For the longest time, I really couldn't figure out why I should pay attention to what the female Kardashians and female Jenners were doing at all, despite my being able to clearly see what they're doing as far as mimicking black women's features.
But I've changed my mind because their disease is kinda catching on as cool in the white community.
White women becoming famous for having black features without in the white dominated music industry and Hollywood admitting that is indeed what's happening is not new. There have been a bunch of white women praised for the decades for having full lips -- like black woman's.
Some white girl even got quasi-famous by singing about bringing booty back -- as if the booty or "being thick" ever went out of style in the black community.
But the whole Kardashian /Jenner thing ratcheted the game of black features on white women up quite a bit...before black fishing (a white woman putting on black make up to look like a black person) was even a named thing. The Kardashians browning themselves and changing their features to be more like black women started out as a display for men, the physical display being about what it's always about:
I'm guessing that this was a natural progression for the female Kardashians/Jenners because rumor has it they weren't accepted as white by white boys but they could be worshiped by black boys --not just accepted-- as something akin to "bi racial" or "mixed race"
And once they were adults and had surgery, they figured out --as many pale but not-white women have-- that they could have diamonds and money poured over them by the black men who really want white women and someone with white-looks but at the same time don't want to be identified as sell-outs by a sizable portion of black folks who really don't like interracial dating.
For example:
They are putting on whole black woman costumes as if in a 24/7 minstrel show, becoming black women in everything except depth of skin tone. So, maybe we should call what they, and now Ariana Grande, are doing as "brown face"
The big problem I have with all this is that it is spreading.
A few white women have done the same sort of thing, painted themselves, styled themselves into being something other than white -- on instagram and rumor has it, in at least one magazine.
So as a black woman I have to ask myself, how long before
**make-up-painted to look black or brown** white women actually replace real black and brown women in half, most, or all magazines, television shows, and movies?
But I've changed my mind because their disease is kinda catching on as cool in the white community.
White women becoming famous for having black features without in the white dominated music industry and Hollywood admitting that is indeed what's happening is not new. There have been a bunch of white women praised for the decades for having full lips -- like black woman's.
 |
| Actress from Two Broke Girls |
Some white girl even got quasi-famous by singing about bringing booty back -- as if the booty or "being thick" ever went out of style in the black community.
But the whole Kardashian /Jenner thing ratcheted the game of black features on white women up quite a bit...before black fishing (a white woman putting on black make up to look like a black person) was even a named thing. The Kardashians browning themselves and changing their features to be more like black women started out as a display for men, the physical display being about what it's always about:
Women who can attract the most men or the richest men win.
I'm guessing that this was a natural progression for the female Kardashians/Jenners because rumor has it they weren't accepted as white by white boys but they could be worshiped by black boys --not just accepted-- as something akin to "bi racial" or "mixed race"
And once they were adults and had surgery, they figured out --as many pale but not-white women have-- that they could have diamonds and money poured over them by the black men who really want white women and someone with white-looks but at the same time don't want to be identified as sell-outs by a sizable portion of black folks who really don't like interracial dating.
For example:
But the Kardashian /Jenner path to getting black men to worship them as pale, not-quite-white goddesses is important. And they did more than just "get a tan" as some claim. And calling what they've done "cultural appropriation" doesn't quite cover it for me. The Kardashians and Jenners are have done a kind of light-blackface via tanning and make up, then also went out and bought themselves fuller lips and big asses.
- Kanye said him and his friends like "mutts" (mixed race) years before he married a Kardashian. In comparison, Jay Z was probably really was looking for a light-skinned black woman to call his own, just like he said in his song(s).
- But I suspect that if Bill Cosby had been born twenty years later, he probably wouldn't have married Camille but a real white woman or a latina or Asian woman if he wanted to maintain a black audience support base.
They are putting on whole black woman costumes as if in a 24/7 minstrel show, becoming black women in everything except depth of skin tone. So, maybe we should call what they, and now Ariana Grande, are doing as "brown face"
 |
| blackfishing read more: teen vogue |
The big problem I have with all this is that it is spreading.
A few white women have done the same sort of thing, painted themselves, styled themselves into being something other than white -- on instagram and rumor has it, in at least one magazine.
So as a black woman I have to ask myself, how long before
 |
| black fishing, complete w headwrap |
And what's worse is this: Most of these painted white women wind up looking like bi-racial black women, which pours gas on interracial colorism in the white community and intraracial colorism in the black community.
Understand that Rachel Dolezal actually making claims to be a different race makes her situation different from the Kardashians and Jenners. But it's not that different. Dolezal decided to be another race, to be a black woman, because it was profitable for her to do so. She parlayed being a black woman into an entire career.
