I recently blogged about how it feels like I'm losing the battle against the blonde-haired blue-eyed Disney machine! Although I've worked hard to bring images of black beauty into our home, which I'm sure has helped Schmoo feel happy in her own skin, she has lately taken to drawing princesses only with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. Project black beauty time!
I came up with 5 ways to promote positive images of brown-skinned beauty and decided to start with the brown princess collage idea.
First I gathered together all of the books and dolls we have that feature black heroines. We sat around the table looking at all these images of brown beauty and talked about what made these women gorgeous. For example, with the Kirikou witch (who turns out to be good!) Schmoo said it was her beautiful hair that she liked most.
Then came a lucky dip of brown princesses. We each wrote the name of one princess on a piece of paper and placed them all in a vase. This lucky dip caused far more excitement than I anticipated and was actually the highlight of the activity!
Once we'd finally selected which princess we were going to create (Tiana won!), I drew her outline on an A3 piece of paper and then we shaded in her skin with different tones of brown. Next we tore up pieces of black paper and glued them on to make her hair. And finally we glued strips of blue tissue paper on to make her dress.
Schmoo adored the result and was really proud of it! I've pinned it up in her bedroom, so she can have a strong brown-skinned princess image to look at daily :-)
Pin It now!
Once we'd finally selected which princess we were going to create (Tiana won!), I drew her outline on an A3 piece of paper and then we shaded in her skin with different tones of brown. Next we tore up pieces of black paper and glued them on to make her hair. And finally we glued strips of blue tissue paper on to make her dress.
Schmoo adored the result and was really proud of it! I've pinned it up in her bedroom, so she can have a strong brown-skinned princess image to look at daily :-)
What a wonderful activity! And the Tiana collage looks amazing!! Schmoo looks so proud! Emma x
ReplyDeleteThanks, she was pretty pleased with it :-)
DeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ikgmita!
DeleteLovely activity and one that any child of any race can benefit and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThis post has got me thinking about images of beauty as I now have a mixed race daughter myself. I think all children perhaps perhaps girls more so look for images of beauty around them and it must be even more challenging for girls of mixed heritage, especially if they can't see themselves in there parents. Perhaps perhaps if that is the case we have to find those images for them not just in the wider media but from other family members. I'm not sure yet how I will address this concern as my daughter gets older, like her brother she has very little of my features if any at all. But maybe by then media images maybe more inclusive and I would have found a way to make sure she loves herself and embraces beauty in all its forms.
I look forward to reading more about your journey with your daughter :0)
Thanks, Maria. You're so right, it's important for all children to see beauty in all skin colours & hair types. And ultimately feeling good inside that skin through confidence, and the glowing health that comes from good diet & exercise, and the inner beauty born of kindness, these are the things that make children feel beautiful!
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