Beat Stereotypes and Show Your Authentic Self
This week I wrote an article on 6 reasons why appearance is important and why it's more than a superficial concern. Will be addressing a reason a day. Today I'm talking bout appearance and stereotypes.
Appearance creates stereotypes that will influence how people treat and talk to you. It is even more true towards black women.
Black women are scrutinized for their appearance from a young age. By not being allowed to explore fashion or different hairstyles.
Not always because people were being mean, but because those who have lived longer than you know how different you will be perceived based on your appearance. They have also suffered the same or even worse treatment.
If you don't look a certain way, a standardized way, you can be perceived as unprofessional, ugly, unfeminine.
Black women can be inherently curvy which has historically been a factor for the over-sexualization of black bodies. These two factors, along with racism make european standards of beauty the norm for all of us.
These factors manifest as microaggressions and discrimination forcing black women to be hyper-vigilant regarding appearance in professional and social settings.
Anxiety about what hairstyle to wear for a job interview, being called out because the natural hairstyle is not company policy, are examples.
Fortunately, a lot of these stereotypes are slowly being broken today. More than ever we see girls proudly wearing their natural hair and exploring styles of fashion that so far seemed out of reach. But a lot of work and unlearning still needs to be done making it hard for us to present ourselves as we wish.
A black woman in the workplace is known to everyone in the office. Her presence is powerful. People stop to stare at her hair, makeup, and outfit. It comes with its pros and cons. The necessity to look three times better than her non-black counterparts to be perceived at the same standard remains.
As a black woman, appearance is very important because you cannot escape the stereotypes that are made for you. But showing up as your real, authentic self has a ripple effect that will influence all the other black women around you to be themselves as well.
I can't lie to you. There is a chance that if you choose to show up as your authentic black self you may not receive a positive response. But I guarantee you that the place that discriminates against your appearance, is not the place you want to be in the first place.
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭? 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: https://www.theprincientist.com/why-is-appearance-important/
