tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post5054863314822309783..comments2023-04-25T21:23:54.403-04:00Comments on Sara's blog, Interracial love.....: WW, and the fairest of them all myth!Taylor-Sarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10105589774077925400noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-44594096076360423152008-08-18T17:33:00.000-04:002008-08-18T17:33:00.000-04:00So I guess ww are putting wm on a bigger pedestal ...<I>So I guess ww are putting wm on a bigger pedestal than wm are putting ww on!lol***</I><BR/><BR/>Pretty much. Same way that black women put black men on a bigger pedestal than bm are putting bw on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-29987728462994319522008-08-15T20:38:00.000-04:002008-08-15T20:38:00.000-04:00Anonymous(troll)said... " So white men do still pl...Anonymous(troll)said... <BR/>" So white men do still place white women on a pedestal. "<BR/><BR/>***Here's the truth: WM marry IR much more than WW do,even though there are more ww than wm. So I guess ww are putting wm on a bigger pedestal than wm are putting ww on!lol***Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-64203412452453225562008-08-15T20:30:00.000-04:002008-08-15T20:30:00.000-04:00Anonymous said... *Rolling eyes* Must this always ...Anonymous said... <BR/>*Rolling eyes* Must this always be about white men?! How about Asian, Latino, and Arab men? Yes, it's great that some white men love us, but please how about focusing some of the attention to other men too? And maybe some black men that ARE NOT DBR!<BR/><BR/>--A sista who's sick of hearing only about white men!<BR/><BR/>*raises eyebrows*I say there are already blogs for black on black <BR/>"loooooove". lol! And I like focusing on WM!; )Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-59155040517592407082008-08-15T19:55:00.000-04:002008-08-15T19:55:00.000-04:00Umm 1st, WM represent the vast majority of non-BM ...Umm 1st, WM represent the vast majority of non-BM in america, seeing them more than other minorities is logical. 2nd, the pics are pretty clear that this is about every race, there are hispanic, arab and asian men with BW too. 3rd, Sara already said when she talks about DBRs she doesn't mean ALL BM, why is Barack even on her site if she's so anti-ALL BM?<BR/><BR/>If it makes you sick, just leave! <BR/><BR/>------<BR/><BR/><I>Its an established fact that wm date and marry out more than every other race of men. What fool said differently? </I><BR/><BR/>A typical WW/BM protectionist aka troll. They ain't really slick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-44121877868909239012008-08-15T17:48:00.000-04:002008-08-15T17:48:00.000-04:00Anon, what a stupid comment! You're tired of heari...Anon, what a stupid comment! You're tired of hearing about white men on an interracial blog! ROFLMAO! Here's a thought.... <BR/>THEN LEAVE!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-75590550665003968922008-08-15T17:45:00.000-04:002008-08-15T17:45:00.000-04:00Last Anon, then get off our blog!! What the hell a...Last Anon, then get off our blog!! What the hell are you here for? That's what the whole blog is based on. Did you not see the picture at the top? And it has been said 1000x that not all bm are damaged. This is obviously not the blog for you, why don't you run along....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-74018032043906136912008-08-15T11:17:00.000-04:002008-08-15T11:17:00.000-04:00I consider myself to be a very emotionally secure ...I consider myself to be a very emotionally secure bw. I take good care myself; I workout 3 days a week at the gym, I eat right. I have no problem complimenting other women, I love uplifting others(who deserve it), I would never get involved with a dbr man of any race and I haven't. I am comfortable enough in my own skin to travel across the country and overseas alone or go anywhere alone. I carry myself with class and dignity at all times. I just purchased my first home and on my own. I won't allow anyone to put me down or make me feel less than because I know who I am and I am always happy for the success of others(even when I don't know them personally). <BR/><BR/>But, because I RELAX my hair I am suffering from self-hatred. Please.<BR/><BR/>Sara who takes the time out of her busy schedule to uplift and fight for the betterment of black women and is doing so with much dedication but because she wears a weave she is self-hating. Come on. <BR/><BR/>Women who suffer from self-hatred, don't care about uplifting or supporting anyone not even themselves. But, they have no problem putting down other women down in an pathetic attempt to uplift themselves.