Saturday Reflections: Trying To Be Perfect Ruins Your Public Image

Everyone strives to look a certain way in front of others. Some people believe they don't, but we all do. For example I have a friend who says she doesn't care what anyone thinks. However, when it comes to job interviews she dresses to impress the interviewers. About a year ago this same friend decided to go natural. The only reason people are abandoning perms is because some influenced them. This friend is also afraid of what pictures of her goes on the internet, because in all essence she cares about the image she puts out to others. See, everyone strives to impress, but trying to be perfect can also ruin our public image.

Your public image is the way people (particularly the ones who look up to you or down on you) see you over time. They influence your actions, your looks, and even your dreams. However, the changes you go through because of these people can ruin you. Just ask Lil Kim, Sammy Sosa, Vibz Kartel, and Beyonce.

In 1995 Lil Kim was a young pretty dark skinned black girl. She was tiny with a big vulgar voice. Over time Lil Kim started to change. First her breasts got bigger. Then it was clear that she had plastic surgery on her face. If that wasn't enough someone must have told Lil Kim that her skin was dark. Now, in 2011, Lil Kim can be mistaken for a mixed girl. She looks almost like Latoya Jackson. She was pretty back in the day. Just look at the video I posted of her on Yo MTV Raps a couple of days ago. However, someone told her she needed to change. Since she was in the public eye she went along with it. Now the only way we still recognize the Queen Bee that once existed is by the fact that she still has the same name.

Sammy Sosa used to be a nice (somewhat handsome) baseball player. Millions of people either rooted for him on the field or hoped he played an awful game. People never cared about his skin color. After all black males dominate the sports industry. But apparently someone was constantly whispering something about skin color in his ear. Since he was a public figure Sammy couldn't just ignore the whispers. One day he was nice looking chocolate man and now he looks like he belongs in a movie with the Adams family. He's a great example of why we should leave imperfect alone.

Vybz Kartel is a Jamaican Dance Hall artist who recently announced to the media that his skin was lighter and he loved it. Above is the before picture where he was dark skinned and the after picture where he looks f*cked up. His influence begins and ends with a soap that's supposed to lighten up skin. We've all seen those ads saying if we buy it our skin will be so much lighter. Peer pressure must really be a bitch, because he fell for  it and someone got it stuck in his head that lighter is better. However, with lighter skin he thinks he's perfect. I guess no one can argue with that, except for his fans which are now judging him on his looks and not his music. Plus he should know that he messed up, because the company that owns that soap he claims is lightening his skin has said their soap does not such thing.

Guess which one Beyonce is.

Beyonce..... hasn't done anything to her skin, but she's let a lot of advertisers lighten her up. One company in particular is Loreal.  In fact Loreal has this commercial out right now. In the commercial you can hear Beyonce's voice, but there's a white girl walking and posing throughout the commercial. Then in the end Beyonce finally appears. Okay, maybe it's her the whole time, but Loreal does a good job of making her look white. The thing about this is the commercial doesn't effect Beyonce's image. We all know she loves her blackness. However, it does make Loreal look like a joke. Beyonce is already seen as one of the sexiest women on earth. Why try to make her look better. It's a waste of time.