It's pretty tragic that black women feel pressured to appear white. And I think it's fair to say that successful black women have participated in the virtual erasure of female blackness from the mainstream media. Notably Beyonce has presented herself as increasingly white over the years, with paler and paler skin and straight blonde hair. Black artists also often use contacts to even give themselves the appearance of blue and green eyes which are only typical to the fairest races.

While I think they certainly should be criticised for their part in encouraging young black girls to aspire to look white, it's also something of a chicken and egg problem however. Have you ever noticed that on US TV programmes, black women are invariably considerably paler than their male counterparts? Especially if they are young and beautiful (you will sometimes see older darker skinned women playing roles) Are these women being hired by black or white people, my *assumption* is the latter. I don't think black people can be criticised for a system that promotes 'whiteness' in black women. However it is disappointing when they collude with it, promote it's maintenance and thereby undo work that has previously been done to try to undermine it.