I really like pleated skirts I am black. |
There is really no changing that, I am black no matter what I do. Being black is part of me. I listen to Trap music, but also would kill to see Twenty One Pilots. I love Beyonce, but I also love BTS. I like slicked edges, but I also rather not do it all the time. I like Afrobeats but can't dance. There is an interesting perception of what it means to be a black girl in 2019. I am going to be the first to admit that time has moved on since the civil rights movement, but there is something that still hangs over me like a plague. I am black, but I am not black in the correct way. What does that mean? When you log on to Instagram or Twitter and look at the big black influencers I notice I don't fit in. That's not my fault and it most certainly is not their fault, but media has managed to pedal out an image that every black girl seems to have in the back of their mind. The image of the Insta baddie sometimes referred to as "bad bitches"
I of course hardly fit that image, but that can be hard to come to terms with particularly when media insists that's what successful black girls are and that's how we are all meant to be.
This was my first fashion post at 16 |
I hated it.
What was that supposed to mean? I thought it made us sound like the other. Like there was a line between us and them. I was already going through an identity crisis, so this made it worse. I wasn't even extreme enough to even be considered an "Alternative black girl" and that was simply because there were aspects of me that coincided with the Slicked and Snatched black girl so who was I? I had no idea
This look was for one of my other blogposts Bad and Boujee on a budget |
This had implications for me as a blogger and as someone who was and still is trying to fight for my corner of the internet. A lot of black influencers are bad and boujee and it seems companies, brands and opportunities pass up black girls who don't fit the formula. It seems we aren't valid as black girls when we don't confine ourselves to one image which is very 2-dimensional considering race should certainly not define us. Let's be honest based on my style and demeanour PrettyLittleThing isn't sponsoring me anytime soon, so I am fighting to be noticed as a girl with interests in fashion rather another insta baddie and that can be so difficult for black girls when the formula is already laid out for us. Black girls are people who are multifaceted, we are all different and we should be allowed to express ourselves, without discrimination or fitting criteria. The media should allow all types of black girls to flourish whether they are
This was my favourite picture of myself for along time. I was very proud of this picture |
So I am going to use my little page to say it's okay if you are black and can not stand Trap but enjoy House and EDM, it's okay to be black and hate body cons, it's okay to be black and not constantly slick your edges and it's okay to be black and not be thicc with two Cs. It's okay to be yourself. Black girl magic is inclusive.
This post was very personal to me because I didn't really know where I belonged as a child and my teen years. I experimented with many styles whilst feeling pressured to just conform to one group. I won't say I am that unique so can you imagine what others face, but like I said I don't have one aesthetic I sort of float in and out
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another picture I loved for the longest time |
Bye for now
Emmy xx
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