Black Affairs hosts event about black beauty standards

Black UF students bonded over brownies and beauty standards at the Black Enrichment Center in the Reitz Union on Wednesday.

UF Black Affairs kicked off Conscious Conversations, a series of monthly discussions for students to explore issues affecting the black community. About 10 students participated in the first discussion, which focused on colorism, the preference of lighter skin over darker skin, as well as black hairstyles. The topics varied from hair textures to black television characters to Destiny’s Child.

Madison Tonic, a member of the Black Affairs’ education committee, and Krystina Derby, a UF African American studies sophomore, spoke about the cultural effects of colorism and how it relates to black women’s hair.

“When we’re talking about colorism, we want to note that it comes from white supremacy and eurocentric beauty standards,” Derby, 20, said during the presentation.

Students shared their own experiences with colorism. One student admitted wanting to wear long sleeves while running track in high school to avoid getting darker skin. Another said her friend’s younger sister had wrapped herself in towels to keep her skin from getting darker.

Tonic, 20, remembered her grandparents calling her natural hair “unruly.” She said she hopes the conversations will encourage students to confront issues that aren’t openly talked about.

“Everyone seemed really engaged and interested in what we were talking about, and I’m glad we had different viewpoints,” the 20-year-old UF animal sciences junior said.

Jewel Lyttle, a UF public relations freshman, said she felt like she was in a supportive environment for black women to share personal stories. The 19-year-old was pleasantly surprised to see the open conversation when she walked into the room.

“I thought it was really important, especially for black women to hear what they had to say and information they had to give in regards to identity issues,” she said after the event.

Beauty standards placed on young girls can damage their self-esteem, Lyttle said, the way her friend’s sister had tried to keep her skin from tanning by wrapping herself in towels.

“She’s a dark skin girl, pretty complexion,” she said. “But in her head, she feels like darker complexion is just bad. It’s ugly.”

UF Black Affairs scheduled two events in February to commemorate Black History Month, including the second conversation of this series at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 23 about microaggressions.

Tonic hopes more students attend future conversations to learn about the controversial topics discussed.

“I just want people to be aware about these issues and be knowledgeable so that they don’t actually hurt people whether on accident or on purpose,” she said.

Contact Amanda Rosa at arosa@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @AmandaNicRosa.