The opening article discusses how loaded the term actually is:

Always the words "good hair" evoke stories, stories containing memories of childhood, memories of being teased, memories of people from a dominant culture touching your hair, asking questions. Stories of sitting in the kitchen near a hot stove on a Saturday night, while your mother pressed your hair for church the next morning, you flinching as she pulled the comb through.

Stories of the time you cut off all your hair and a boy in the back of the school bus said you looked like a boy. And you turned around and punched him. You remember your hair freshly shampooed and flowing in the summer breeze because that was the way you dried it then, before blow dryers, before relaxers.

In the interviews with everyday women, you see an interesting narrative begin to emerge. Namely, no matter what type of hair crowned your head, there were going to be problems.

Queen Aishah, a comedian, shares a painful memory of a friend deeming her hair unkempt:

One day my girlfriend in the seventh grade, she gave me a comb for a present. It broke my heart. To this day it brings tears to my eyes. I didn't cry then but my heart sank in my stomach. She gave me a comb in front of my seventh grade class.

I really wanted to beat her up. She had wrapped the comb like a present. It was wrapped like in Christmas paper. I said, "Oh, I got a gift." Because we didn't have gift exchange in [our] house. [Then] I was like, "Oh my God! What did she get me?"

And then everybody busted out laughing. It was homeroom. It was an embarrassing thing.

Shenee' Harris remembers the influence of pop culture on her hair choices:

I just remember wanting to wear it straight. I thought it would look good. When you look on television and in the media, even the cartoon characters, the women have long, flowing hair. The Smurfette had long hair. Miss Piggy had long hair. I liked my hair to be bone straight.

Avis Jones-DeWeever remembers the pain of conversion:

My earliest hair memory was sitting in front of the oven and dreading the ritual of getting the hair pressed with the two jar tops over my ears [to protect them]. And my mother takes the hot comb and that sound, sizzzzzzzzzzzz! The heat and the pain of getting burned from time to time. The little torture that black girls go through in terms of the first experience — pre-perm — in an attempt to straighten their hair.

Then we eventually graduated to an actual hairdresser, where you still had the hot-comb experience. Hold your ears back. You were on edge all the time. You could feel the heat as the comb approached your scalp. Not only could you feel it, you could hear your hair literally frying as they are pulling the comb through. The heat of your hair touches your face or neck. It's hot. It's not comfortable. It has to be done quite often to maintain the effect.

Sadly, even black girls with straight hair can't catch a break:

They used to call me "black China girl" because they didn't understand why my hair was straight, why it was slick. They would ask me am I biracial. "No," I would say, "both my parents are black!"

Certain people would only like you because of your hair texture. Some girls would want to fight you because of your hair texture. They would never come out and say it but they would do things like pull your hair. Or just not like you because they think you feel you have something better than them. It made me want to cut my hair at about the third or fourth grade, at the stage when you are sensitive to what people think about you.

And yet, despite all the emotions wrapped up in how we wear our hair, there is still hope that we can instill in others the confidence we lacked growing up. Liz Nolan, a 65-year old salon owner, remembers always thinking her hair was never good enough:

When I was growing up, one side of my family was very fair-skinned. As they said in the olden days down South, where I was born . . . if you had straight hair and light complexion, you were pretty. Nice looking. I was born with kinky hair. So I remember going to the beauty salon trying to get my hair straight as possible. They were using all this grease on my hair. I used to have to come home and take a towel and take it out so I could look like my cousin. I wanted to look like my cousin because they told me my cousin was very pretty because she had good hair and I didn't have good hair.

Nolan goes on to discuss how her perception of her hair changed as she grew older, and how she felt called to become a beautician to reinforce to women that they are beautiful - regardless of how they choose to wear their hair. But the most compelling proof of how we can reverse this ideology comes from Nolan's braided seventeen year old daughter, who says, simply:

I always liked my hair.