<BR/><BR/>This argument has always been ridiculous to me,but I am sure that their are bw who straighten their hair and wear hair extensions that do it out of some form of self-hatred but that is not true of all of us.HBChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06955566615691769534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-41572161015702095832008-08-15T10:58:00.000-04:002008-08-15T10:58:00.000-04:00By the way, I'm an African American woman who is m...By the way, I'm an African American woman who is married to a White American man whom I love with all my heart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-72698501044531097372008-08-15T06:07:00.000-04:002008-08-15T06:07:00.000-04:00It does not matter anyway. Like sara said, nothing...It does not matter anyway. Like sara said, nothing can stop this train.... This movement is growing everyday, as more and more wm realize we are into them, things are going to explode! Fasten your seat belts ladies, it's going to get ugly, but remember nobody 'owns' you. And you have a right to health, wealth, and happiness just like any other woman. I've never been happier since I got myself a fine ass white boy....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-61066808424500444032008-08-15T06:02:00.000-04:002008-08-15T06:02:00.000-04:00Its an established fact that wm date and marry out...Its an established fact that wm date and marry out more than every other race of men. What fool said differently? <BR/>Sara you really have to exercize your comment moderation a little better. A lot of trolls are slipping in....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-11194648767738453222008-08-15T04:00:00.000-04:002008-08-15T04:00:00.000-04:00ladies, beware of lying trolls slipping in, in she...ladies, beware of lying trolls slipping in, in sheep's clothing.....Taylor-Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10105589774077925400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-30087304065658403602008-08-15T03:18:00.000-04:002008-08-15T03:18:00.000-04:00" So white men do still place white women on a ped..." So white men do still place white women on a pedestal. "<BR/><BR/>Things change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-81731240913944532722008-08-14T23:44:00.000-04:002008-08-14T23:44:00.000-04:00i just wanted to point out that population size ha...<I>i just wanted to point out that population size has absolutely noting to do with percentages. absolutely nothing. 5 is 20% of 20, just like 20 is 20% of 100, just like 40 is 20% of 200, do you get my point Dee, percentages say absolutely nothing about the population size. i mean, seriously. a percentage is just that, a percentage. geez!!</I><BR/><BR/>Did you even have a point with this? <BR/><BR/>A lower percentage of white men date out than other groups of men. When this point is stated, someone cried that there are more white men in IR than anyone. The point is that in raw numbers this is true, but those raw numbers of white men in IR are greater due to the white men having at least 6 times the population of men of any other group. But the rate of white men marrying IR is lower than any other group. Three percent of white men marry out. A larger percentage of other men marry out.<BR/><BR/>So white men do still place white women on a pedestal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-84236619363098144962008-08-14T16:19:00.000-04:002008-08-14T16:19:00.000-04:00White men have the highest overall population perc...White men have the highest overall population percentage of IR because they are the largest population of men, but a lower percentage OF WHITE MEN marry out of their race than any other group of men (only 3 percent). <BR/><BR/><BR/>i just wanted to point out that population size has absolutely noting to do with percentages. absolutely nothing. 5 is 20% of 20, just like 20 is 20% of 100, just like 40 is 20% of 200, do you get my point Dee, percentages say absolutely nothing about the population size. i mean, seriously. a percentage is just that, a percentage. geez!!<BR/><BR/>btw, not that i care about wm and their marriage trends, but years ago when i read something about IR marriage trends, and I mean YEARS ago, it said that 20% of white men were in IR relationships and this was years ago, so now its much higher.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-90932443772285438792008-08-14T12:46:00.000-04:002008-08-14T12:46:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Nyander W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05316731433409599506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-64375050500795637102008-08-14T12:33:00.000-04:002008-08-14T12:33:00.000-04:00My hair is natural...Has been for years...Still wo...My hair is natural...Has been for years...Still would NEVER put down any woman for relaxing...The only thing I would say is find a flattering style... Do what is convenient/economical to your lifestyle...The right people (friends/family/members of the opposite sex) will not care how a BW wears their hair...Men who are overly concerned about permed, natural, are suspect...bwdbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18157760908669827295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-58497114866287752742008-08-14T07:24:00.000-04:002008-08-14T07:24:00.000-04:00Who is the Anon. that posted the ridiculous info t...Who is the Anon. that posted the ridiculous info that WM