Alarming Female

Kiri Davis is a young film maker who has already left her mark on the world with her brutally honest film about young Black women and American standards of beauty. Curious about how her peers experience the expectations of conventional beauty, she explores their perspectives on darker versus lighter “black” skin, skin lightening creams, hair textures and treatments, and personal identity.

In her research, she revisits the “doll test” first performed by Dr. Kenneth Clark as part of the evidence brought forth in the U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that showed how young Black children perceived dolls representing “black” and “white” skin. Davis administers the test to children at a local daycare, with results that differ little from the original.

You can see Davis interviewed here; it’s interesting to me how different she looks compared to the newer photo on her bio page. The newer photo shows a slightly older, significantly thinner young woman. Skin color aside, her drastic change suggests that standards of beauty regarding body image and weight have little regard for cultural or ethnic background.

Watch this short film that is both beautiful and heartbreaking, and applaud this talented teenager who surely has a promising future in film making.

Watch the film here

Read more here