Beyoncé Album Cover Stirring Controversy
The new album from Beyoncé “4” is stirring up controversy not because of some of the lyrical content but from artwork that is found on the cover of the album.
Beyoncé’s skin and also the blonde hair appear several shades lighter than what the natural color of her skin is in real-life.
In the album cover photo, Beyoncé is shown in a seductive pose and is wearing a blonde wig and revealing black lingerie. The picture was taken before the 30-year-old became pregnant with her newborn daughter, Blue Ivy.
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This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has been accused of lightening her skin.
While she was still a part of Destiny’s Child, it was alleged that her father Matthew Knowles persuaded her to use skin treatments so that she would have the lightest complexion in the band.
A short while later cosmetic giant L’Oreal ran an ad in 2008, in which there were accusations of “whitewashing” a picture of the star.
And, last February, Beyoncé was spotted wearing a black mini-dress, which showed her noticeably pale skin. Some commentators were concerned these images of the singer will have an unhealthy effect on her younger fans.
British writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in a story by the Daily Mail explained that, “too many black and Asian children grow up understanding the sad truth that to have dark skin is to be somehow inferior.”
She continued to state that children need to have a positive self-image reinforced. “Of course, black and Asian parents work hard to give their children a positive self-image and confidence in their appearance, despite the cultural forces stacked against them.”
But it is when prominent celebrities shy away from whom they are which can be damaging to impressionable people. “But when black celebrities appear to deny their heritage by trying to make themselves look white, I despair for the youngsters who see those images,” Brown said.
