Black Ladies Agree That They're Awesome

One of the least fun parts of being a lady is the constant barrage of media that insists that there are products to be purchased that might help you overcome your crushing lack of Pretty. A new survey reveals that while some women are internalizing this message, one group is rejecting en masse it and declaring themselves awesome: black women. Come on, the rest of you jerks! Get higher self-esteem!

The survey, conducted by Allure magazine (it has another word for “pretty” right in the name! It has to be the authority on beauty!), found that black women were three times more likely than white women to rate themselves as “hot.”

This is encouraging, and shows individual resilience to the pervasive myth that somehow “European” features are more attractive, a myth that was depressingly rehashed earlier this year by former Psychology Today quack/blogger Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa.

That black women win at confidence isn’t all the survey found; it also found that women think that being “curvy” is more acceptable now than it was 10 years ago, but that they still wish they were skinnier. In other words, it’s totally okay if other people aren’t skinny; as long as it’s not me. Additionally, men think women are most beautiful at age 28, down three years from a few years ago.

Of course, this was a survey taken by a self-selecting group of readers of the beauty magazine that’s sort of like Shape for the girls who always seemed to “have their periods” so they didn’t have to participate in gym class, so it’s not the most scientific poll that’s ever been taken. But perhaps we all could take a cue from the respondents who rated themselves “hot;” it’s not worth it to beat yourself up over your looks or perceived lack thereof. The whole internet will gladly do that for you.