A couple days ago I came across a video called Complexion Obession. In this video, african american models were interviewed on where they stand on the belief that lighter models get more opportunities and are preferred over darker girls. I quickly turned the video off because honestly, the topic made me sick. I am a proud dark skinned model, and life is hard enough without having to worry about my skin shade.
Yesterday, I was called into a casting call for a very reputable african american magazine. I went into the casting with confidence that I wouldnt have to be looked down on by a whole flock of blonde haired, blue eyed skinny models, and I was right. When I arrived, there were african american girls of all shapes and sizes. But what i quickly noticed was all the girls were darker skinned except for one light skinned girl with naturally curly hair. I didnt think anything of it, I was too busy trying tocalm my nerves down.
When the casting director came out, she looked everyone over up and down. When she got to me she asked, "Is that all your hair?" I responded, "Yes." Then she looked over at the light skinned girl. She asked her the same question. And she also said, "Yes." The casting director touched her hair then smiled. All I think was, 'Is my hair not good enough?' The light skinned girl got the job. Plenty of beautiful dark skinned girls with great bodies in one room and the lighter one got the job.
I didnt really think anything of it until my friends started calling me asking, "So you got the job?", and I told them, "Nope!" And to my surprise almost everyone responded in saying, "Lemmi guess, a light skinned girl with coolie (nice) hair got it?" Now, I cant get this out of my mind. Sigh....
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