Paris Jackson, the 19-year-old daughter of pop legend Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, who will also be starring in the upcoming film Gringo, recently took to social media and expressed her disapproval over people (ex. magazine publications) photoshopping her pictures to change her skin complexion. Jackson identifies as both Black and biracial. She claimed that people were altering pictures of her to make her seem both lighter and darker (obviously in different edits). Jackson furthermore asserted that she is comfortable with her natural skin tone. This story is an interesting one, especially since media outlets usually tend to lighten one's skin tone. For instance, InStyle magazine once denied "digitally lightening the skin of March cover subject Kerry Washington" (Hod, 2015, para. 1) after they received backlash for seemingly altering the actress's complexion. Here, Jackson pushes against people darkening her skin as well. Skin complexion varies from person to person. Jackson has reportedly stated that people believe she looks too light to be biracial and should be darker. This belief falls into the trap of putting all biracial individuals into a box. From Halle Berry to Mariah Carey, biracial individuals, specifically the product of Black and White parents, come in a variety of colors. Therefore, Jackson may have some point in her argument. References Hod, I. (2015, February 06). InStyle Magazine Denies Kerry Washington Skin-Lightening Scandal. Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://www.thewrap.com/instyle-denies-kerry-washington-skin-lightening-scandal/