are the least IR married? That is a blatant untruth and I beleive they know it! WM are the most IR married of all men. There are over a million WM married to Asian women alone! And the number of WM marrying BW has increased over 170%! I have not been paying attention to the comments here since I was trying to finish this little story everyone is emailing me about. But I think someone is on here in troll form trying to start something. Whoever said that Wm are marrying Asian women for those ridiculous reasons, you have no basis for that comment. And obviously you don't know what you are talking about. That remark was way out of line, and designed for divisiveness. And Anon. whoever you are who called Sophistocated a fool, don't come here and call my bloggers names. Why the hell should you care how another woman wears her hair! And how does wearing one's hair natural or other amount to self hatred? I think you introduced that remark just to start some mess! straightening and weaving have nothing to do with self hatred. How dare you try and make women feel guilty for how they do THEIR HAIR! I have long hair about 2 inches past the shoulders now and I still wear weave. It's comvenient and fast with my busy schedule. And most of all I can yank it, pull it or mistreat it in many ways, then discard it. Something I can never do with my own hair. But that is my business. Who is someone else to tell me how I should wear my hair? Or accuse me of having self hatred for not going natural? It's because of weave that I have long hair! It's saved me from constantly having to pull, tug, and do a thousand things to my own hair, and enabled it to rest and grow. On occasion when I have actually worn my own hair to my cousin's shop (in the BC) some of those women actually got angry; saying "why do you wear weave when you have long hair?" I simply answered "because I want to" Like theres a law that says you have to have short hair to wear weave. Anyway I'm going to disable the Anon. feature. It seems many of these Anons don't mean us any good....Taylor-Sarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10105589774077925400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-79150170629259346872008-08-13T22:49:00.000-04:002008-08-13T22:49:00.000-04:00To Anonymous that posted the research studies, I c...To Anonymous that posted the research studies, I can agree with this lady's findings I've always found that to be true myself, especially when I'm with friends and we have girl talk about these type of issues. No bw I've met has ever wanted the washboard ass and really plain extremely small shapes or features. I noticed that most bw women like myself would take more attention to women that possess the full features and I did mention that in one of my comments. Now if they would just do a study to prove how dark skinned women are not so jealous of lighter skinned women and how it may actually be the other way around, like how I see so many of us getting accused to be on a lot of blogs; and yet everyone who isn't dark skinned have either wanted to be darker at some point or still do. That would be nice if someone can do a study on that I'm sure the findings would be what I've always suspected. Especially since most of my female friends along with myself are dark skinned and I know what we really think. I would love to see that debate squashed. Nice post missy.Sophisticatedblkwomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08786813030821366667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-59037558101640686392008-08-13T22:44:00.000-04:002008-08-13T22:44:00.000-04:00Yes Dee, and they're now regretting it just like B...<I>Yes Dee, and they're now regretting it just like BW put BM on a pedestal. That's why IR marriages between WM and non-WW keep growing faster and faster each year and they have the highest percentage of IR marriages. They marry WW less and less. You'd think WW or BM would have the highest percentage but nope!</I><BR/><BR/>97% of married white men are married to white women. Less than 1% marry black women. White men have the highest overall population percentage of IR because they are the largest population of men, but a lower percentage OF WHITE MEN marry out of their race than any other group of men (only 3 percent). For comparison, 15% of Asian men marry white women.<BR/><BR/>Aside from the "white women suck" blogger, you rarely every read or hear white men putting down white women specifically. What you are seeing nowadays are white men putting down WESTERN women. This would include your average African American woman. These men are promoting marriage to foreign women or women of foreign descent.<BR/><BR/>I think that it is a mistake to compliment white men for dating and marrying out because the majority of them are marrying Asian woman and doing so for similar reasons that black men give for marrying white women. It is the notion of those women being more docile and easier to deal with than the women of their own race. Such stereotyping of Western women, both black and white, should not be tolerated. <BR/><BR/><I>--Dee, BM place ww on a higher pedestal than wm or wW EVER HAVE. In a typical bm's mind a white slut=virgin MARY....she can do no wrong.