Superstar Beyoncé is taking heat for a new photo promoting her latest album, 4. The photo shows the singer, markedly lighter than her natural shade and with straight blond hair and bleached eyebrows, lying on a couch.
Beyoncé is no stranger to “lightening” controversies. In 2008 L’Oréal denied accusations that it had lightened the star in an ad; while in 2011, she faced similar criticism for other photos connected to her album.
Blogger Lincoln Anthony Blades believes that the pop star should be held accountable, not those around her. “It’s like, again? Are we here again? I think in a lot of ways she’s culpable because there’s history there,” Blades, founder of the popular race-conscious blog ThisIsYourConscience.com, told the Daily News. “She’s not saying explicitly you have to lighten your skin, but it does carry that inherent message,” he said.
Filmmaker D. Channsin Berry, co-director of the documentary Dark Girls, said that Beyoncé is doing all she can to attract a worldwide audience. “I wish she had people around her telling her that God doesn’t make mistakes, that you are beautiful the way you are,” Berry told the Daily News. “What does something like this do for a young girl who’s so impressionable and … says, ‘Mommy, I want my skin to look like Beyoncé’s.’ That’s dangerous.”
Whether it is Photoshop or the lighting, Beyoncé should know better by now than to allow a promo of herself appearing much lighter to go public after the two controversies she’s already faced on these issues. Better yet, the singer should understand the issue of colorism in our community and how it affects the lives of many young African-American girls who are fans of hers.
Article from theRoot.com
Read more at the Daily News.