You Grow, Girl! [Washington Post]
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Queen Aishah[Washington Post]
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Shenee' Harris [Washington Post]
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Avis Jones-DeWeever
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Greer Jones [Washington Post]
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Liz Nolan [Washington Post]
Getting to the Roots of 'Good Hair' - Phantasia Nolan [Washington Post]

Michelle Obama may have become an archetypal African-American female success story - law career, strong marriage, happy children - but the reality is often very different for other highly educated black women. [...]

The unspoken context here is that we are not Michelle Obama, so obviously, we will all die alone. This article is a rehash of a rehash, the same super-hyped hysteria made to display the horrific plight of poor, downtrodden, manless black women. (Which goes nicely with the stereotype of us as castrating, swivel-necked harpies).

But this article really goes above and beyond to ratchet up the madness. Apparently, we're responsible for the decline of the black middle class!

Beyond the personal interests of individual women, the trend is significant because "in terms of American society, this is one additional obstacle" to the broadening of the black middle class, Brueckner said. Fewer highly educated black people having children means that they cannot pass on those advantages and knowledge."

This defeats the goal of affirmative action, argue some demographers. The idea behind assuring that blacks had access to higher education and graduate school was that after a generation or so, African-Americans would reach a kind of achievement parity after generations of suffering educational and career restriction. But if black women, who comprise 71 percent of black graduate students, according to the census data, do not have children, the rate of achievement reaches a kind of familial dead end.

All our fancy schooling is for naught and we've undermined Affirmative Action! Woe, woe is us all!

But it gets worse. Hysteria Point #2 - All the men are leaving!!!

Highly educated black men tend to "outmarry" (marry outside race, religion or ethnicity) at a higher rate than black women, researchers say. Think of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates or Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Both married white women.

How dare they!!? (Wait, did we want them? Is there a voting block where we lament departed black men? Seems foolish to try to force someone to like you, but if the article says so...)

So black men are going to other pastures. But we can't do that because (Hysteria Point #3) our families are racist and we can't resist the pressure!!!

In interviews with a large number of black women, she found that community pressures on black women to marry black men can be more intense than the reverse.

"A greater negative reaction falls on them," Clarke said. "Some women in my sample told stories of African-American men on college campuses getting upset if they dated outside the race. There seems to be a sense of some policing of women's sexuality. I think women are more controlled by these community and family pressures around who they should date. Men have greater freedom."

And too bad for that, because (Hysteria Point #4) Black women are a bad dating investment!

A sociological line of inquiry called "exchange theory" suggests that in the piggy bank of goods each of us brings to a possible relationship - money, smarts, sense of humor, looks, family background, education, gender - African heritage is devalued compared with European or Asian heritage. African-American females, even with lots of education, do not fetch as much "value" in the marriage market.

That may be a cold way to look at love, romance, and sex, but studies dating back to the 1980s support it.

Damn. Do I need to get on my Cyrano de Bergerac over here, and find a white face to front me?

When I read things like this, it just annoys me.

Analysis like the type done by the National Center for Health Statistics, that puts the racial stats in perspective along with age, region, location, and income bracket is hard to come by. (The last study in this vein was done in 2002.)

There are some conversations that wold be very worthwhile and fruitful about marriage rates in the black community and intraracial dating. However, I hate these kinds of articles because they over-sensationalize everything, in the same way op-eds written to let women know their sell by date is passing and a few years back there were a rash of articles about how college educated women wouldn't be able to find suitable mates, these kind of article use the hyped up hysteria to reinforce existing (often racist and patriarchal) ideas.

Marriage Eludes High Achieving Black Women [MSNBC]

Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, And Remarriage in the United States [NCHS]

Of the 35,000 black women between the ages of 21 and 69 profiled in the study, 43% had been physically abused in childhood and 18% had been sexually abused. Those who were sexually abused (as Oprah was) were more likely to start menstruating before age 12. The effect was stronger the more frequently they were abused — girls who were abused up to three times were 26% more likely to start menstruating early, while those abused four or more times were 34% more likely to have early menarche. There was a weaker, but still present, correlation between physical abuse and early periods.

