Discussion Do men of colour generally feel insecure about their appearance?

[ericwilkinson]

I'm a black man and I'm surprised that skin bleaching is rare among black men as opposed to black women. I'm NOT suggesting that people be forced to lighten their skin tone, their body, their decision but I wonder why it seems that men generally don't care about appearance.

I told my cousin that I wanted to lighten my skin and she said its quite feminine and mostly black women do it. I don't see it that way as its not really "makeup" but rather getting a lighter tone. Both black men and women (along with people of other races) experience discrimination equally. Also in dating if you're black, you'll be less popular on Tinder even as a black male (contrary to the stories of black men/white women relationships)

 

[Darkhaven]

I would think quite the opposite.
The perception i have is that they are actually very confident of being black. At least in where i live that is.

 

[pole]

Yeah i have the opposite take lol, probably where i live. I'm in Ontario, anddd, dark skinned or even lightskins for that matter are extremely confident. I mean honestly, imo, where i live, girls of all colors tend to prefer black/lightskin guys nowadays more than others. but idk, might just be a Canadian ting.

 

[Uso]

Probably has to do with beauty standards being more strictly imposed on women. Of course black people of all genders experience racism equally, but womanhood is so, so deeply ensnared by a perverse need to be beautiful. It's like being haunted your entire life, constantly aware of how others might perceive you even when you're alone. Black women have it especially bad because of the intersection between racism and sexism. Not a fun time, I'm sure.

Hope that answers your question!

 

[ericwilkinson]

Yeah i have the opposite take lol, probably where i live. I'm in Ontario, anddd, dark skinned or even lightskins for that matter are extremely confident. I mean honestly, imo, where i live, girls of all colors tend to prefer black/lightskin guys nowadays more than others. but idk, might just be a Canadian ting.

Well to be honest, the black culture in Canada, US, UK is very different from the one in Ireland.

I understand though because I would bet that black people in Canada are more "canadian" than black people in Ireland are more "Irish". They've had time to settle into the country and be middle class.

Most black people here in Europe are unfortunately viewed as asylum seekers and to be honest, can be a bit rude.

 

[pole]

Well to be honest, the black culture in Canada, US, UK is very different from the one in Ireland.

I understand though because I would bet that black people in Canada are more "canadian" than black people in Ireland are more "Irish". They've had time to settle into the country and be middle class.

Most black people here in Europe are unfortunately viewed as asylum seekers and to be honest, can be a bit rude.

i guess again it depends to the area and culture. And yes, its probably extremely different in NA than parts of europe. i mean, places like France aren't bad towards africans, but more-so towards those who are brown-skinned like arabs. It just depends on place really. but yeah, i could see ireland being abit wierd about it. if it's made you feel some type of way, have you thought of moving away? you shouldn't wanna live somewhere that makes you feel that uncomfortable.

 

[Soul]

Hm. In Britain there's such a long history of black immigrants from various colonies that my impression was that there are very few "issues" with being black in the UK. In the 1950s and '60s many black American musicians found a way better reception in the UK than in the US and many stayed there because of that.

That's not Ireland, though, and for assorted crappy reasons may not apply as much to brown people in the last couple of decades.

Still: Idris Elba.

 

[Wolfjob_dayjob]

Uhhh....okay, i'm not even going to go into discussing other...stuff.

Nobody should do skin bleaching, its very dangerous. Be nice your skin, wear sunblock and avoid hpv risks to prevent cancers, and if you're going to get melasma treated stay in contact with a doctor and follow directions strictly. Fuck whatever beauty standard. Skin cancer and unneeded graft surgeries. It would be better to commit the faux pas of putting on pale foundation every day and being a 'pail princess'. Don't try it Anakin.

 

[Divine Trinity]

First and foremost, "both black men and women (along with people of other races) experience discrimination equally." That's complete bullshit, women are oppressed worse than men in every society for the past couple milennias. As for racial discrimination go look up "Apartheid in South Africa" or the methods of terrorism used by the US colonials on slaves and natives, or the monstrous "living" conditions of palistinians in Gaza. Think before communicating.

I'm a black man and I'm surprised that skin bleaching is rare among black men as opposed to black women. I'm NOT suggesting that people be forced to lighten their skin tone, their body, their decision but I wonder why it seems that men generally don't care about appearance.

I told my cousin that I wanted to lighten my skin and she said its quite feminine and mostly black women do it. I don't see it that way as its not really "makeup" but rather getting a lighter tone. Both black men and women (along with people of other races) experience discrimination equally. Also in dating if you're black, you'll be less popular on Tinder even as a black male (contrary to the stories of black men/white women relationships)

Lighter skinned black people are somewhat popular in recent times, dark skin is looked down upon. White supremacy has influenced just about every country on Earth, and is bombing (or planning to) the ones it hasn't reached. Being light skinned or white is associated with wealth, youth, elegance, soft, smooth, healthy, etc. while being dark skinned is associated with being an impoverished nigger, with all the animosity both those words hold. You're right, it's not makeup it's self-mutilation. Look at this guy, before Hollywood (and who knows how many pedos) got to his head.
If we popped his tomb open he'd probably still look fresh.

 

[Uso]

First and foremost, "both black men and women (along with people of other races) experience discrimination equally." That's complete bullshit, women are oppressed worse than men in every society for the past couple milennias.

LOL, if you are gonna reply to something I said you could at least @ me.... anyway, what I said was that black people of all genders experience the same amount of RACISM. If you actually read my post or maybe knew the definition of "intersectionality" then you'd have got it the first time.... No one's trying to say women have it easy, don't worry.

Look at this guy, before Hollywood (and who knows how many pedos) got to his head.
If we popped his tomb open he'd probably still look fresh.

Also just 4 posterity, MJ had vitiligo, a skin condition that alters your natural pigment. Read about it in this ancient NYTimes article if you care.

 

[Tortured_empath]

I don't mean to be rude but if you're black who's that guy in your pic?

 

[Suicidal4Ever]

Depends where you live. A lot of black people give the whole race a bad name in some parts. I don't mind being black i'm just ugly as shit.

 

[joshe]

Yeah, living in the west can seriously fuck with your sense of identity in the world.

Another brick in the wall I guess

 

[TAW122]

I do wished that I wasn't born as an East Asian, especially in the West. While I don't face overt discrimination based on my race and skin color, I do still face covert racism, especially in the dating world and social world. I won't go as far to say that I'm resorting to skin bleaching, but I've become more or less accepting of my own skin color and just accepting the situation as it is. Quite frankly, I don't really have that much interest in dating, I just want to get laid once in my life, to lose the virginity status and to gain the experience of sexual intercourse.

 

[Divine Trinity]

LOL, if you are gonna reply to something I said you could at least @ me.... anyway, what I said was that black people of all genders experience the same amount of RACISM. If you actually read my post or maybe knew the definition of "intersectionality" then you'd have got it the first time.... No one's trying to say women have it easy, don't worry.



Also just 4 posterity, MJ had vitiligo, a skin condition that alters your natural pigment. Read about it in this ancient NYTimes article if you care.

Yes ik about vitiligo, most people who have it don't bleach their skin white and reconfigure their face to look like a white European. Also, unless he had a very extreme case, it wouldn't have affected the whole body.

As for the first part, I know what you said, and like I said it's just not true. Barack Obama is treated much more differently than say Eric Garner, but it's all a silly argument because there is no metric for racism, race isn't even an abstract concept it's bs.

I went back too far and didn't feel like copy-pasting everything to a new message with the citation.

 

[will77]

I think all men feel insecure about there appearance, society just says we shouldn't talk about it.