There has been an ongoing beef with two stars of the “Basketball Wives” franchise which appears on VH1. Og Chijindu and Evelyn Lozada have an ongoing feud and Evelyn Lozada is even suing Og Chijindu. But this post is not about that but is more about a discussion that I feel needs to happen for people to understand just why this beef between these two grown women is so disgraceful. In this post I will talk about colorism, featurism and misogynoir.
What is Misogynoir?
Plainly put it is the hatred and prejudice against Black Women. The way this shows up for example is in dating and other social settings is like this:
A woman who is not Black thinks that a Black man is attractive, but when a Black woman has the same features, big nose, wide lips, dark skin, kinky hair, she thinks that woman is ugly. Have we seen this? Time after time some women fetishize Black men sexually while simultaneously turning their nose up at Black women who they feel are beneath them.
What is Colorism?
Colorism is prejudice and hatred for dark skin. The way this shows up for example:
Black men who refuse to date women who are dark but seek out White, light skinned Black women, and women who look racially ambiguous.
What is Featurism?
Featurism is the hatred and prejudice against people who have African features like the big nose, wide lips, dark skin, kinky hair etc. How we see this play out is some Black women love their skin color, but hate their big wide noses so they seek out men with European features to procreate with hoping that their baby would have those features.
The Plight Of Black Women Who Look Like Og…
Og is beautiful. First of all Americans have a standard of beauty based on slavery. The closer to that standard you are the better you are treated. And this is prevalent in Black communities based on the legacy of slavery. Og looks like a Black woman and in the eyes of some that makes her “ugly”.
Some other women on the cast of “Basketball Wives” point out the circumstance that they are almost the same color as Og so how could their treatment of her on the show be colorist? But they do not have the same features as her and they made fun of her looks based on her features, such as calling her a ape. She was repeated called “ugly” by her cast members despite the fact that some Black men find her attractive.
Evelyn who has children by Black men made the point that she could not be prejudiced or she would feel a certain way about her children who are part Black. But, as I stated before, just because you sleep with Black men that does not mean you do not dislike Black women and think you can be and are above them.
There was on episode where Og was called once again “ugly” and her comeback to Evelyn was “Chad wanted me”, referring to Lozada’s ex husband Chad Ochocinco . The look on Evelyn’s face and her reaction told it all.
It read, how could he want a woman who looks like you when he had me? Just because Evelyn Lozada fits the American warped standard of beauty does not mean all men go by that standard.
Og is stunning and her skin and features are beautiful. We need to stop perpetuating the standards set by slavery. Black women are beautiful and come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They are so diverse and appealing to men of all backgrounds. It’s the truth. The narrative that women with African features are undesirable is a crock of bull.
But what do I know? I’m just a bootleg sociologist who nobody will listen to so I started a blog……….
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References:
We need to recognize featurism and its effects | Opinion | therotundaonline.com
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