Gloablization

Globalization (2004)
Emulated through Images: The Globalization of Misconstructed African American Beauty and Hip-Hop Culture
Kerri A. Reddick-Morgan Georgia State University [e-mail]

Abstract
From news coverage to entertainment, the media shapes, reflects, reinforces and defines the world in which we live. In publishing, theatre, films, television and popular music-industries largely controlled by white men--Blacks continually struggle for both a voice and representation. Many scholars write about the stereotyping of Blacks in the media (Meyers, 1999; Davis, 1989). Light skinned Black women with classic European features predominate in beauty pageants, music videos, and in the world of modeling. It is with respect to the world of modeling and music that this discussion will examine the globalization and commodification of Black female beauty. I will examine the historical creation of Black beauty in the United States and Europe and how theses misconstructed images play out globally. Image is what colonizes the mind John Hendrick Clarke

Introduction
A number of writers discuss the adverse effects of this false definition of Black beauty (e.g. Kathy Russell, 1992; Alice Walker, 1982; Marion Meyers, 1999). These writers show clear links between this offensively constructed definition of Black beauty and the negative self -view it imposes. Researchers expose how the erroneous characterization of Black beauty/culture has created and reinforced this destructive definition of Black beauty/culture that is based on an American/European ideal. Investigating these historically racist systems leads us to ask four serious questions: How are misrepresentations of Black beauty/culture played out in the modeling industry, cosmetic corporations? How does the media contribute to the global transmission of these images? What are the negative consequences of transmission of these misrepresentations? Finally, are there any positives that come from the global

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