Colorism has been in existence for a very long time. Light skin is often considered more beautiful, while dark skin not so attractive. This has made dark skinned people face challenges like bullying or even missing opportunity in their field of work. In Africa where it is expected that people would be prouder and even treat each with respect it is often the opposite.
The modeling industry has been able to embrace the darker skin models. Although this can be a good sign it is hard to strike a balance and give equal opportunity to different skin tones. This ends up denying people with a lighter skin tone an opportunity to pursue their dream.
I talked to Tracy Ngeno who is the reigning Miss Riara and former Miss Water Kenya on the issue of colorism in the modeling industry and her experience working as a model.
"My skin tone is brown It isn’t light and it’s not dark. I think it’s just somewhere in the middle. Modeling has always been a
Tracy Ngeno a model posing for a photo
at Riara Garden. (by Noorah Abdalla)
dream for me since childhood....as a child I’d always design odd clothes from trash bags and old clothes then wear them and act like where I stepped was the runway. I got into modeling in a rather interesting way...I had been trying to get myself into the industry for awhile until one day a friend of mine sent me an audition for miss earth Kenya which was on the newspaper so on that Sunday I went to church and then went for the auditions, in total honesty I did not know what to expect and what to be expected of me. I hadn’t got my Identification Card and I was just hoping they don’t Shame me for being young. I remember having no bikini, yet one of the audition categories was requiring us to be in a bikini...I was so scared that I literally asked my mum to get me one and even after that I still felt this was one audition I wasn’t going to get picked .To my surprise, that same night I got a call from them telling me I had been picked. I was so excited. Being of my skin tone has its benefits and disadvantages for instance in pageantry it works very well but for runway, most casting agents prefer darker models.
I love my skin. I can’t think of a scenario where it is any different. I believe it had attributed a lot to the person I am and I would never change it for anything. Bullying is everywhere mostly by makeup artist, sometimes they fail to get the right shade and they just talk mean while they work on your face, sometimes if you’re the only one with a different skin tone the other models distance themselves from you or even photographers place you in the strangest position maybe at the back where you’re barely seen or at the sides.
There were times I wished I was darker like one time I was auditioning and I met this girl who told me the trick is to use a darker shade of foundation during auditions coz they like to pick dark skinned girls true to her word she got picked and I wasn't," Tracy narrates. Tracy Ngeno a model posing for a photo
at Riara Garden. (by Noorah Abdalla)
"How are lighter skinned colleagues treated?" I asked. Light skinned girls are generally treated so gently and nicely outside there but in fashion industry the darker you are the better it is for you, you become the gem. I don’t agree with the ideologies behind colorism because whether we like it or not we have no say in the color we are born with and no one should ever feel less because of the color of their skin...all skin types are beautiful." Tracy answered.
There are three type of melanin and the all contribute on our differences that are beautiful.
Eumelanin makes mostly dark colors in hair, eyes, and skin. There are two types of eumelanin: brown and black. Black and brown hair come from different mixes of black and brown eumelanin. Blonde hair happens when there’s a small amount of brown eumelanin and no black eumelanin. Pheomelanin colors the pinkish parts of your body like the lips and nipples. You get red hair when you have the same amount of pheomelanin and eumelanin.
A student at Riara during her break
(by Noorah Abdalla)
Strawberry blonde hair happens when you have brown eumelanin and pheomelanin. Neuromelanin controls the colors of neurons. It isn't involved with the coloring of things you see.
With the scientific prove that the color of our skin is to accommodate the climate we experience from different continent before there was migration. The effects of always being compared to a different skin tone always remain in the back of our mind. You are either two light or too dark according to different people.
“I have always had lighter skinned friends, I never thought that it was a problem until I realized I would always get comments like, you are really dark with a sneer on people face trying to show me I’m not as beautiful as my friends. I have always ignored their comments, but I would sometimes really doubt how beautiful I’m. People project their own insecurities and how bad they feel about themselves on others. I don’t understand why someone would not think through what they say. The tongue has the power to break or to build.” Shally narrates.
Dark, brown or white skin everyone is uniquely beautiful, we are all flawed and human. The skin color does don’t signify intelligence, wealth, class or skill. If everyone could open their minds to learn about other cultures and ethnicity, we will all come to the realization that we are similar than we could imagine. Shally a criminologist explaining her experience with colorism.
(by Noorah Abdalla).
Colorism is worst among black people, its' origin is from colonialism that made us believe white is superior and more beautiful. This has been carried on for years, that is why so many people are now bold enough to have conversation on the issue and bring awareness, hoping it will bring change.
Tatyana Ali, Hello Beautiful, 2014
“It doesn’t just exist in Hollywood. I think it exists in society and to be quite honest, I don’t know how much it exists in the larger society, but it definitely exists in the Black community. There are obvious historical reasons for that. The closer we were to White, the more freedom we thought we could have or the more acceptability. Beauty was defined as White and the farther away you get from that White-blond-hair-blue-eye definition of beauty, the uglier you are. The closer you get to it, the more beautiful you are and that’s what we’ve been doing amongst ourselves for a very long time.
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