Researchers think that it might actually be possible that sexual abuse causes earlier menstruation, as opposed to a simple correlation. The idea that sexual abuse actually changes girls' bodies, rushing them into physical maturity and making them vulnerable to pregnancy at a younger age, is perhaps even scarier than the sheer prevalence of physical and sexual abuse among African-American women. This possibility reveals, in the most upsetting way possible, that social as well as genetic factors may influence menstruation. The study's findings, along with the sheer number of women who report suffering abuse, underscore the need for better detection of abusive situations, more social services for girls, and more study of the underlying psychological and social problems that cause sexual abuse and allow it to continue.

Sex abuse linked to early menstrual period [UPI.com]
Higher Prevalence Of Early Onset Of Menstrual Periods Among Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse [ScienceDaily]

• A report claims that an Australian baby was born deaf and blind after its mother was given an injection of the wrinkle filler Dysport in the first week of pregnancy. • British professors have been given a grant to test whether pink rooms can make violent prisoners calmer. • Volunteers at a Houston-area maternity ward wrap Christmas babies in holiday stockings every year. • The Church of England is trying to quell "thousands" of dissidents who are upset over the appointment of a female bishop by creating a new type of clergy that will restrict the rights of female bishops. • Oh look: a dog gulping down a small burrito in one second. • Breaking: Olivia has become the most popular name for British girls over the past year. • A California woman pleaded guilty on Monday to arranging the fake marriages of dozens of Chinese citizens to U.S. citizens so the Chinese spouses could live in the United States. • Freida Pinto is set to receive the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Breakthrough Performance Award on January 6 for her role in Slumdog Millionaire. • A 72-year old woman has been accused of kidnapping her 86-year-old sister from Pittsburgh so they could get her away from her ramshackle apartment so a male friend could make repairs on her sister's home. • On Monday, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights ruled against a church group who discriminated against renting out a beachfront property to a lesbian couple seeking to use the locale for a civil union ceremony. • The Popeye the Sailor copyright is set to expire in Europe this week. The copyright is protected in America until 2024. Bring on the European porn tributes! • Apparently, comfort food is back in style as the economy continues to go downhill. • One of the teens convicted in the "Jena Six" beating case shot himself after he was arrested last week for shoplifting. The wound is not life-threatening. • According to a new study, obese men are three times more likely to have a low sperm count than their normal-weight peers. • If you are feeling blue, blame your friend: moods are contagious. • Hospitals in the U.S. are testing to see if simple arm-strengthening exercises can reduce lymphedema, a side effect of breast cancer surgery and radiation. • A Boy Scout from Long Island, NY has earned all 121 badges. • The Florida meter-reader who found the remains of Caylee Anthony may get a $5,000 reward. • An English woman called the police after she thought she saw a man riding a giant turquoise rabbit balloon floating past her house. • Meet Harry, a pet ferret in England who thinks he's a puppy. • A NASA report releases some graphic details about the deaths of all seven astronauts on the space shuttle Columbia, including information about the astronauts not wearing their full gear which may have let them take more action, but wouldn't have saved them from death. • A new study claims that African American women have been shrinking in size with each new generation since the mid-1960s. •

Also, why haven't we seen Michelle raise her voice above an "appropriate" decibel level? Michelle Obama doesn't seem to be anything like the image of black women that we see on TV and in films. Who is the real Michelle Obama? Get ready for it:

Michelle Obama is totally normal. A normal, well-educated wife of a politician and mother of two.

Samuels points out that Michelle is a type of black woman that many Americans don't get to see, since mostly, black women are portrayed in the media as either sassy, abrasive and angry or drug-addicted, poverty-stricken and AIDS-infected. But there are many different types of black women out there in the world. Some of whom — gasp — have a college education (complete with gender/race related undergraduate thesis), a good job and generally fit into the "normal" idea of upper-middle-class Americans. You just rarely see them on TV:

Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we're all hot-tempered single mothers who can't keep a man and, according to CNN's "Black in America," documentary, those of us who aren't street-walking crack addicts are on the verge of dying from AIDS. As writer Rebecca Walker put it on her Facebook page: "CNN should call me next time they really want to show diversity and meet real black women that nobody seems to talk about.''

