A new Facebook site asks “What’s your nude?” The site is an
attempt to mobilize lingerie manufactures to produce bras in more shades of
brown than are available now. Bras sold today in “nude” shades are in a range
of light colors, think blush, beige and tan. So women of color find it nearly
impossible to find bras to match darker skin tones. The concept that “nude” is
a beige color is so deeply ingrained in most of us that many women have never realized
the stereotype presented in “nude” choices in clothing, hosiery, make-up and even band-aids. It is amazing how insidious words can be, and how without thinking
we can contribute to an on-going stereotype. One of the women on FB wondered if
perhaps the colors could be referred to as “natural” rather than nude, which is
probably a good starting place.
This is something that definitely needs to be addressed. I recently wrote to a company that sells ballet shoes in "flesh" color, reminding them "flesh" is not a color! This also reminds me of Peggy McIntosh's piece on white privilege. I'm so glad there are other people advocating for change!
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