Brown Matters...

HopeLyndseyPlumb .
Aug 10, 2017
3 min read

Randomly this afternoon, Archie turned to me and said... "Are any of the Disney princesses brown?" "That's a really good question, Archie" I answered. "There's Tiana & Moana - she's the tribe leader!! And I actually think that that's way cooler than just being a princess - she saves her entire tribe from starvation!"

"Don't forget Pocohontas, mummy!" And then he happily ran off to play with his Lego. But it got me thinking... Surely in 2017 we can do better. I had to wrack my brains to think of those 2 and only one of the 3 is Afro Caribbean.*** To add insult to injury, in my humble opinion, the Princess & the Frog is one of the worst Disney films in recent history. It's all spells & voodoo (of course it is, the main character's black! Massive eye roll) - sorry if it's a fave of yours! I find it hard to believe that this is still an issue in 2017. The situation has improved immeasurably from when I was little but it's still pretty dismal out there for a wee brown girl or boy in terms of accurate representation in toys and Disney films. (***correction*** I missed out Mulan & Jasmine) Don't get me started on curly haired dolls! Let's talk about representation in retail... Back in April I asked my sister in law to pick up some Shea Moisture products for me from Target whilst she was in Florida. When she came back she said how good it was that the range of Afro hair products were mixed in amongst Caucasian hair products. She didn't have to go to a different aisle it was right there. Just hair products together. I mean it's almost as though all hair counts & deserves equal space, no matter what it's texture. Now, If I want to find hair products (by this I'm talking shampoo/conditioner, not some fancy far flung product that no ones ever heard of) for myself or my kids I have to order off Amazon or eBay or find my way to some off the beaten track, back street in Birmingham to some tiny, dismal shop. To ensure that I don't have to pay over the odds for the products in our tiny token section of Boots or Superdrug! It's simply not good enough. I can't imagine my friends with the silken locks being ok with running off to some backstreet in Birmingham to buy shampoo!

You know when you go into Boots or Superdrug and you are overwhelmed with choice? Yeah, that's not the case for us...

This is our hair section!

Call me out if I'm wrong but it's institutionalised racism - yeah I said it!

I will happily shout out genuine improvements when I see them & I recognise that in London things are slightly better than in Birmingham but this is Birmingham, the UK's second largest city, known for it's diversity.

Do you know the part of the beauty industry that has it right? It's make up. Nars, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder - to name a few - they cater for many, many different shades of melanin. (Although don't expect this at all airports or department stores, you have to be in the right city - but I get it, buyers will buy in for their customer. Supply and demand etc)

So, what's the answer? I think that we've gotta start kicking up more of a fuss. If we don't say anything then the bosses of Boots & Superdrug etc won't know. I can't help but wonder how much revenue they would get from broadening their range for more Afro headed peeps!

I know that there are others amongst us who are fighting this fight and have been for years... I'm new to this & I am but one woman but I don't want my little people to have to put up with it when they're grown. When Archie's son asks him who the brown Disney princesses are - I want him to run out of fingers as he reels them off!