Ariana Grande, as another example, wasn't quite making it as a white chick in the music industry. She was famous among the kiddie / tween set only. But when she began looking distinctly Puerto Rican she had hit after hit after hit on the pop charts. I think she had a good three or four big hits before I realized that I WAS NOT supporting a woman of color by buying her music.
Now, I buy white women's music all the time; I am a dedicated Adele fan. But when I'm on the fence about actually buying a song, trying to decide if I really like it that much, whether the singer is a woman of color or not is a major factor.
Black and brown people are heavily under represented in some critical spaces in the music industry and in Hollywood. And .01% of these singers and actresses may eventually move up, move behind the scenes to be music executives, real power brokers --who will decide who the future stars will be.
These future power brokers may decide black and brown women should be 20% of the pop music scene instead of 0.5% (?) like now. These future black and brown, female, music industry bosses will be able to support black and brown women who sing as well or better than Adele --whether or not she is built like a damn near curve-less model too
These future black and brown women with power will also be more likely to decide they'd rather go under than support and protect somebody like R. Kelly.
Race matters.
Even so, I don't know if we can do anything at all about the Kardashians and Jenners fishing for black men in brown face (pun intended). And, I don't know if we can do anything about the Ariana Grande's passing as Puerto Rican until after they've made it (conscious decision or not). I'm not even sure I should be able to do something about a white woman's make-up choices... even if there are not corresponding surgeries, headwraps, and style choices meant to enable them to wear another race's culture like a costume.
But I do know these discussions are worth having.
In some cases we can come together and raise our voices to remove a Rachel Dolezal from leading a NAACP chapter as a black woman instead of a white woman like she should have. And we did. We can also decide to not spend money on Ariana Grande music if we feel she's deliberately using brown face to get cool points with her white audience and acceptance from a black and brown audience at the same time.
Anybody suspected of mocking, mimicking, or culturally appropriating black or brown womanhood is worth watching because some percentage of them are going to wind up being worth a boycott.
BLACKCHICKROCKED.BLOGSPOT.COM
By the way, as black and brown women, we are the only ones who get decide when, where, and why we defend ourselves our black and brown female images. Anybody who thinks otherwise can go kick rocks.
Rachel Dolezaling Into Black Womanhood Matters no matter who is doing it, where, and why.
Ariana Grande, as another example, wasn't quite making it as a white chick in the music industry. She was famous among the kiddie / tween set only. But when she began looking distinctly Puerto Rican she had hit after hit after hit on the pop charts. I think she had a good three or four big hits before I realized that I WAS NOT supporting a woman of color by buying her music.
Now, I buy white women's music all the time; I am a dedicated Adele fan. But when I'm on the fence about actually buying a song, trying to decide if I really like it that much, whether the singer is a woman of color or not is a major factor.
Black and brown people are heavily under represented in some critical spaces in the music industry and in Hollywood. And .01% of these singers and actresses may eventually move up, move behind the scenes to be music executives, real power brokers --who will decide who the future stars will be.
These future power brokers may decide black and brown women should be 20% of the pop music scene instead of 0.5% (?) like now. These future black and brown, female, music industry bosses will be able to support black and brown women who sing as well or better than Adele --whether or not she is built like a damn near curve-less model too
...like Shonda Rhimes, Mara Brock Akil, Ava DuVernay, Viola Davis, and Danai Gurira have done for black women in movies, television and Broadway.
These future black and brown women with power will also be more likely to decide they'd rather go under than support and protect somebody like R. Kelly.
Race matters.
Even so, I don't know if we can do anything at all about the Kardashians and Jenners fishing for black men in brown face (pun intended). And, I don't know if we can do anything about the Ariana Grande's passing as Puerto Rican until after they've made it (conscious decision or not). I'm not even sure I should be able to do something about a white woman's make-up choices... even if there are not corresponding surgeries, headwraps, and style choices meant to enable them to wear another race's culture like a costume.
But I do know these discussions are worth having.
In some cases we can come together and raise our voices to remove a Rachel Dolezal from leading a NAACP chapter as a black woman instead of a white woman like she should have. And we did. We can also decide to not spend money on Ariana Grande music if we feel she's deliberately using brown face to get cool points with her white audience and acceptance from a black and brown audience at the same time.
Anybody suspected of mocking, mimicking, or culturally appropriating black or brown womanhood is worth watching because some percentage of them are going to wind up being worth a boycott.
BLACKCHICKROCKED.BLOGSPOT.COM
By the way, as black and brown women, we are the only ones who get decide when, where, and why we defend ourselves our black and brown female images. Anybody who thinks otherwise can go kick rocks.
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