That being said, me being a creative man, I gravitate toward things that are colorful and vibrant. By colorful, I mean that literally and figuratively. Women of color just astonish me. That means, Indian, Native American, African, Latin, Arabian, Polynesian, Asian and anyone else I left out.
Why do I Love Women of Color?
Not just because of a skin color, but because of the heritage, the culture they all come from and the history of said culture.
From the beauty and vocals of Dorothy Dandridge, to the dancing grace of Maria TallChief. Or, we can easily tout the powerful presence of Eva Peron or Tejano vocalist Selena Quintanilla-Peréz. What about the eminence of Hatsheput or the Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement Rosa Parks? I find all of them the most attractive. Not just physically but on a much more profound level.
What About That Look?
That being said, I can’t leave out the physical aspect. The facial features, the various skin complexions, tones, contours and hair textures. Did I mention the accents? There’s nothing like a Latin woman born in the Northeastern section of the United States. Or, a woman born in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic or Costa Rica. What about the culture and beauty of an African woman from Nigeria, Somalia or Ethiopia? The storied history behind those countries’ women and all that comes with the heritage. What about an African-American women from all-over the United States? They themselves bring a certain uniqueness that I find most sexy.
From their level of intellect, charisma and fortitude, to their independent yet humble nature. That melanin carries historical perseverance and pride, while the tensity of their hair represents the strength of their people. How can you not find that beautiful?
These women are more than just a beholding of beauty to me. They are the very definition of perseverance and inner strength. Which, is so much more significant when you view women of color. You must look beyond the surface.
Women of Color Are Profound
Think of the native African or even the African-American woman and what they or their ancestors endured and continue to encounter in today’s society. Slavery, War, Segregation, Racism, Sexism, Discrimination, Genocide are all trials embedded within their beings. When you look at a woman from these cultures, you have to see more than a face. More than pulchritude. More than sexual commodity to be had. They are the essence of overcoming an oppressive state of being.
Women of color are born into a world where they are automatically at a deficit because of their gender. Even with the feminist movement and the rapid advancement of women’s rights on the rise in the United States and other countries. Women are still at a bigger disadvantage than their male counterparts. Add to that, a lot of these women are born into cultures where they are beneath the men and have to scratch and claw their way to prominence. There’s a certain beauty in that… a certain sex appeal. And a definite strength.
The Deficit
In a earlier blog I spoke about, “Dating and the Plight of the Black Woman.” I highlighted the literal canyon of obstacles black women have to overcome just to be seen as intelligent, desirable and beautiful in the dating world when compared against women of other cultures. To give you a small example, I want you to do something for me:
- Pull up another window on your phone, tablet or laptop.
- Do a google search on, “beautiful women.”
- Click on images.
What did you see? What did you notice?
5 out of the first 100 images are of women of color. I would’ve gone farther, but I chose not too. You have already received my point. Women of color are not considered, “as-beautiful-as…” white women. This is the deficit that women of color face. They already have to work 5 times harder just to be viewed as beautiful. Can you imagine how difficult that is, in the world of modeling and fashion alone? That is unacceptable. However, as shown above, it’s a harsh reality for women of color.
Hadley Freeman from, theguardian.com states in her article about black women and fashion…
Black models never, with single-digit exceptions in a decade, appear on the cover of major fashion magazines, because, as the black model Jourdan Dunn told the Guardian last year,“people in the industry say if you have a black face on the cover of a magazine it won’t sell.”
My Final Take
That is how black beauty is viewed the world over. Vogue, Elle, GQ, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, L’Officiel, Harper’s Bazaar, and more… rarely place women of color, let alone black women on their covers.
I for one, believe that all women are beautiful in their own unique way. No matter how they pull up in a google search or if they regularly grace the cover of internationally syndicated fashion magazines. Women of color will always be beautiful to me, inside and out.
A Thomas Point of View 
You know, I’m glad you wrote this. I for one consider black women to be the most beautiful women on the planet. And no, I’m not talking about the false light skin, european hair beyonce’s that aren’t in fact attractive at all, I’m referring to the erykah badu’s of the world. Obviously, I’m black. Not to say I don’t like white women, I like all women, I appreciate the female form for everything it brings to my male ego.
One thing I’ll say about black women, and I refuse to use the word “coloured” I don’t like the energy it carries. It’s bad and always has been bad. They’re black. But black women, there isn’t anyone else who walks with the amount of strength and courage as black women. Others may display confidence, but black women have real heart, you feel it when you’re around them.
And this “Women of color are not considered, “as-beautiful-as…” white women.” This is changing. More and more people are waking up, and the energy of blackness as a whole is rising up. A lot quicker than it’s done so in the past.
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Kali, always a solid post. You’re speaking facts. I’d like to add to that… you don’t like that term colored, I don’t really like the term “black.” Why? Because we aren’t black… we are brown. Different shades of brown. Some lighter, some darker…. all beautiful, strong, confident, committed, supportive, and the list goes on. I use the term “black” because it’s recognized. However, “brown” covers so many spectrum’s. The black label covers no spectrum, because we aren’t truly black.
This doesn’t detract from any other race of women, but black women are unique because their plight (did you read my blog on plight of black woman?). I respect the history of all people, but I embrace the perseverance of women from my culture in a different way. After all, I was raised by a few of them, I saw what they all went through. I work with women constantly (of all colors) and see what they go through. Women of color especially… are truly amazing.
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Okay, I’ll break it down my thoughts on the terms coloured and black.
I’m probably going to be a little deep and a little nit-picky but consider it a personal thing rooted from black history (not that martin luther king stuff, real history – Kemet, Kush, Egypt) This is going to sound like a rant but it’s not, bare with me.
The word coloured is just a polite word for nigger. That’s how the europeans referred to our people. coloured, niggers, negros. Those words are demonized terminologies of the word NGR (net-ger). And what does NGR mean? It’s a word the ancient people of Africa used to describe the original BLACK pharaohs who were born with black (extremely dark skin) referring to the sun god of that time (ATEN), who also had black skin. This blackness was seen as power, strong, advanced. Our skin colour was recognized as superior and the darker it was the more desired it was. This skin colour was seen as a direct blessing from ATEN.
Romans out of jealousy demonized our skin colour when they’re dumbasses crossed into Egypt, and labelled blackness as something of the demons. So they twisted the word from NGR to nigger to niger to negro…to the stupid rappers that say niggah, under the daft illusion that they’ve changed the perception of the word because it makes for a good song. And what is coloured? A polite term for nigger. That’s why I say Black. It’s power. It covers every shade of black people because of our heritage, brown, dark skin, light brown skin – it’s all black. And technically speaking, if your brown, dark, mixed-heritage or so forth, any african blood washes out all european blood due to melanin. That’s scientifically correct and by the teachings our ancestors and how everyone was accepted regardless of their shade of brown/black, melanin cancels all out.
I mean, I’m not dark skin, I’m closer to a lighter brown, but I don’t piss around the bush, I keep it real. I’m black. I could be darker or lighter I’d be just as equally proud because I believe and know it makes me a force to be reckoned with because of heritage.
……………This why I got love for my black women. I love women as a whole but black women I could never call coloured. They’re walking power despite the world’s inequality. My grandmother dealt with that whole coloured crap back in the day, and she’s full on west-indian/jamaican – coolie original. Them times are done. I believe in black. And as you said, “black women are unique because their plight. I respect the history of all people, but I embrace the perseverance of women from my culture in a different way.” We embrace it because black is power.
….f*ck, sounds like I’m preaching. I’ma go get some fresh air and speak to a white lady or something.
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