'Colourism' A Social Phenomenon: Featurism and Texturism an underlings of Colourism

Audiences:#Caribbeandiospora#AfricanAmericans#Youngprofessionals#Mediapractitioners #Colouredsociety#Colouredfolks#ethnicgroups

In the coloured communities, Featurism and Texturism operate similarly as colourism and can also share similar definitions. Featurism can be defined as a prejudicial or discriminatory practice towards individuals or one’s self with particular facial features. While texturism involves the particular texture of one’s hair, and both being deemed undesirable within a specific ethnic/racial group or society. Typically, individuals who exhibit prominent Afrocentric features such as “big nose” or “big lips” and having a coarser hair texture are prone to discrimination. If you don’t understand why this is problematic, then allow me to enlighten you. For decades Eurocentric features have been put on a pedestal within our social institutions while Afrocentric features are forced to take several seats back. Such a nuisance, in the acceptance or glorification of an individual's small nose or lips and straight or loosely coiled, natural hair texture over an individual's big nose or big lips and coarse, kinkier, or tightly coiled natural hair texture is beyond appalling. Hernandez, 2018 posits that “I believe this has a lot to do with slavery. In the past, slave owners labeled light-skinned slaves as trophies because they were either half-white or had white features or “palatable features”. They were considered more physically appealing than slaves with more Afrocentric features because their features looked similar to those of European descent. Like colourism, individuals with straighter or loosely coiled hair is sometimes seen as more attractive, afforded better treatment and opportunity, and valued over those with kinkier, tightly coiled textures. Texturism in the Black community and the Caribbean is used as a caste system. It has birthed the term "good hair" for those with less kinky, looser textured hair and marginalized those with coarser hair texture as so-called "bad hair"

In many instances, you will find where persons will be accepting of dark skin and Black features as long as the nose isn't too wide, lips aren't too full, and the hair isn't too "nappy". Growing up I always wondered why many of the families I see in the bank and building society commercials didn’t resemble the typical families I see regularly. I would generally see a family that consists of individuals with more eurocentric facial features and “good hair” . Featurism and Texturism are underlings of colourism because the notion is that the lighter you are in complexion, the more chances you are to exhibit eurocentric features and have looser textured hair. Exceptions to this notion will result in persons asking if “you are mixed” as if one couldn’t possibly be solely black and be deemed beautiful or attractive.

Therefore my fellow readers, have you witnessed or *fell victim to the preferential treatment of those with "good hair" or the eurocentric features? Or, are you guilty of showcasing your claimed "preference" for those with the "good hair" or eurocentric feature? Share your thoughts below.

References

Hernandez, N. (2019). FEATURISM: IS VERY REAL. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@niadanihernandez/featurism-is-very-real-23d32d425d1e

Retrieved from https://www.ddsmagazine.com/single-post/2019/02/17/Texturism-An-Underlying-Layer-to-Colorism