Like Walker, I too know more than my share of black women who have little in common with the black female images I see in the media. My "sistafriends" are mostly college educated, in healthy, productive relationships and have a major aversion to sassy one-liners. They are teachers, doctors and business owners. Of course, there are those of us who never get the chance to pull it together. And we accept and embrace them—but their stories can't and shouldn't be the only ones told.

Like the fictional Huxtables before them, Samuels sees the Obamas serving as an example to both blacks and non-blacks through their upper-middle-class regular-ness. Perhaps Michelle has "softened" her image throughout the campaign, but if she becomes the First Lady she'll have to figure out her role in the White House amid criticisms much in the same way that Jackie Kennedy and Hillary Clinton did before her.

And even though Michelle will probably never gain acceptance from some of her critics, Samuels still sees her life in the spotlight as a way for Americans to see a "regular African-American woman" in action, showing "what we think and what we face on a regular basis." Some may argue that Michelle doesn't need to "teach" Americans about what it's like to be a black woman, but Michelle's prominent position in the public eye will invariably shape both black and non-black American's perceptions of what a black woman is, and can be.

What Michelle Obama Can Teach Us About Black Women [Newsweek]
Barack Obama Again Dances In A Slightly Embarrassing Manner On 'Ellen' [Wonkette]

Earlier: Following Criticism, 'Mom In Chief' Michelle Obama Charms Americans

(Models were counted as being "ambiguous/mixed race" if we weren't sure what race they are (like the Kate Spade ads where the model was covered up), they were obviously of mixed race (Kimora Lee Simmons—still starring in her own ads!), or a non-European Hispanic woman.)

Here are the results:

Lucky:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 2 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 109 (11 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 143
TOTAL ADS: 151

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 5
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 6
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 3

Cosmopolitan:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 15 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 80 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 9 (2 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 104
TOTAL ADS: 109

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 2 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 2
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 2

Glamour:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 2 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 14 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 91 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 10 (2 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 117
TOTAL ADS: 115

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 4 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 5
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 4

Allure:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 15 (3 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 69 (9 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 12 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 96
TOTAL ADS: 81

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 4
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1

TOTAL MODELS: 5
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 5

Teen Vogue:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3
• Total Black models: 14 (4 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 83 (13 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 7 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 74
TOTAL ADS: 94

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 1
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 2
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 4
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 4

Marie Claire:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 8 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total White models: 70 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 13 (7 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 94
TOTAL ADS: 102

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 3
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 4
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 5

Harper's Bazaar:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 3 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total Black models: 6 (1 celebrity/ non-model)
• Total White models: 140 (13 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 14 (5 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 163
TOTAL ADS: 152

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 2
• Total Black models: 3
• Total White models: 14
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 19
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 12

Elle:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 4
• Total Black models: 14 (6 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 187 (12 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 16 (4 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 221
TOTAL ADS: 205

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 1
• Total White models: 9 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 1 (1 celebrity/non-model)

TOTAL MODELS: 11
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 9

Vogue:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 7 (2 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 9 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total White models: 236 (14 celebrity non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 9 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 261
TOTAL ADS: 214

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 0
• Total Black models: 0
• Total White models: 9 (1 celebrity/non-model)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 0

TOTAL MODELS: 9
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 7

Overall Totals:
Advertisements:
• Total Asian models: 24 (7 celebrity/non-models)
• Total Black models: 111 (31 celebrity/non-models)
• Total White models: 1,065 (93 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 106 (33 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 1,273
TOTAL ADS: 1,223

Fashion Spreads:
• Total Asian models: 3
• Total Black models: 4
• Total White models: 38 (6 celebrity/non-models)
• Total ambiguous race/mixed race models: 6 (3 celebrity/non-models)

TOTAL MODELS: 65
TOTAL FASHION SPREADS: 51

This means that in advertising, out of 1,273 ads, if 24 Asian models were used, that is 1.8% Asian. And 111 black models might seem like a lot, but that's actually 8.7% black. 1,065 white models out of 1,273 ads means the ads were 83% white.