</I><BR/><BR/>I don't think that this is at all true. White women currently and historically are placed on a pedestal by white men.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-53155335876834821032008-08-13T18:18:00.000-04:002008-08-13T18:18:00.000-04:00Is it not white men who have placed white women on...<I>Is it not white men who have placed white women on such a pedestal?</I><BR/><BR/>Yes Dee, and they're now regretting it just like BW put BM on a pedestal. That's why IR marriages between WM and non-WW keep growing faster and faster each year and they have the highest percentage of IR marriages. They marry WW less and less. You'd think WW or BM would have the highest percentage but nope!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-73135973715634966362008-08-13T17:14:00.000-04:002008-08-13T17:14:00.000-04:00sophisticatedblackwoman said... anonymous said...<B>sophisticatedblackwoman said...</B><BR/> <I> anonymous said...<BR/>"anyway, i do believe that black women straighten their hair because of pressure or self-hatred. and i think those women are more numerous than many would care to admit. my mom was natural for a short while. most of her compliments came from non-blacks. OTOH, the very sight of her hair had black women (and men) hurling insults at her. she said some women would give her nasty looks or laugh at her. if your own features cause such a negative reaction in you..........."</I><BR/><BR/><BR/><B>Anonymous your absolutely incorrect, what your stating is a reflection of how you and your mother feel, you two are experiencing self-hate. Don't pen that on the rest of us, by going against the rest of us who choose to be free in what we do are choose. We do not carry that guilty mindset any bw who do, should not wear extensions or other accessories. I still believe this nonsense protest is a way to cut the competition.</B><BR/><BR/><BR/><I>"i don't care how black women wear their hair, but i don't understand the denial about why so many feel like they have to straighten theirs. we say black men prefer nonblack beauty, but then wanna act like black women's hair choices aren't affected by that?"</I><BR/><BR/><B>If you don't care it wouldn't hurt you to see bw women wearing various hairstyles. It's funny how people claim black women who straighten their hair or wear extensions look like white women. Now come on really do you have eyes, look at the women on the side bar with extensions, look around you do we really resemble ww? Of course we don't, so again I tell you your hypothesis is an endeavor to cut the competition. If you have ever been around confident women check and see if they are all messed up over the way someone's hairstyle is, you won't see that. Ask your self if everyone walked around looking like me or wearing their hair the way I want them to, what would the world be? Hmmmmm....<BR/>You see how transparent that is - a way to cut the competition, some women are slick.</B><BR/>-------------------------<BR/><BR/>@SBW<BR/>Relaxers started to be used by many black women during the late 60's thru 70's. Today roughly 75-80% of black American women relax their hair. So this is something we've been doing for near three decades. I think it's a mistake to dismiss the customs/practices of 75-80% of ANY population as just because, just a choice. You're ignoring the politics of hair among black American women.<BR/><BR/>@Anonymous<BR/>I understand about the reactions to natural hair. My own mother has had a negative reaction to my natural hair. Apparently she has forgotten that she used wear an afro during the 70's.<BR/><BR/>As for the relaxed hair/self-hate debate. Yes, I do believe that a lot of black women are uncomfortable with their natural hair. But I also think that mindset is changing, some are choosing to go natural while others state their preference for straight hair. <BR/><BR/>Personally, after experiencing my natural hair for over a year, having relaxed hair is a convenience to me. While I enjoyed my curls and will go back someday, once I was out of the TWA stage, natural hair was not convenient.<BR/><BR/>IMO, the majority of black women should learn to grow their hair long and healthy, relaxed or natural. Then labeling and judging us as Afrocentric or Eurocentric based on whether our hair is chemically processed will have no importance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-40468826330634301022008-08-13T10:18:00.000-04:002008-08-13T10:18:00.000-04:00"I'm curious as to what the results would have bee...<B>"I'm curious as to what the results would have been if the Black women were asked about their skin tone, facial features and hair texture."