One side of my family was Danish and Lutheran but I was the cousin with the brown hair and green eyes. Sure, when I was a little girl I envied by cousins who looked so beautiful as Lucia Brides with their halo of candles, their white gowns, their blonde hair and blue eyes. Fortunately, I was subjected to this big difference only once a year and eventually, I found my own self-worth.
Coming from a mixed-family you would think that I would grow up thinking that I was inferior but, like I said, I grew up knowing that beauty was in the eye of the beholder and that beauty is as beauty does. I did not envy the lives of my cousins because they were confined by a set of expectations that I could never abide by. I am happy that I was allowed to grow wild and free. I like my green eyes.
Did I ever want to be blonde? No. Did I want blue eyes? No. Did I love my Native grandma? Yes. Was my Danish grandfather somewhat distant? Yes. Were my Danish cousins more dear than my Native cousins? No. Are their children more beautiful than mine? No. Did they have more advantages than me? Definitely not. Do I think I am more beautiful than a black woman? I never even considered it.
All of the above questions are personal. What society thinks of me has little relevance compared to what I think of myself.
btw - I saw a picture of Alice Walker on the cover of a magazine a while back. She was sixty years old and I marvelled at her beauty. I think its time that we all moved on from skin colour as being a measure of beauty. In fact, I think most of us have. There are those (throw-backs) that may still hold to blond and blue-eyed as some kind of ideal but that is their problem, not mine.
I, for one, welcome cultural diversity and see it as a means to grow and expand. Being confined by the ideals and cultural expectations of one group is like putting your mind in shackles. We have so much to learn from one another that confining ourselves to stereotypes is just plain ignorant.
Would the rainbow be as beautiful if it were only one colour?