so, while i was “away” one of the big community newsflashes was that mixed-race is the new standard of beauty. um…ok, cool…i guess…or, whatever!…i’m not really sure where i stand on this one, because, just like race, a standard of beauty really has no basis in reality. that’s merely an opinion. however, the fact 64% of the people polled in the Allure magazine survey that delivered us this “good” news are of the opinion that they generally find mixed-race women to be the epitome of beauty, leads me to ponder a couple of things:
1. we’re not so invisible anymore. they didn’t choose light-skinned black people with “good hair,” or asians who may also be perceived as a little hispanic too as the exemplification of beauty. they chose mixed-race. it was on list. that’s progress, no?
2. i firmly believe that there is no such thing as race, not in terms of the universal reality which i perceive to be very different from the mainstream worldly reality. yet within the confines of the discussion of the topic at hand (funny (and frustrating) how this ‘non-existent’ thing is so confining) i would say that we are all mixed race. so who amongst us is not full of beauty?
3. i also think about all the previous generations of mixed people who may have felt invisible and/or less than and/or all that jazz… i think about me… i wish i could have told this girl that if she could just wait 10-20 years or so, some of the things she felt uncomfortable with and perhaps even unloveable because of would come to be perceived as beautiful… so she should just rest assured in herself and wait for the world to catch up…
wow! these pictures make me so uncomfortable. just like i was back then.
now…not that i’m all caught up in thinking of myself as some biracial beauty…but…i gotta say…progress, no?
if i had to identify something beautiful about this picture, i would say it’s that i seem unapologetically present and, dare i say, confident even. i’d like to see phrases like that enter the equation when calculating the standard of beauty… confident, present, compassionate, passionate, gracious, generous… how ’bout those undisputably beautiful things?
mulatto diaries 
Love this! And you know what? I am letting my relaxer grow out ad I LOVE MY HAIR! What was I Thinking? For me, my own sense of beauty will grow even more as I blossom into my truer self. And I am finding myself no longer apologetic about claiming my “mulatto” self. It is so liberating. More on how most negativity on this comes from the black community later……
If you want to follow my natural hair journey, I have a YouTube channel. Stop by and comment, rate or subscribe. I have learned SO much about natural hair and styling from these women of all persuasions.
http://www.youtube.com/user/likeagirlagain007
Hi Tiffany,
Nice to see you back.
As a father of daughters, and of course, the son of a mother, my standard of beauty already includes many of those adjectives.
Viewing childhood pictures of ourselves is always uncomfortable, so I’m sure that you paused before posting yours. But you should know that others may view them differently, i.e., cute little girl, holding-in-the-laughter teen, shy grade schooler, and beautiful woman respectively.
Ray
You’re beautiful! I was the uncomfortable teen/kids, too. Blame it on blond Scandinavian MN where I grew up 🙂 But now I love being “different,” it’s refreshing!
Great post! I love the pictures, the very young one of you looks like an old picture of mine. 🙂
Shona are you not a member of the black community? Do you have a white parent because you look like a black girl to me. I’m a white girl with a biracial daughter and she is a part of the black community and very proud to be.
@ San Francisco…it seems like you’re telling Shona how she should identify. There are biracial people who look black or mostly black. And not all biracials are black/white. Maybe one of her parents is Indian or something.
And it’s wonderful if your daughter is accepted by the black community. Do you want a cookie? I find it funny when people of different races try to tell biracial folks who we “should” identify with and what we “should” be.
Stop imposing the one-drop rule on others.
Hi Tiffany, I am a web designer and love your picture this picture of you:
I am currently creating a site and need several portraits for the rotating header, would you be comfortable if I use your image. This site is for a medical practice. Its in the works now, you can see whats done so far here:
http://sarfatimedical.com/here/
omg, mark, i’m just seeing this! i hope you used whatever it was that you wanted!