Miss Universe: Whose Universe?
I happened to catch the beginning of the Miss Universe pageant on television tonight. My children glanced up at the screen when the contestants from Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania and some of the Caribbean islands were announced. These were some lovely black girls who stood out amongst the 80 participants. Then they introduced the judges and my heart sank. Not one of the judges was black. But I thought, Hey, this is 2008. Maybe these judges think a little more broadly than back in the day. But then they announced the 15 finalists and I realized that things have not changed much. The only African to make it into the top 15 was the South African girl, a lovely colored girl. The other girl who had some black blood in her was Miss USA. Neither of these girls is dark-skinned. So I am left rather frustrated, angry that not one of the darker-skinned girls made the short list. I caution myself against over-sensitivity. Perhaps these particular black girls just weren’t smart or talented enough? Perhaps - but let’s keep it real. Looks are the most important element in these pageants. I thought the black girls were beautiful. But as they say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” None of the beholders - the judges - seem to value dark skin. Many of the finalists were from Central and South America, home to thousands of people of African descent. None of the beautiful Latina finalists was black. Interesting. So why is this called “Miss Universe” when the Universe is not represented in this competition? This show is watched all over the world. What message does this send to little girls with dark skin who do not have that long straight flowing hair. This is not a new concern. It is an old concern and it seems to be never-ending. This just means that we must work harder, speak louder, to show our black daughters that although the universe says otherwise, they are indeed beautiful.
I can identify with this. I recently nannied for a little girl who was watching a music video with me on tv and she was taking note to alicia keys 3 background dancers in the video teenage look affair and i forgot her exact words but she expressed how she didnt like the dark skinned one because her skin wasnt light like the other girls and i was blown away. I think its time we got a handle on this when we hear little girls expressing these ideas. She was pretty fair (light) skinned herself. I just wonder what her reaction would have been if she were darker skinned?
That is interesting. Your entry reminds me of those cheesy paintings at schools where there’s planet Earth and there are children holding hands around it. A white kid, an asian kid, a black kid, and the pattern continues. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the depiction is of more than one race, but it seems so forced that there aren’t two white people or two black people next to each other. Like, it’s a beautiful concept, but then it seems that each person is strictly friends with the person next to them because of their different skin color. I mean, what if they have a shitty personality or something?! That wouldn’t be racist if they told them to eff off, that would just be human behavior. Ugh, maybe I’m missing the point.
Anyway, it reminded me of this because of that moment when they chose the top 15 and there were no black women. That thought crosses your mind, that maybe the girls just weren’t smart or talented enough, like it’s just happenstance. And, who knows, it may be! But then I question everything, like was this intentional because of their skin-color? Wouldn’t they put AT LEAST one black woman in the top 15 so blacks watching wouldn’t consider the judges racist? And would that be wrong if they put a black woman in just for equality, even if she had a terrible personality? It’s almost like reverse-racism, like being too careful. And I think being too careful can almost cause more trouble…I don’t know. Nevermind. But I do know what I’m thinking.
Anyway, that show is such a waste of time. They always end up choosing 15 girls that look the same and have nothing to say. They usually seem to go the “safe” route, which means choosing a tall, white, fit lady to be Miss Universe. It’s nauseating, and I too hope the world can get to a point–soon–where people can cut the shit and open their minds up. Life baffles me in this sense. There’s too much bad shit out there, like poverty and disease, to worry about someone’s skin color, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. If only other people would understand that and do something about it…I mean, that’s what I believe, but I’m not out there helping the poor and finding cures for the diseases. I’m kind to people, though, and I feel that’s important.
This is off-topic from Miss Universe but I think ties into it.
I keep seeing this birth control commercial (sorry guys) and it’s always sparked a thought wondering if the media just sticks in a few black people just so they won’t be called racist.
At first I thought they had all the black women as the days you take the “reminder” pills and I just stared at the TV with wide eyes. Thankfully, this is not the case but I do keep watching the commercial trying to figure out what the producers of the commercial were thinking. Like Miss Universe there aren’t any black women with dark skin and when there are black women it is scarce. Of course in the end though, they do show a black woman deciding to change from her old birth control to this new product. It seemed forced, as if they needed to put in a black woman. I am a 21 year old white woman and felt that the commercial was geared towards that specific audience. I was wondering if anyone else has seen this commercial (I wish I knew the name so I could be more clear) and what they thought about it, especially the black women. Did you feel the same way I did about it or am I just looking too deep into the commercial?
If I happen to see the commercial I will post the name of it but I kind of feel like they do that in all commercials. To be politically correct they have the white person, the black person, asian, hispanic… It makes me sad but I don’t know how I would change this.
The comments in the blog and the comments above, especially the one about the judges usually choosing a white women, made me want to look deeper into these statements. I went on the Miss Universe website, because I was very curious to see who the judges usually pick to win the title. I actually found that most of the women are actually latina women, from somewhere in Central America or South America. This didn’t surprise me, because look at a Victoria’s Secret ad. Most of the women in the last 20 years are Latin American, but there are some white and some black. At least the most popular ones are latina Gisele, Adriana, Alessandra (I don’t know anyone else’s names). Because Victoria’s Secret markets toward women I would think that most women would want to look latin American. Why else would white girls constantly go to tanning booths, which is basically a box that gives you skin cancer?
I do agree with the statements above, because I noticed that there were hardly any black women chosen to win the title in the last twenty years. I didn’t see any with very dark skin either. Although I personally think really dark skin is very beautiful, I know that for some reason young girls have the idea that lighter is better. I think it is very sad, but I think that this will change some day. At least I hope it will.