conversation started at home. Union tells media how she recently addressed the problem of dark-skinned women being viewed as less attractive than their light-skinned counterparts during a conversation with her stepsons.
The topic came up when Gabrielle recently asked the boys to show her pictures of the hottest girls at their school. “Literally, probably about 10 girls I looked at had the same light skin, curly hair, tiny waist, butt, boobs — it was the same girl over and over again,” Union reveals. “So I asked them to show me the most beautiful chocolate sister they’ve seen. They say there are none. I was like, ‘Why do they get exed out so fast? What is happening in your brain that is causing you to look at these women through a prism that is distorting their actual selves?'”
You cannot criticize the Wade boys for looking at girls through discriminatory gazes. It is, after all, the culture that dictates who or what is beautiful. Light skin, unfortunately, is the standard of beauty and has reigned supreme for many years.
I need help. How do I talk to a child about colorism. My niece here talking about she wants to be biracial and light, and I wanna jump out a Window #colorism
— valerie complex (@ValerieComplex) July 17, 2018
It was just a few days ago that Erica Campbell and her daughter Krista’s conversation about colorism was revealed on their reality series, We’re The Campbells. The celebrity mom used Gabrielle Union as an example of a successful, dark-skinned woman. Krista, however, reflected on her family tree that showed a pattern of the men preferring light-skinned women.
“To me, diversity is the seat at a table that is super tiny,” Gabrielle says of the current standard of beauty that is not all-inclusive of various skin tones. “Inclusion is letting you on the block and at the house — much less at the table,” she explains.
Good morning good people! There is a space & a place for every dream & every dreamer… dont let anyone dim your shine! pic.twitter.com/bT2sV0uGaJ
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) July 18, 2018
The future of the beauty industry is quite massive, according to Gabrielle Union, so long as the conversations about colorism and inclusion continue. “Looking around where the welcome mat has been rolled out, and it’s a wide-a*s welcome mat big enough for tables and chairs for everybody,” Union envisions. “[I see a beauty industry] where every community is widely celebrated, and you’re actually f*cking listening to people when they’re speaking and [letting them] tell their own stories.”
We cannot wait to see this beauty industry come to fruition!
Photo: Getty Images
