Colourism
Colourism: – prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.
“Inferiority Complex”…
Today I commented on someone’s online post and because this Jamaican man did not agree with my comment, he decided to refer to me as an unattractive “duppy”.
He went as far as to get a photo of a lighter skin woman to make the comparison, and make his point.
Now I don’t take offense to it because no one has to reassure me about who I am.
Long before Facebook, and I say this with humility, I consider myself a uniquely beautiful woman inside; and I’ve earned the right to say that.
Where exterior beauty is concerned, I have been blessed to come from the womb of a woman with distinct facial features, sun kissed skin. To look like my mother is a badge of honor.
That said, the point of this post is that ever since I was a girl, I’ve heard Jamaicans refer to darker skin people as “duppy”, insinuating that they are too black to be “pretty”. I feel sorry for these people, really, because they have yet to emancipate themselves from mental slavery.
They really do believe that in order for someone to be beautiful they must be lighter. Now this man is not much lighter than I am, so he must either see someone else when he looks in the mirror or deep down he thinks less of himself.
These are the people who keep colourism alive in our country. They are the ones who cause women to alter their skin for social acceptance and to elevate their self esteem.
My mother knows all about colourism, and so she prepared me from a young age, by molding self acceptance into her daughters. She did a fine job, and in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent.”
If there is anyone out there who’s been told that you’re not beautiful enough because you’re too dark, don’t believe it. They are the ones who suffer from the complex of feeling less than. Let no man define who you are.
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