FHM Magazine doesn't care about black people?

[GaPeach]

The question I have is why all of the "hot black chicks" in the industry are mixed race, or at least multiracial with obvious European features. Look at the black women mentioned in this thread - Halle, Mel B, Alicia Keys, Mariah (doesn't even look black) are all the children of mixed marriages, and Selita, Rihanna, Beyonce, etc. all obviously have white heritage.

Why can't a 100% black chick be considered hot? It seems that even in the black community, there is this huge issue of colorism, where the mixed race, lighter skinned women are considered hotter.

look this is 2008 and it's not all that easy to find a 100 % black person and it's not all that easy to find a 100% all white person so maybe it's time people stopped judging people for the color of their skin. I'm Casper the ghost and I find Mel B hot, and I don't care what color she is.

[Honey]

Cute puppy

[GaPeach]

^^ looks like my dog Hatsumomo

[sweetness]

To me, 3 of the prettiest famous black women are Janet Jackson, Tionne Watkins ("T-Boz" of TLC), and Erykah Badu. They're not all that light, nor do they have European/white features. They aren't just beautiful black women, but beautiful women period.

Of course they're way too 'old' and not 'big' enough right now for such a list I suppose.

[purple rain]

I totally agree with Purple and your posts. They always pick Black females that look light or mixed. I've discussed this before but same thing happens with the 'Black' themed magazines and many of their models/cover models are very light. I understand many Black Americans have some mixed racial background in their family history, but I think what Purple's trying to say is why don't they consider "darker" Black women to be beautiful? I think dark Black women are very beautiful and don't subscribe to the 'whiter is better' mentality so prevalent in the world today.

I can understand why the media that caters to a white audience would promote mixed race celebrities. Mixed race people may appeal more to whites, because they look more "like them." But I do think it is a little alarming when mixed/lighter skin black women are promoted by the black media as the beatuty ideal - whether it be on the covers of those magazines you mention, or in music videos, a lot of times you will see the lighter skinned black women playing the love interest, while the darker ones are exploited for their big asses. I notice the same trend in the Hispanic media. The starlets seem to be white Hispanics, or at least very light ones, and the Hispanics I see on the street are much, much darker than the stars the Hispanic media puts on television. That can't be a good message to send to their audience, promoting a beauty ideal that is unattainable for most of them.

[sweetness]

Apparently even the white celebs don't want to be white. They want to be orange.


Seriously though, I'm white and went to a mostly black high school and always noticed that the lighter (not necessarily mixed) black kids tended to be more popular. Girls would crush on the guy with "good" hair, especially if he had light colored eyes, even if he really wasn't all that cute (imo). The darker skinned guys were popular as long as they were good athletes. The lighter girls seemed to be considered prettiest and were usually on the cheerleading squad.

Not trying to be offensive here at all (certainly hope I haven't been), that's just how it was.

As far as I know, the issue goes way back to a time long before the media ever existed.

[GaPeach]

I worked with two dark skinned black girls, both said they dated light skinned blacks or white boys. They couldn't understand why I felt that was racist. I still don't get that way of thinking.

I just got a error message saying - The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 1 characters.

so I did

[celeb_2006]

Not to get too sidetracked but ya this lighter/whiter is better mentality is quite pervasive throughout the world. In particular Latin America and Asia (southeast asia for sure).

[panda]

Some people will cry about anything. The FHM list was decided by readers' votes. Should they start using affirmative action to determine the list if the voters don't vote for enough black women?

I agree! get a life and quit crying racism at the drop of a hat!

[GaPeach]

Not to get too sidetracked but ya this lighter/whiter is better mentality is quite pervasive throughout the world. In particular Latin America and Asia (southeast asia for sure).

oh my ...... I hate to say this..... but yes I think your right

AND it's stupid.. for the love!!

OK let me just say I lolololove Michael Ealy. When he made "Their Eyes were watching God" with Halle Berry they had a romance going on but Halle said no.. even though they were living together. Halle Berry proves your point.. she likes the light or white.

[DoveFeatheredRaven]

I have two young black men in one of my classes who informed me one day that they will marry white women or light-skinned black women. They said that dark-skinned black women were not attractive. I have heard this from other black male students as well.

This is an issue within their own race too.

[purple rain]

Not to get too sidetracked but ya this lighter/whiter is better mentality is quite pervasive throughout the world. In particular Latin America and Asia (southeast asia for sure).

I know. It's quite sad. I already mentioned that the Latin American stars are mostly white, despite the majority of Latin American people not being white. I was made aware of something called "mejorando la raza." I probably misspelled it, but it means that it's a step up the social ladder ("improving the race") to marry someone with lighter skin than yourself, and that's why there are a large number of Hispanics who come to the US who try to intermarry with whites (I roll my eyes when I see another one of their stars with a white partner, same with Asian women.)

In India, their marriage ads mostly request a fair skinned partner. You won't see dark Indian actors on the screen. Their actresses are so light they could pass for Middle Eastern. In Southeast Asian countries, like Thailand and the Philipines, the majority of actors are Eurasians (despite only a non-consequential percentage of their population being mixed.) I was told by a Filipino woman who immigrated here to the US that she was only looking to marry a white partner, so her kids would come out lighter skinned. I couldn't believe that kind of self-hate.

I could go on about this, but it seems like we whites are the only ones in the world who actually want to make our skin darker Every other population in this world seems to have a complex that lighter skinned is more beautiful (which is why skin lightening cream is such big business in many parts of the world.)

[ordell]

FHM's lists are always based on current popularity. Megan Fox has been around for a few years but only NOW people notice her? Stacy Dash has been around for years but hasn't done shit for work. The only reason they are talking about her now is because of that amazing mag cover but by and large 42-year-old women are not the focus of FHM.

I got one for you: Where is Jill Wagner? Who? She's the gorgeous girl in the black dress in the Mercury car commercial that opens with someone spinning a pen and 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' playing in the background. She's not even listen but methface Fergie and scrawny MiserAlba are on the list.

The list is a joke, but don't be too surprised at the race card being played. A whole deck is out right now with Obama.

[mamaste]

But I do think it is a little alarming when mixed/lighter skin black women are promoted by the black media as the beatuty ideal

This might help: Colorism Wiki

[ordell]

In India, their marriage ads mostly request a fair skinned partner. You won't see dark Indian actors on the screen.

I give you Mallika Sherawat, my current obsession. Does she look Indian to you?