“Featurism – The Politics of Our Faces”

From childhood, many of us were made to feel that certain Black features were more “acceptable” than others. It wasn’t just about skin tone—it was about the size of our noses, the fullness of our lips, the shape of our cheekbones. Featurism, like texturism, is rooted in proximity to whiteness, shaping beauty standards that still impact us today.

In this episode of Dear Melanin KD, I unpack the history of featurism—from colonialism to Hollywood to the rise of cosmetic procedures that profit off of Black features while excluding Black people. I also explore the psychological toll it takes and how we can start unlearning these biases, reclaiming the beauty in our faces without seeking validation from a world that was never meant to celebrate us.