You’ve Likely Heard of Colorism But Featurism Is a Problem too

Black women have been shedding light on the nuanced discrimination within their communities: featurism. Unlike colorism , which privileges lighter skin tones, featurism rewards those with facial features more aligned with European beauty standards. Some examples include features like smaller noses and thinner lips. This bias often places individuals with these features on a pedestal, regardless of their skin color, creating a problematic hierarchy.

All About Featurism

Featurism can be as insidious as colorism, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and fostering divisions within the Black community.

“Featurism is a social hierarchy that grants more or less status to individuals based on their facial features, such as eye color and shape, size and shape of their nose or lips, etc,” International colorism expert Dr. Sarah L. Webb explained. “This is different from colorism, which primarily deals with skin tone. Featurism systemically privileges facial features most closely associated with European phenotypes, such as thinner noses, while stigmatizing features often associated with various Black and Indigenous groups.”

This type of hierarchy has the possibility to create a divide among Black women. It also can greatly impact their social interactions.

“There’s often disparaging comments that go so far as calling another Black woman ‘ugly’ or ‘unattractive.’ This bias can impact who we align with socially and who we accept into our social circles,” Dr. Webb explains.

Featurism and Isolation

These attitudes can isolate individuals whose features do not align with Eurocentric standards. This can lead to a lack of representation and validation. When it comes to her own personal experiences with featurism, Webb has had her fair share.

“I have not had explicit mention of my features, but featurism has been implied or implicated in instances where people have deemed me unattractive or less attractive than others,” she shared.

This subtle form of discrimination highlights how deeply ingrained these biases are, often going unnoticed but still causing harm. Webb suggested that change can only come from an intentional effort from the Black community.

“Stop calling other Black people ‘ugly.’ Challenge yourself to let go of that framework when it comes to the diverse physical appearances of Black people,” she explained. “We can actively work on this by intentionally exposing ourselves to positive and dynamic representations of Black people whose features have been historically stigmatized by white-oppressive propaganda.”

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