</B><BR/><BR/>That's a good question and it is difficult to find info on that specifically as it relates to black women comparing themselves to white women. In a general sense, this seems to be somewhat addressed in the following article. Here are excerpts with key parts in bold:<BR/><BR/>http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1865 <BR/><BR/><I>The researchers found that even though only 5.6 percent of the characters on prime-time television are black women, those black women who were studied were mostly unscathed by watching numerous hours of television programs featuring thin, white women.<BR/><BR/>"Basically, black women just don't feel bad in the same way white women do by watching television," says L. Monique Ward, professor of psychology at University of Michigan and one of the four authors of the study, Who's That Girl: Television's Role In The Body Image Development Of Young White And Black Women.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, white women were more likely to compare themselves to the women they saw on television and more likely to have more negative thoughts about their body.<BR/><BR/><B>But black women shrugged off the ideal of the thin, pretty white woman as "unattainable for themselves and as unimportant to others in the black community," according to the authors.</B><BR/><BR/>*snip*<BR/><BR/>The authors concluded that part of the reason black women felt better than whites, was that black actresses on popular television shows tend to have more realistic body types.<BR/><BR/>Mikki Taylor, beauty director at Essence magazine, isn't surprised by the study's findings. She believes that black women's identification with black characters on television--and rejection of the media images--confirms the wide range of ideals of beauty among black culture.<BR/><BR/><B>"There just isn't a black standard of beauty to live up to," she says. "We celebrate our uniqueness, whether it's different skin hues, or different hair. Unlike mainstream culture, there is no one standard that is going to make us feel inferior."<BR/><BR/>And when blacks watch television, "there's not a yearning on the part of the audience to look like any other culture," she adds.</B><BR/><BR/>*snip*<BR/><BR/>The study showed magazine advertisements to black college students at the University of Missouri. <B>Like the participants in the Michigan study, black women dismissed images of attractive white women as unimportant. But when shown images of attractive black women--with both curvy and thin bodies--black women with low self-esteem were negatively affected.</B><BR/><BR/><B>"They weren't affected by pictures of a white Victoria Secret model for instance, but images of Tyra Banks made them feel bad,"</B> says Cynthia Frisby, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Missouri, who conducted the study. Tyra Banks is an African American supermodel.<BR/><BR/>*snip*<BR/><BR/>Indeed, the researchers at Michigan also found that the notions of beauty for black women were different from those of white women. The researchers reported that the black women in their study defined beauty based on traits such as <B>style, movement and character, rather than weight and appearance.</B></I><BR/><BR/>-----------------------------------<BR/><BR/>So basically, I would conclude that black women tend to desire the common looks and features of your more mixed black women, yet don't have the same desire for the common look of white women. Even when black men rave about particular women, there is a strong tendency to rave over your more mixed looking women, yet rarely do they rave over white women. It even seems that they are more inclined to rave over darker skinned, more unmixed black women than they will pure white women. I have never heard a black man say anything positive about how Paris Hilton looks.<BR/><BR/>It is your Halle Berry and Tyra Banks types who hurt the self esteem of other black women. Paris Hilton is of little concern.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-1318982907003417852008-08-13T04:40:00.000-04:002008-08-13T04:40:00.000-04:00"I think that this is mostly a moot point. Researc..."I think that this is mostly a moot point. Research has indicated that black women are not affected much by white concepts of beauty. Black women generally have higher self-esteem than white women (and all other women) and a more positive body concept. This article explains it well"<BR/><BR/>I'm curious as to what the results would have been if the Black women were asked about their skin tone, facial features and hair texture.<BR/><BR/>Dee, yes you are right. It is white men who have decided that 'their' women are the most beautiful. They are the advertisers, hold key positions in the fashion industry, publishers etc etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-3825045301132168162008-08-12T23:31:00.000-04:002008-08-12T23:31:00.000-04:00"anyway, i do believe that black women straighten ..."anyway, i do believe that black women straighten their hair because of pressure or self-hatred. and i think those women are more numerous than many would care to admit. my mom was natural for a short while. most of her compliments came from non-blacks. OTOH, the very sight of her hair had black women (and men) hurling insults at her. she said some women would give her nasty looks or laugh at her. if your own features cause such a negative reaction in you...........