As for the fashion spreads, 3 Asian models out of 65 means 4.6% Asian representation. And despite the efforts of Bazaar, the models were only 6% black.

Related:
Italian Vogue's Black Issue: A Guided Tour [Jezebel]
Fashion Week Runways Are Almost A Total Whitewash [Jezebel]

"Survey after survey has shown there isn't enough content reaching African-American women," says Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications. "African-American women say they are looking for more content reflecting their voice and lifestyle. This partnership gives us the opportunity." The problem: Is there an African-American voice and lifestyle? I'm black and I never watch Oprah or Girlfriends (although my mom loves Girlfriends). My brother doesn't watch basketball (my friend Jonathan, who's Jewish, does). I have black friends with no interest in Tyra Banks and an Asian friend who loves her. Are the people who read Essence the same people who read Sister 2 Sister, Vibe and Black Enterprise? It's like targeting "women" with a site like Shine. Are they working women? Moms? Single women? Beauty-obsessed women? Bitter women? Does being a woman mean you automatically give a shit about Kate Bosworth? (I'll answer that one: No.) Black women come in a myriad of tastes, styles and voices. Can a website attract all black women? It'll be interesting to see them try.

Essence Enlists Warner To Reach Black Women On Web [Crains]
Essence Mag Uses Some Synergy to Turn Past Printed Page [AdAge]
Essence Magazine To Go Multiplatform [MediaWeek]
Overhaul for Web Site of Essence Magazine [NY Times]

And we're still living in a world where a woman can be kidnapped, sexually assaulted and forced to eat animal feces simply because she is black. But there is good news, thankfully:

The number of businesses owned by black women increased by 147% between 1997 and 2006, compared to an overall business growth rate of 24%. And lately, there have been black women in the spotlight for amazing accomplishments — from Oprah to Condoleezza Rice to Michelle Obama. Marc Morial, the president of the Urban League, writes: "When black women hurt, the American family suffers. But by uplifting black women, especially those struggling hardest to keep their families together and their dreams on track, we lift up every American community." Adds Avis Jones-DeWeever, from the National Council of Negro Women: "For us, it's two steps forward, one step back. But we do have a lot to be proud of."

Good And Bad Times For Black Women [MSNBC]
Racial Inequality Exists In U.S.: Report [Reuters]
Related: Have You See This (Black) Child? [AdAge]

Got a particularly fuzzy 'fro from 1974 you want to share? Send it in. A crooked set of cornrows courtesy of your frazzled, multitasking mom? We want those too. Oh, and ladies: Jheri curls? Please???? I'll show you mine if you show me yours. (Women of all ethnicities are encouraged to send in pictures of any and all Bo Derek-inspired cornrows they got during that cruise to the Caribbean in the fourth grade.) Send your submissions by February 15 to photos@jezebel.com with the phrase "Past Fashion: Black Hairstyles" in the headline, and be sure to include the date and location that the photo was taken (photos can be from any era). Note: We will only use original photos, i.e. no stuff stolen off the internet. And for those who can't play the game this time around, don't worry; we'll have a new set of snaps we'll be looking for in March. And April. And May. (Prom dresses!). You get the picture. (Well, actually, we do, but yeah.)

Earlier: Where Are All The Black Models? Let's Start By Asking Anna Wintour
Glamour Editor To Lady Lawyers: Being Black Is Kinda A Corporate Don't

(This is the passage:)

During a heated meeting in New York City's Steinway Hall in 1869, Stanton wondered, "Shall American statesmen ... so amend their constitutions as to make their wives and mothers the political inferiors of unlettered and unwashed ditch-diggers, bootblacks, butchers and barbers, fresh from the slave plantations of the South?" At which point, Douglass rose, paid tribute to Stanton's years of work on civil rights for all, and replied, "When women, because they are women, are hunted down through the cities of New York and New Orleans; when they are dragged from their houses and hung from lampposts; when their children are torn from their arms and their brains dashed out upon the pavement; when they are objects of insult and rage at every turn; when they are in danger of having their homes burnt down... then they will have an urgency to obtain the ballot equal to our own."

