‘Glowing up ain’t easy’ How #BlackGirlMagic created an innovative narrative for black beauty through Instagram
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2020Author
Parris, Paulette
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Parris, Paulette. (2020). ‘Glowing up ain’t easy’ How #BlackGirlMagic created an innovative narrative for black beauty through Instagram. Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 1. doi:https://doi.org/10.13025/crzd-tq39
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Abstract
Within a patriarchal and racist society, Western standards of beauty are detrimental to all women. However,
in a society where the White male gaze has been able to determine what is beautiful, possessing features
that are similar to White women has become the standard to embody. These beauty ideals are reinforced by
family, peers, mainstream media, and can have adverse impacts on the lives of women. Black women are
particularly impacted because their phenotypical features are often furthest from those of White women.
As a result, a significant number of Black women suffer from self-hatred and internalised racism because
they can never truly embody White women’s standards of beauty. However, within our technologically
driven era, social media provides a platform for self-expression and empowerment. Through social media
applicationssuch as Instagram, Black women are now provided with a platform to navigate the intersections
of popular media and beauty standards. This paper focuses on the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic that contributed
to the creation of an innovative narrative to Black beauty and counternarrative to White beauty standards
within Instagram. The paper draws from the study that utilised a qualitative method, namely a content
analysis of specific content from Instagram that used the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic. The content comprised
of four themes: hair, complexion, body image, and self-affirmation. By highlighting the space that Black
women have created for themselves, this study offers an analysis of images and captions that are
intersectional, transnational, and non-hierarchical. The ultimate aim of the study is to join other Black
feminist work that encourages Black women to dissect the convoluted images that do not match their image
of Black femininity.