User:Hlaguerre/sandbox

BEAUTY

European beauty standards continue to have an long lasting impact with today's society and not only limited to African American women, children, and men. But also on those from different nations. In an article written by Susan L. Bryant, she mentions a study by Kenneth and Mamie Clark referred to as the "Doll Test" which became more widely known because of the Supreme Court Case: Brown v. Board of Education. In her article, Bryant states that the European beauty standard is "the notion that the more closely associated a person is with European features, the more attractive he or she is considered; these standards deem attributes that are most closely related to whiteness, such as lighter skin, straight hair, a thin nose and lips, and light colored eyes, as beautiful." The study was an experiment where 253 black children of ages three to seven where shown two identical dolls, one black and one white in a nursery and public school located in Arkansas and Massachusetts. Two-thirds of the children had indicated that they liked the white dolls better in spite of those children being black. Over the years, the experiment had been repeated and still results in a clear preference to the lighter skin doll and an internalization of self-hate among black children because of unaddressed European beauty standards. It also found that a child's environment and family life can serve as the biggest influence on their ideals of what is acceptable or unacceptable as to what they define in terms of beauty.

Concerning African American males in the media, darker skinned men are more likely to be portrayed as violent or more threatening, influencing the public perception of African American men. Since dark-skinned males are more likely to be linked to crime and misconduct, many people develop preconceived notions about the characteristics of black men. (I think these sentences should be removed because it sounds a bit bias)

<- reference on portal of beauty in media on African American children (girls)