<BR/><BR/>i don't care how black women wear their hair, but i don't understand the denial about why so many feel like they have to straighten theirs. we say black men prefer nonblack beauty, but then wanna act like black women's hair choices aren't affected by that?"<BR/><BR/>after i became natural, i too went crazy and started thinking other bw relaxed their hair because of self hatred. however, now, with my natural hair, i understand why some women opt for a relaxer, especially if you have tightly coiled hair like mine. Tightly coiled hair is simply hard to manage, especially when you have a busy schedule. i have been natural for over 6 years, but a majority of the time my hair has been in braids. <BR/><BR/>the thing about black hair is that it HAS to be done, something has to be done to it, you better not neglect it. black hair in africa is easy to manage because you have your anuts, sisters and cousins to help you anytime, for free also. women there hardly ever stress about hair. however, in america, time and money are a huge factor that many women have to consider, so no, i do not think bw perm their hair out of self hatred.<BR/><BR/>True, there are a ton of black folks out there that give you a hard time over your hair, some stare, some laugh, some look at you like you’ve lost your mind, but as a person, you can’t allow other people to control you, that’s really the whole point of this blogAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6532324576684577426.post-91551076620855143962008-08-12T17:51:00.000-04:002008-08-12T17:51:00.000-04:00I think that this is mostly a moot point. Researc...I think that this is mostly a moot point. Research has indicated that black women are not affected much by white concepts of beauty. Black women generally have higher self-esteem than white women (and all other women) and a more positive body concept. This article explains it well:<BR/><BR/>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_2002_July/ai_94775614/pg_2?tag=artBody;col1<BR/><BR/><I>In a study of body image with Black women participants, Thomas (1989) found that the majority of participants were satisfied with their bodies overall; however, when asked to evaluate their body shape and size, over half the participants (60.4%) believed they were too fat. Higher self-esteem was associated with greater satisfaction with body image, and body weight and self-esteem were negatively correlated. <B>In addition, the perceptions of significant others-especially close male friends--contributed to participants' self-evaluation.</B> Although the effect sizes were not large, <B>the finding suggests that Black women may not be responding to dominant White ideals of beauty in the same way as are White women</B>. In other words, research based on White participants has indicated that White women's perceptions of themselves as "too fat" are strongly related to low body cognitions, whereas Thomas' research indicates that believing oneself to be "too fat" is not necessarily related to low body satisfaction for Black women.<BR/><BR/> European American adolescents' conceptions of beauty were much more rigid, fixed, and uniform than those of African Americans, who were much more flexible and fluid in their notions of beauty.<BR/><BR/>Parker et al. (1995) theorized African American women's distinct conceptions of beauty to be related to the community support and relationships to other women that seemed to be quite different than those of the European American participants. The families and communities of the African American participants supported their appearance and style, and also appreciated a fuller physique than did the European American participants' families and communities. <B>The positive feedback that the African American participants received from their immediate family and community was theorized to have a positive influence on their self-esteem (Parker et al., 1995). The African American participants also reported having a stronger support group among their peers than the European American participants did. Although the European American adolescents reported dieting as a strategy to establish group affiliation with others, they also reported comparing themselves to other girls and consequently feeling negative about themselves a nd other girls. This act of comparing fostered a sense of competition among these participants. Conversely, the African American participants reported having very supportive relationships with others and their affiliations that were not based on comparison and competition.<BR/><BR/>Previous researchers have concluded that such findings indicate that African American women are "buffered" by what has been termed "Black Culture." It has been proposed that African American women have "protective factors that shield them from developing low self-esteem and body images" (Molloy & Herzberger, 1998, p.640).</B></I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com