Dark Skin Black Girl: A Short Story

The author of “The Black Beauty Myth” Sirena Riley has encountered multiple experiences concerning body image throughout her life. At a young age, she started to feel the pressure to have a perfect body. The struggle of making herself perfect ultimately lead to eating disorders for instance, bulimia and compulsive exercising. In her journey from a young age to her college years she has learned better ways to deal with negative body image through therapy. In her article, she states “I was in three body image and eating disorder groups with other young women on my campus. I was always the only black woman.” (Riley 2002, 229) This quote supports her belief that black women have body image issues but are not open to seeking help or expressing

Style wasn't so important when I was younger but one thing I remember was if you showed up in school with purple pants and a lime green shirt…You were bound to be made fun of. Of course I didn't have the greatest style back then either but eventually I'd showed up with clothes that would blow your mind that everyone just had to have. This reminds me

What exactly is an ideal lifestyle? The answer is different for every person because some people desire more and some desire less. In the short story “Black Girl” by Sembene Ousmane, the reader learns about Diouana’s determination to climb the social hierarchy ladder. As the protagonist, she indulgences in the thought of moving away from her hometown in Africa where she has been working as a maid for the last few years for a rich white family. Her vision of the perfect lifestyle is living in France, where she imagines herself making millions and bathing in fortune. Unfortunately, things don’t always appear as they seem. The story illustrates that when one thinks of their ideal lifestyle they mainly rely on their personal experience which

On September 1, 2012, I walked into my fifth grade teacher’s classroom for the first time in my life. Mrs.Cullen was standing in the front of the door with open arms ready to welcome her new fifth grade students. As I made my way to my desk and sat down next to Charlie Schutt and Quin Timmerman, I got the feeling that middle school would be a time of talking to some of my best friends and cruising through classes. As the school year progressed, and classroom seats changed, my thought of how Middle school would be changed as well. On the first day Mrs.Cullen explained our schedule, Homework detentions, and demerits. After about fifty questions, she sent us off to our first class, and the first step of our Middle School journey. The fifth grade

It was that time of the year ,which was back to school, it was the day ,I got to meet my 8th grade teacher ,I was sweating and had butterflies in my stomach. It was coincidence to find my friend Sheyla at the parking lot. Sheyla said she has met her teacher ,but needed a few more supplies ,so she was just back from getting her last supplies. Sheyla’s family went with us to met my teacher ,and I was glad to see her because it was quite a while since I last saw her. Later, after we left Berkmar grounds,I went to Sheyla’s house and we hangout the rest of the day. It was the first day of school, usually I would be feeling nervous,but today I wasn't ,which was good because I didn't want have sweating hands and a racing heartbeat. I arrived at Berkamr and went straight to homeroom ,I found my seat and waited. My first day at school wasn't to bad because the only thing

Over the course of the years, society has taught black girls that the darker their skin tone is, the uglier they are which triggered them to do their best to meet Eurocentric beauty standards such as having light skin, slim nose and straight hair.

“Good Morning Ms.Brown” Officer Nick yelled at me as I strolled through the large doors at Simon Gratz High School. Walking through those big red doors every day felt great, I felt even better seeing my friends in first period. We all had gym together and health. The class was 90 minutes long but what better way to spend those 90 minutes running around jumping rope and playing tag. I headed to the locker room on the lower level of the school where I ran into to one of the girls that a friend of mine had beef with the day before. She stared at me but in the back of my mind I’m thinking to myself this bitch don’t want it with me. I continue on to the bathroom to change my clothes and get ready for class. As I’m walking to towards the gym I overhear a group of girls talking about me. So I decided to dip of into the lockers to get a

