Comments on: Could Be “Crazy In Love,” But Only If You’re…

By: Maia Brint

Maia Brint — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 18:56:29 +0000

Wow Caroline, I really am happy that you brought this to my attention. I had never thought that colorism existed or even was a big thing within minority communities. Coming from my Jewish background, it is common for families to push to marry within the group, rather than without. My assumption is that people tend to want to marry into their in-group, but it seems that when there are so many negative stereotypes surrounding people of color, that even they begin to internalize them and believe them, which inevitably leads them away from their own in-group. I am interested to see if this idea of colorism can be translated into different subordinate and minority groups as well and if it would look different for another group than for Black people.

By: Julia Carroll Beatley

Julia Carroll Beatley — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 17:19:08 +0000

I think this is a really interesting topic of conversation. Recently, I’ve been doing research on stereotypes of minority groups and predominantly Black people and have been intrigued by my findings on the stereotype of “attractiveness.” It seems well ingrained in many white families to “date within your race;” however, there also seems to be some tendency to fetishize Black bodies — woman and man. There appears to be some fixation over objectifying Black women’s bodies in particular. It does seem, too, that light skinned Black women are the object of admiration whereas dark-skinned Black women tend to be looked at in a different light, one that is exclusively made up by their body parts. For example, there has been a great deal of controversy over backup dancers accompanying white singers (Miley Cyrus and many more) who are not only being objectified for their culture but also used as a sexual display of their body parts. This brings about a load of questions regarding dehumanization of Black women and men among mass culture; society seems to have interesting lines between who is a person and who is an object.

By: Lily Josephs

Lily Josephs — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 14:43:39 +0000

I am so glad that you chose to do a blog post on this article because I actually wrote a journal entry about this interview with Matthew Knowles because I found the topic of colorism in our society so interesting. It wasn’t something that I had really thought about before reading it and having time to reflect on it. I think that currently it is more common to hear about conversations having to do with colorism and the media. Throughout the press for “Black Panther,” many members of the cast addressed these issues and stigmas and attempted to break them down. People from all different backgrounds, cultures, and social status levels were cast and proved that it is possible for these types of films and projects to have an effect on not only Black communities, but also on all types of other communities. I think that the more open and willing people are to listen and support these types of projects that support change, the easier it will be to change the system.