Quintessential Supermodel Tyra Banks Takes on Race

I admit it freely, I am all too guilty of being a Top Model fan. Beyond that, I'm all too guilty of being a Tyra Banks lover. And beyond that, I'm ALL too guilty of spending weekday mornings (when I can) watching the Tyra Show.



Many remember Tyra's personal act of beauty analysis a few years ago, when she spent a day walking around in a fat suit and prosthetics, experiencing first-hand the oppression of large women. After this endeavor, Tyra was criticized greatly. I compare these criticisms to those I've heard from skeptics of my college's Homelessness Awareness Week. Throughout this week, students sleep in cardboard boxes outside of the campus' chapel. They cannot shower unless a shower is offered to them, they cannot eat unless food is given to them, and they may not ask for anything from anyone. But at the end of this week, the students shower, eat big plates of food, and sleep in their heated dorms. They cannot fully experience this oppression or truly understand it when they know they will go back to their privilege when it's all over. Critics believe this to also be true of Tyra's experience. But can we not give credit where credit is due? These students, and in that situation Tyra, have their hearts open to attempt to understand. They crave a spiritual communion with their oppressed brothers and sisters and others, and want to experience what they do, if not only for a short period of time.

(While that was a bit of a tangent, I promise it comes back to the title.)

What's great about Tyra is that she's not just action, but with some theory behind it. She uses the Tyra Show for things like talking to Miley Cyrus about the new Hannah Montana movie, and bring super stud Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame, but also uses it to address certain issues in the fight for justice. In the instance of this post, it is the issue of finding identity and abandoning prejudices when living as mixed race.

We are first introduced to a woman named Jenna. Jenna has a Black mother, and a White father. She is quite apparently dark-skinned, and would be recognized as Black to any outside observer. However, Jenna identifies as White, and hates her Black side. She carries around a Confederate rebel flag, and did a photo shoot with friends where they dressed up like members of the KKK.

We then meet Tabitha. Tabitha is Latina and White, but identifies strictly as Latina. She feels that White people are close-minded and judgmental (a bit hypocritical, I feel). Tabitha grew up in a small, White-only town, and remembers being the only Brown girl in her high school.

We move on to Giselle. Giselle is Puerto Rican and Black, but identifies only as Black. She was raised by her Black mother, and never knew her Puerto Rican father, his culture, or his side of the family. Puerto Rican women in her predominantly Puerto Rican community tell Giselle that she doesn't know Spanish, so she can't be really Puerto Rican.

Continuing on, Tyra introduces 3 women of greatly varying skin tones, all of whom are 100% African-American. The 3 women, as well as an African-American woman in the audience, continue on to talk about who is oppressed more, dark-skinned African-American women, or light-skinned.

After this Tyra brings out the issue of confusing nationality rather than race. Through these confusions, the women develop prejudices towards the nationalities they are confused for.

In the end, Tyra made a point of stating that these women have more in common than they thing. While they are arguing over who is more oppressed or who receives more flack for their skin tone, their nationality, their race, they ignoring the fact that they should be standing together in solidarity.

For example, I have several transgendered friends. It is quite possible that they fall victim to oppression more often than myself, identifying as a queer woman. But it's not a topic of conversation. We share a connection because we share the solidarity.

Thoughts?