Reply #30: I think you are missing a point here.

[hedgehog]

Beauty standards are not a problem just for black women. When a single standard of beauty exists, every woman is measured against it regardless of race. For black women, the focus was on hair texture. As I noted in my original post and several others confirmed, a lot of white women have suffered over the years for not having "good" hair. For a lot of us ethnic white women, the focus was on body type. Going by BMI, back in high school I was on the edge of being underweight. I was short and not built like a model, so for years I thought I was overweight! Some of my friends today have buxom Mediterranean builds. They're not fat, but they have a hard time accepting their bodies because they aren't shaped like models.

Some aspects of racism focus on denigrating physical characteristics. Imus's statement was racist. What we women with ethnic features and body types are fighting is a more subtle form of racism. In order to be "American", we are pressured to straighten our hair, straighten or bob our noses, force our bodies into shapes they were never meant to be. Part of fighting racism is claiming the right to be what we are and not feeling forced to fit into a standard mold.

As an aside, I also wanted to affirm the beauty of nappy hair.