Last week, In preparation for his album release, Snoop Dogg did a guest post over on BET’s “Hip Hop Vs. America’s Blog” were he made the controversial statement
“"How many ugly women selling records? None! Only the pretty ones sell records. Beyonce, Mary J, Keyshia Cole, the ugly ones don't sell. I ain’t gon say no names, but they don't sell records. They just be singing their little hearts out, but they don't get no sales, cause they ugly. Now, that's my fault? I can see this on TV now: 'Snoop Dogg called me, ugly'. You beautiful on the inside, baby.”
Although he caught a lot of flack across the web for this entry, you have to admit that Snoop Dogg has a point. He may not have articulated as well as he could have but over the past few years, it has been hard for certain artists to crack into the music industry if they were lacking a certain look. Skip talent, we’ve heard the story from both Cassie and Blu Cantrell (who really can sing) of being discovered out in a mall or club because they were pretty. To Make matters worse, The number of celebrities undergoing the knife is at an all time high giving the perception that natural beauty is no longer accepted in the industry. In a story grinded by The Chef, boob jobs are the most common graduation gift in Italy. Testbet responded "I teach my girls that beauty comes from within! Otherwise, as we age, we will hate ourselves".
Earlier this week, Former Top Model contestant Tocarra was shown having a total meltdown on the show “Celebrity Fit Club”. In the clip she was shown screaming and crying “if you don’t like how the f*ck I look you can kiss my a**” among other things while an uncompassionate Dr. Ian repeatedly tells her to “have some class”. My first reaction to the video was “why do they always show black women in a confrontational manner on these shows” followed by “why would she go on a show focused on losing weight if she was happy with her body”. But again, you have to wonder how many times Tocarra may have been told that she didn’t have the right look or that she was “too fat” to make it as a model. How many times in her life have she been told that she was “too fat” period? Now when I watch that same video, instead of thinking she is insane, I totally get the meltdown and can feel compassion for what she was going through.
Why do black women have to live up to such high standards in the entertainment industry and why are the men exempt from these same standards? -Necole Bitchie