Ethnic Flavor

The increased diversity with which beauty has been presented in recent years seems promising, and although the attempt to show women of different races as being beautiful is commendable, the way in which it is done is not.

Beauty has been "colorized" instead of ethnicized, meaning we are being presented with the same thing as before, but in a wider spectrum of colors. Facial features, poses, hairstyles, body types, and clothing remain largely unchanged in order to adapt to the Western palate. Furthermore, what you see usually is just a bit of flavor thrown into a common mix, for good measure.

Ethnically diverse celebrities continue to go to great lengths to be accepted in the West by performing simple changes such as dyeing their hair to more complex ones, such as plastic surgery in order to change the shape of their nose and other features. Most ethnic women on television and in magazines are far more Western looking to begin with.

Actress Jessica Alba, who is of Mexican, French Canadian, Italian, and Danish lineage, told Allure magazine last April that as an aspiring actress she was rejected for many roles for being "too ethnic." Her appearance, although clearly not typically Anglo, still possesses characteristically Western features exaggerated in a way that movie execs love: big eyes, small nose, full lips, and thin body. Compared to most minority women, Alba is decidedly mainstream in appearance.

If someone with only a bit of "ethnic flavor" has trouble getting roles, imagine the barriers which exist for those who has even less in common with the prevailing standards for beauty. Sometimes talent can overcome these barriers, but usually a price has to be paid. Janet Jackson had her nose minimized. Shakira and Jennifer Lopez dye their hair and tan their skin, in order to fit into the "Latin bombshell" stereotype. Actresses such as Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz have rode the Latin wave all the way to the top, but not without trading upon their sex appeal. Even the few Asians who have made it onto the big screen, like Lucy Liu, need to play up their "exotic" looks in order to be accepted by the public. If a woman is ethnic, it is even more important that she not be considered ugly. Furthermore, ethnic women of all backgrounds continue to be limited by the type of roles offered to them, which only helps perpetuate the stereotypes which abound in our society today.