As a black woman, I have had many conversations with white women who seek to empathize with my experiences of racism by drawing parallels to their own struggles with beauty standards. One of the most common statements I hear is, “I feel ugly too.” While I understand that everyone has their own insecurities and struggles, this statement falls short in truly understanding the depth of what it means to be black in a racist society. When a white woman tells me she “feels ugly too,” she is attempting to equate her experiences of beauty standards with the systemic racism and … Continue reading “I feel ugly”