Featurism: Black Hair Edition

Which features do black men find attractive? Which features are preferred over others? We won’t get into discussing the size of black noses, or eye color. But we will talk about the different features that black men find attractive in black women, which tends to be very conflicting for other black women who are looking to attract black men.




















A black woman with this texture would not be seen as desirable as the picture on top. This article is about featurism when it comes to hair.



We know that long hair attracts men of all races. This is definitely a feature that draws men in. But when it comes to black women, due to our hair type, this could be subjective. In the black community...

This could be considered to be long hair in our community, but this is shoulder length. To others, this is short to medium long.



















A black woman with this length would definitely catch attention in the black community. She would be accused of wearing weaves often though.



What is Featurism?

In other context, society accepting or preferring certain features over others (i.e. European features over African features).

In other words, this is like colorism and goes hand in hand with it. We tend to favor some features over others. 



Take Rozonda Chili Thomas here. She was always seen by black men and others are more desirable because of her curly hair and “baby hairs”. She is considered widely as a woman who black men have desired.

This article won’t get into lighter skin or lighter eyes and skinnier noses. Features that look decidedly European than African.



This girl will get much more attention from men than a woman with a much tighter curl pattern. This is considered more desirable.

Why?

 If it wasn’t this way, then perms would not have been so popular for nearly over a century. Black women wanted straighter hair so they could get a job and a man. Black naps were looked down on, but I believe black people have been hard on each other for having nappy hair, hair that has grown out of their own scalps.

I would stare in awe at people who would stare at people with nappy hair and wonder how they would  make fun of other black women or people for hair that grew out of their own scalp?

Unreal.

This is a beautiful model and a beautiful photograph, but she has “features” that many would find undesirable. From the texture of her hair, to her lips and her nose, we can’t fully talk about colorism without talking about featurism, which goes hand in hand. This is important. Why do black people find European features preferable and then hide behind the word, “preferences”.

Sure, we all have preferences but at one point you should ask yourself, if you have a big nose and big lips, why do you find others with those same features not attractive to the point where you actively seek out others who look different than you do?

If you’ve done the soul searching you should do, and still find something unattractive about people who look like you do, then perhaps you just don’t get it. Or maybe you are attractive to people who look a certain way. We all have preferences. There is nothing wrong with that. I believe that hiding behind presences is a cop out at times.

Be attracted to who you want to be attracted to. But my point is that you shouldn’t count out all the others who look just like you an don’t discriminate against people who look like you do when you look into the mirror. If you do these things, then perhaps you are influenced by Eurocentric features.