Gabrielle Union Talks to Stepsons About Valuing and Appreciating the Beauty of Dark-Skinned Women

Colorism in the Black community is an ever-growing issue that gets more complex each day. #GabrielleUnion decided to conquer a portion of that issue by teaching her step-sons and nephew to appreciate and value the beauty of dark skinned women. 

During a panel discussion at the 2018 Essence Festival, Union opened up about her conversation with her sons, and their interests in girls. After she asked them to show her the Instagram pages of the girls they found attractive she found they all were attracted to a certain type of aesthetic. 

“Literally, probably about 10 girls I looked at had the same light skin, curly hair, tiny waist, butt, boobs — it was the same girl over and over again,” said Union.

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“So I asked them to show me the most beautiful chocolate sister they’ve seen. They say there are none. I was like, ‘Why do they get exed out so fast? What is happening in your brain that is causing you to look at these women through a prism that is distorting their actual selves?’” Union decided to show the boys that beauty exists in darker shades as well. 

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“They don’t see the beauty unless it comes from an actress or a supermodel or a video vixen,” she explained. “They have to have somebody else tell them that a chocolate woman is attractive for them to believe it.”