Lookism

(Lookism) I swear I did not know that was an established term until after I almost finished writing this post. I was actually thinking of something to describe what I was thinking after I read the last few comments from my previous post, and the word looks-ism came into my mind. I googled it, and there before my very eyes, was the word Lookism featured in Wikipedia no less.

So anyway, I am reading a comment from "rikyrah" one of the great and insightful commenters who I am so glad contributes to this site, and the response to her comments from "ravenravings", another commenter who fits in the above category. (why these two people do not have their own blogs by now is beyond me) "rikyrah", while explaining the tragic death of a young man, mentioned his good looks and seemed to imply that because of his good looks "handsome young man" his death was even more tragic. This apparent misstatement was immediately noticed and checked by the next commenter, "ravenravings." I thought the response was interesting and incredibly insightful, so much so, that the word (looks-ism) popped into my head, and there it remains.

Now to be fair to "rikyrah", no one knows (at least I don't) what the young man she was referring to looks like. And beauty, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder. (Insert your field and Lark Voorhies jokes here) Or at least that is what society would have us believe. So rikyrah's young man might not have fit other people's definition of what's beautiful. Still, it would appear, that in her eyes, because he was "handsome," that made his death even more tragic.

But is this rikyrahs' apparent problem or our societies? I dare say its the latter. rikyrah seemed to be basically reflecting in her comments,(damn I hate speaking for people) the thought process of most people in our society, and as many people are prone to do, she used that description to drive home a point about a particular tragedy. People tend to use these types of descriptions to explain how smart a victim was, or how pretty, or what a beautiful smile he or she had etc. As black folks this phenomenon becomes particularly problematic. Stop me if you haven't heard this one before: "She was really dark skinned BUT she was cute. He or she has really GOOD hair, he or she looks like an African, or he is really cute, cause he looks almost white.... and I could go on, but I will spare you.

So who is this beholder? Well when it's the entire society at large, how successful one becomes or how far they reach in the pursuit of their goals often depends on how they look. Studies have been done to show that "attractive" people have a greater likelihood of success than those society views as non attractive. As black people we are still struggling with what is the ideal standard of beauty for us. Living in America, we are slaves to the big advertising companies, and a media that projects an image to us of what beauty should be. Most of the time... no scratch that; all of the time, that image has to have European features as the dominant look to pass as beauty. And before we blame it all on America, as a child who grew up in 96% black Jamaica, I can tell you that the European rule applied there for years as well. So it would seem that many black folks have bought into this beauty myth, whether it's from the media projecting to us, or our own self hating issues and pathologies.

I don't think it was conscious, but somewhere along the line we bought into the European American perception of beauty. And I could live with this, if there was not certain forms of lookism associated with this that is manifesting itself in our society. When we think someone is smarter, or more worthy of our praise and attention (think Natalee Holloway) than that person deserves, then lookism is raising its ugly head. (No pun intended)

"Oh field you are such a hypocrite, this from someones who has spent the last few years of his life hunting Lark Voorhies. A woman who would seem to fit into this American perception of beauty herself."

Mmmmm,OK so maybe I need some checking too, -been living in America too long. Maybe I have sold out too much when it comes to my taste in beauty. Although to be fair, I not only find Lark Voorhies attractive, but I think Nia Long, Dawn Robinson, and Alek Wek are all attractive as well-although Alek could use a few pounds- Besides, my love for Lark goes way beyond beauty. I think she was such a great actress in*** "Head Of The Class,*** and......OK OK that's bull shit! I think she is hot! Hey, I didn't say I was perfect. But at least I am aware of it, and I am fully aware of the the whole lookism bias thing going on.

Hopefully one day in this great country of ours, people will be judged by the content of their character, and not the texture of their hair.

{Correction, that was **Saved By The Bell not Head Of The Class**

Thank you savingmokhsa :) I should have known better. }