8hyenas

So I'm watching Scandal (not to give anything away, there's an episode where time passing is illustrated by Olivia's hair volumizing.) And Kerry Washington is pretty and all, but generally I don't think much about how she looks. But with her natural hair. God. Damn. I mean. Damn. Why exactly has the show wasted ENTIRE SEASONS on straight haired Olivia? That hair is fierce.

Then I'm watching How to Get Away with Murder. Same creator, same air day, same network, also only other black woman on tv (surely not.) And I see Viola Davis and I think, "Wow, she's beautiful." And that is the only time I can remember EVER thinking that about a black woman. Ever.

My dad was black and my mom is Native American. I wasn't raised with my dad's family. All of my mom's family suffered through government boarding schools and appearing white is very important to everyone (not my mom!). I'm the only one who's obviously a minority. I've spent my entire life surrounded by people who didn't look like me. Not at home, not at school, not in magazines, or books, or on television. I didn't exist. And I certainly wasn't beautiful.

So, media representations of minorities? Important.