The beauty industry can kill you. I'm not just saying that as a radical feminist or a person who has read The Story of Stuff and is now acutely aware that everything we do and buy will kill a)us b)the planet. No, I'm saying this because the industry pushes us to see our dark skin or our aging skin as wrong. It pushes us to see the first issue to think about when there's some dissatisfaction in our lives as beauty. Instead of am I kind to others? Is the work I doing satisfying? It pushes us to see the issue as our thighs, our hair that reaches towards the sky instead of blowing in the wind, So the first thing we reach for isn't the stillness inside ourselves, but a product. Not only is that bad for our souls, the fact that to make a bigger profit they slack on safety, so that mercury is in these creams, is killing us as well.
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On Whiteness and Sustainable agriculture.
I agree with the commentators that when brown bodies bike, it's seen as a symbol of poverty, and when white bodies bike, it's a movement. When brown bodies have a backyard garden and chickens in the ghetto, it's quaint, or rustic, when white bodies do that, it's a revolution. When brown bodies go to the Indian market and eat fresh, it's unseen, when white bodies do it, it's a trend.
My family has been 'green' for a long time. My granddad had nearly a farm in his backyard, and I'm sure when white folks discover that a whole crew of cousins can fit in the same two prom dresses, it'll be on the front cover of the New York Times.
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Do you watch America's Next Top Model? Probably not. Why on earth would you? I have no excuse for myself. Anyway.
This year's winner was a dark skinned woman named Krista and she was all tough and composed and professional and cool all season long. Then when she won she broke down and cried to Tyra Banks and talked about how she never saw people like her on the covers of magazines growing up and how meaningful she thinks it will be to other girls that she won. The louder-than-words subtext was: Look, Tyra, thanks for the opportunity. I want people to see that a black woman can be a successful model without colored contacts, a blond weave, and light skin.
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