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Growing up, and even in my adult years, I had a love-hate relationship with my nose. Mostly hate, if we’re going to be honest. I’ve always thought it was a huge distraction in the middle of my face. My goal was to save up enough money to dip off and get a nose job. No lie.
Unfortunately, a lot of sistas carry this same feeling.
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We’ve become some used to the European beauty standards, that we’ve lacked the appropriate level of appreciation in our beautiful Black features. For centuries it was instilled in us to hate our big lips, large noses and dark skin. And as the world evolved, the love for a pronounce pout and tanner skin became a thing, our noses haven’t quite on.
Just look at bad they drag
Ari Lennox for hers?
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When it comes to our noses, society has discovered a few ways of addressing people and these insecurities. For a hefty coin, like I said before, you can go under the knife to give yourself a new nose to achieve that seemingly perfect side profile. For Black female celebrities, it almost feels like a rite of passage that once they reach a certain level of notoriety, they commence the moment with a new nose.
Folks such as
Patti Labelleand
Janet Jackson admitting to getting rhinoplasties are rare while rumors swirl that folks like
Ciara, Summer Walker and even
Beyonce have a different nose now than when they first started their careers.
Outside of going under the knife, there is contouring, which offers a quick, temporary and cheaper fix. Honestly, I can’t afford surgery, nor a
professional MUA to whittle my nose down with complicated sticks, so I am forced to embrace and work towards accepting my features. But something happened that made me realize that I don’t need to be forced to accept anything.
My nose is beautiful as is.
See, on Sunday, popular beauty blogger and influencer
Jackie Aina casually tweeted a collage of her self with the caption, “black nose check.”
https://twitter.com/jackieaina/status/1249426666088091648
Then something funny happened. It TOOK OFF! With more than 67K likes, 5K retweets and nearly 1700 replies, the post made its rounds inspiring black women from all over the world to post selfies that highlighted their amazingly beautiful and natural noses.
A movement was born and what an empowering movement is has become!
All of a sudden, there was this influx of stories about why they once hated their nose and how they’ve learned to embrace it. Some women talked about their parents being the source of their insecurity while others maintain that they always have, and always will love their noses. Whatever the reason, Jackie’s post united and encouraged us to affirm our divine beauty.
That’s the thing: there is an undeniable magic behind Black women that is so powerful. Movements like this that call for us to embrace our beauty can allow an opportunity for society’s beauty standards to shift. We saw this with the natural hair movement that started on the ground and then over time, the representation of kinks and curls began to show up in movies, television, award shows, red carpets, and magazines.
Moving forward, I wonder how loving the roundness of our noses can challenge society?
Time will only tell, but for now, I am enamored with Jackie’s “black nose check” tweet. It made me a hard look at my relationship with my face and the language I’ve been using when I refer to and describe my features. Now, I am clear: I love my big, beautiful nose and this post has inspired me not to hide it behind makeup or filters. Goodbye to negativity and hello to acceptance.
Thank you, Jackie!
Take a look at other beautiful Black women participating in the “black nose check”:
