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beauty standards

Beauty + Style

Simone Biles Speaks Out on Limiting Beauty Standards: 'I'm Tired of Everything in Life Being Turned Into a Competition'

Simone Biles, arguably the world’s most dominant athlete is, of course, no stranger to competition. But as part of a new beauty campaign, the five-time Olympic medalist took a declarative—and personal—stance against “the competition I didn’t sign up for”: having to conform to limiting beauty standards. In an Instagram statement posted earlier this week, the…

By

Anne Branigin

Published

February 13, 2020
Beauty + Style

Winning: Serena Williams Makes the Wimbledon Semifinals, Goes Unretouched for Harper’s Bazaar, and Gets Revealing on Naomi Osaka

As I write this, Serena Williams is celebrating yet another win in her storied career: The 23-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon for the twelfth time on Tuesday, defeating fellow American Alison Riske and proving that as a mom, mogul and living legend, Williams is still a force to be reckoned…

By

Maiysha Kai

Published

July 9, 2019
Beauty + Style

Post-Trump, Miss Universe Welcomed Its 1st Openly Transgender Contestant in 2018

She didn’t take home the crown, but Spain’s Angela Ponce made history this year as the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe pageant on Dec. 16 in Bangkok, Thailand. It was a relatively quiet, but strikingly progressive inclusion in an industry long lambasted for its regressive politics and representations—and even more…

By

Maiysha Kai

Published

December 17, 2018
Culture

Watch: Color Complex: Questioning Beauty Standards as a Biracial Woman

Skin color both unites and divides us. Whether you live in India, East Africa or Japan, the color of your skin shapes your identity and opportunities. Color Complex is a narrative series that explores how people of color around the world struggle for visibility and learn to navigate the prejudices and social hierarchies associated with…

By

Danielle Young

Published

July 26, 2017
Black Codes and Dress Codes: Will Black Hair Always Be Against the Rules?

Graduation season is here—that time of year when we get to celebrate academic achievements, watch with anticipation as the graduates move on to life’s next step, and hear about all the students being banned from prom and graduation for dress code violations. As a jolting end to that list, we’re hearing more stories of students…

By

Shayna Watson

Published

May 28, 2017
The 2017 Miss USA Is a Proud, Black HBCU Graduate, and She’s Also Problematic as Hell

For the second consecutive year, Miss District of Columbia, a black woman and HBCU graduate, has been crowned Miss USA. Outgoing 2016 Miss USA Deshauna Barber crowned her fellow Washington, D.C., resident, Kára McCullough, 25, Sunday night in Las Vegas. McCullough is a chemist working for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Two black women were…

By

Preston Mitchum

Published

May 16, 2017
The Day SheaMoisture Got Extra Ashy, Explained

SheaMoisture is a beauty brand whose hair and skin products are very popular with black women. Even if you’d never heard of SheaMoisture until yesterday, if you date or even know (or, shit, just happen to see) black women with natural hair, you’ve undoubtedly encountered SheaMoisture in some fashion at some point. Exclusively? No. Not…

By

Damon Young

Published

April 25, 2017