Why can't brown be just as beautiful?
Brown skin isn’t what is conventionally considered beautiful. People think that the melanin in the skin can be scrubbed off and bleached away and that skin tone is somehow a direct effect of the actions of a person rather than genetics. I myself was subjected to these prejudices when I was younger. Dark skin made my grandma scrub my ashy knees and elbows and subsequently feel disappointed when it didn’t magically become fair like hers. My neck was the next place of scrutiny as it had stretch marks that my family thought was because of accumulated dust and tan. I remember never feeling happy in my skin because I looked dark in my favourite clothes and photos with my toothiest grin made the contrast more obvious. I remember being warned about playing sports and drinking coffee. Going out in the sun was not a preferred activity and I heard my family constantly make excuses for my appearance to others. I was told that I was not as pretty as my cousins due to my skin colour and that I w...