Related: Gender Or race: Black Women Voters Face Tough Choices In S.C. [CNN]
CNN Readers Respond Angrily To 'Race Or Gender' Story [CNN]
Earlier: Black Women Bristle At That "Black Or Female" Question

The "African-American community" has $850 billion to spend, and women control 62% of that. Which means black men only control 38%. The reporter, Rehema Ellis, admits that the reasons for such disparity are complex, but does note that some complain of schools that give up on young black males at the elementary level, and of a society that celebrates the "bad boy" image made popular by the likes of 50 Cent — making dropping out seem cool.

Meanwhile, the complaint about the NBC series is that there's a "constant burden of negatives with little or no solution or context for the reasons for the disparities."

The Monday segment compared black women to white women and comparing black women to black men — a pattern in news media that makes the black consumer cautious and hesitant about the motivations of the media. As Essence Editor Angela Burt-Murray said in an online comment, that segment may make a black woman want to shoot herself in the head.

NBC Stirs Controversy With 'Black Women' Series [Advertising Age]
African-American Women And Where They Stand [NBC Nightly News]

P&G's competitor, Dove, has already attempted to reach out to the underrepresented woman with their "Campaign For Real Beauty." This could be seen as a copycat move by P&G, but many of their slogans can easily have meaning for black women, including Olay's "Love the Skin You're In," Pantene's "Shine" and CoverGirl's "Every Woman Is a Queen." We can probably all agree that this is a step in the right direction, but how long do you think it will be before that aforementioned 71% percent of women is a more acceptable less than zero?
'My Black Is Beautiful' [AdAge]
Related: A Girl Like Me [YouTube]

In the 90s, the industry gravitated to celebrity models while its appetite for African-American women waned in favor of women from Africa and Eastern Europe, Jones says. To be sure, the fashion industry has never really been the province of American girl-next-door types of any race, favoring instead women with exotic looks not commonly found in the heartland or the hood.

Audrey Smaltz, a former model who now runs a company which handles backstage preparations for Fashion Week, says the industry doesn't embrace black models. "They like exotic-looking blacks, African-born blacks," she says. "They're blacks born in Somalia and Sierra Leone, very few blacks from America. Why?"

Good question. We can only think of one current black model: Chanel Iman. But in the past, several worked at once: Naomi, Tyra, Veronica Webb, Karen Alexander — and more recently, Oluchi and Liya. Tyra's show, America's Next Top Model, may showcase American black girls who want to be models, but do they make it in the fashion industry — and on a real runway? Where are the new black models, and why don't we know their names?

This Month In Ebony [EbonyJet.com]
Earlier: YSL's Stefano Pilati: Eugenicist For The 21st Century

"Yep — it's true. There is a desirable shade of ass." [FabSugar]

Attention pregnant cat lovers: Your kitties' toxoplasmosis may be prepping you to bear a baby boy. [BoingBoing]

EMU masters-degree student Christina Wall is living life as it was before the 1950s. This, of course, means no fast food, no dishwashers, and no email or ATM machines. We're wondering, however, if this also means she has to wear maxipads with belts. [MinneapolisStarTribune]

Many black women don't exercise because there's not a lot of societal pressure on them to be thin. Unfortunately, it's also because they want to protect their hairstyles from sweat and heat. It always comes back to the hair, doesn't it? [Houston Chronicle]

Two obits of women in the NY Times today: etiquette-expert Marjabelle Y. Stewart (who may have slept with JFK) and singer Natalie Bodanya (who once lost her pants onstage at the Met). [NYTimes]

The Virginia Dept. of Health is issuing a comic book to combat statutory rape of young Hispanic girls. [CNN]