By Joyce Davis

When I was growing up I had really thick hair that was very hard to manage. One of my memories is how we would play and grab a sheet or something that could double as long beautiful blonde hair. We had no idea we were conditioned to believe that this is what beauty was but we were. One of my favorite memories was Whoopi’s one woman show. It was the first time I saw someone like me on a stage all by herself but then she did something fantastic. She brought out a sheet that she used to show as her beautiful long hair. OMG are you kidding? You mean we were not the only kids who did that? Immediately I felt connected to her. I knew she understood me differently than anyone else because she was bold enough to say she did that. I don’t know if it was in the act or her talking about it but she explained how black kids and white kids get shown images of beautiful people and these are usually blonde hair, blue eyed people.

Women have worked really hard to be seen not for what they are wearing, or their hair, but for the job they are doing. Most men don’t usually have that question thrown at them. People don’t much care what they are wearing. They are just there to see the performance.