Race, Gender and the Media class 2/7

Last Monday night we watched a video that really upset me. The video is about how the black community fights to find who they are and what they should be. It's sad to hear how much they feel they need to change in order to "fit in" to society.  In the video, a girl asks 21 different African-American kids, probably around the ages of 5-6, which doll they preferred. Their choices were between a white doll and a black doll. In the video, 15 out of the 21 chose that they would rather play with the white doll.

One little girl was asked which doll looked "bad" and she chose the black doll. Then she was asked which doll looked "nice" and she chose the white doll. When she was asked which doll looked more like her, you could tell she got extremely upset and pushed the black doll towards the interviewer.

This video broke my heart. Little kids, no matter what color they are, shouldn't feel bad about picking a doll like them or even looking like themselves. On top of that, listening to these girls talk about how black people feel they need to bleach their skin or straighten their hair to look "beautiful" is just as upsetting.

The sad part is, things always look greener on the other side. For white girls, the need to be tan and blonde is just as pushed onto our culture as being white with straight hair is pushed onto theirs. The question is, where does it stop? When do we start teaching our children and other people's children that they are beautiful the way they are?

Watch the video. Spread the video and really get an idea of how these girls and children feel. Maybe then, we can change the way media is done and what messages are really being sent out. No one should feel like they should change who they are for society.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." -Eleanor Roosevelt