In a recent episode of “The Real,” Loni Love, Adrienne Houghton, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, and Garcelle Beauvais discussed the problem with today’s beauty standards and how they can be changed.

The topic began after a fan recently told sports journalist Taylor Brooks that she was “too pretty to be fully Black,” to which she responded by clarifying that she was 100 percent, Black.

“Is the issue Black beauty standards, and why does someone have to be mixed with something else to be considered pretty?” asked Beauvais.

Houghton recalled when she first moved to Los Angeles she was often asked what she was mixed with.

“I remember there being this fixation of being exotic or mixed,” she said.

Beauvais went on to say that the correlation between being mixed to being pretty was a back-handed compliment.

“I feel like it’s a back-handed compliment because they want to say you’re beautiful, but at the same time it’s like, oh but you can’t really be beautiful if you’re fully Black,” she said.

Jenkins added that even in Asian culture, the desire to be or looked mixed is sought after, saying that double eyelid surgery is popular because many Asians want to achieve more Caucasian features.

Love discussed how since the 40s and 50s, mixed Black people wanted to be white-passing.

“People with dark skin have had it bad for years,” she said.

One way to combat these negative beauty standards is through being a conscious consumer.

“It is so important to not consume from brands who don’t show representation,” said Jenkins.

They went on to discuss brands like Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty, which recently showed diversity within its fashion show.

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