It was pretty odd suddenly coming in during the middle of the school year like this but at least another boy also started today - his name is Arnold but he told me that his reservation calls him Junior. Arnold seemed like he was trying to be nice but his actions came across more as being peculiar and basic signs of someone that I would not usually associate myself with. Reardan is much smaller than my old school but I guess that I should have expected that moving from the city to this exhaustingly infinitesimal farm town. I could tell that it was going to be quite different from the moment that I stepped into my first hour class and there were only nineteen students at the most sitting in the small room. The group of students all seemed pretty close to each other, like they had all gone to elementary school together and their families had cookouts on the weekends. The remainder of the day was uneventful. I skyped my (old?) cheer squad during lunch period - the girls all wanted to make sure that I was doing all right. My immediate answer was a pretty unenthusiastic, “No,” I missed my friends. With a frown I explained that the entire school was one short hallway in length and that no one here knew the good music, we then commenced in a few minutes of light conversation before I had to return to class. I have to get out of this town sooner rather than later, before my mental health takes any more

Then it progresses in secondary school, you have to have the popular clothes, you can’t be seen in clothes that does not have a designer label on them. These are what I consider positive conformity; there is nothing wrong with trying to fit in in this type of fashion.

Thank You all for coming… You could have been anywhere tonight but you are here because you are socially concious indiviuals who see this country for what it is… In trouble. As a Black boy I cannot without lying say there have not been times in which I didn’t feel like I was looked at as more than another football player, a basketball player or just another face that did not belong. On more than one ocassion in the town of ansonia I have experienced racism, and have been subjected to racial threats and violence. I wish I could say that I was happy about my future prospects in this country but I can’t. I also will not sit idley by and fear for my life anymore and listen to voices of people screaming for justice with more of us dying

Starting the day started off by waiting in my seat a 3rd-grade classroom at River View Elementary taught by Mrs. Course. Surrounded by the same people every day waiting in agony to get called out of the classroom. It was thoughtful of the teachers to let me leave almost every day, so I could gain help with reading during the time everyone else was reading with the teacher. Although leaving early every day left me wondering if anyone notices. The teacher walks up to me and says “Shaylee it’s time to go.” After that worry, the other 3rd graders will notice I abandon the classroom seeps into my thoughts. The volcano of questions starts to explode, creating inquiry thoughts of “What if they make fun of me?”, “Where did you

Women are more likely to face rejection because of their bad skin. This is true and a common complaint. This is especially true for black women or women of color because their skin is subject to a number of conditions that might not affect those with fairer complexions. For example, a significant number of black women complain about their ethnic skin being subject to conditions like acne, hyper-pigmentation, excessive dryness, and pimples just to name a few. These problems are more than just skin deep problems. They are problems that affect a woman socially and motivationally.

Film is a series of artistic moving images that make up a story. In every film, the director visually presents the storyline, different characters, the problems they encounter and how they were deal with. There is a wide range of ways to study films of various genres. We focus on film language, genre, mise-en-scene, representation, stereotypes, etc. In Black Girl, it was depicted as an allegory and had a lot of mise-en-scene.

The first year, the time to prove myself had arrived. Classes, rooms, teachers, and some students were unfamiliar. Eventually, minutes melted into hours, hours to days, and days to weeks. It didn’t take long before my schedule was routine, something of second nature. Humor and happiness were found in the form of my advisory family, where school was transformed into something more than going through the same motions of day to day activity. By the closing point of sixth grade, I was having a hard time letting go of what I’d adapted to. “What’s wrong?” my dad asked when I was getting into the car after being picked up early on the last day. I explained how distressed I was that my first year of middle school exceeded my expectations, and that it had to come to an end. Although his outlook viewed my reason for sorrow as trivial, I didn’t.

     Going to public schools all my life, I heard the gossip of "fashion" and "whose wearing what,"pretty much everyday; at least in the four years of high school where it seemed that looks mattered the most. As people grow up, the way they present themselves becomes more and more important. Leaving a good mark in high school means a lot to some people, and some are ready to do whatever it takes to make that mark, whether it be putting someone down for their clothing or being an individual and not caring what others think of you or what your wearing. Having friends from middle school that branched out and went the alternative route; private schools, one of the first things that came back