Kelly Rowland has spoken out against the constant overlooking of women who are dark skinned. The former Destiny’s Child member was speaking at a panel at the music festival, South by Southwest when she stated that women need more dark-skinned role models in popular culture.
Kelly has just launched a new talent show called, Chasing Destiny where she’s putting together a new girl group.
According to The Guardian, the singer was responding to a question from an audience member, who said that her sister had been rejected by a prospective boyfriend who told her: “You’d be prettier if you were lighter.” The singer responded:
“It’s just a trip to me. One of the things I looked for [in the new girl group] first was chocolate girls because I feel it’s so necessary for my niece, my unborn kid, she has to see more chocolate women.”
She added that growing up, she was inspired by darker-skinned women like Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson, and by Michelle Obama today. “No disrespect for lighter women, but we have to see all colours,” Rowland said.
We completely agree! This is a worldwide problem that’s been ongoing for way too long; giving rise to the usage of dangerous skin lightening creams and bleaching methods. The perceived superiority of lighter skinned black women is something that needs to be tackled more aggressively in media industries as well as at home if we are ever to truly believe that black is really beautiful.
What do you think? Do you think the media is still not representative of dark skinned women? What else could be done to deal with this problem?
