Cassie, Solange, and Selita Banks:The New Spokeswomen for Carol's Daughter

As I was scouring the Internet for some pictures of Solange Knowles for a long overdue Natural  Hair Icon post I had been working on I came across a few bloggers sounding off about Carol's Daughter. All  over the net  this past weekend has been thoughts, opinions, and comentary about this picture of the new spokeswomen for Carol's Daughters products.

The irony of it all is that these three women were picked because they represent the ethnic diversity of women across America. As I read on singersroom.com, "Steve Stoute, lead investor and chairman of Carol's Daughter, says the brand is simply mirroring the new diverse America,“What we’re doing now is moving into a polyethnic space. We want to be the first beauty brand that truly captures the beauty of the tapestry of skin types in America. When I say polyethnic, I mean women who are made up of several ethnicities. If you ask them what they are, they’re going to use a lot of different words to describe themselves."source  After reading that statement and looking back at the photograph all I could do was laugh. Which one of these young women represent me? How do these represent the diversity I see every day? Why is Solange (the only person with a kink in her hair) in the back? Why aren't they all depicted on the same level? The brand also makes a note of the multi-racial breakdown for each of the women  – Cassie (African American, Mexican and Filipina), Selita (Native American, Irish and African-American), and Solange (African American and French Creole). My guess is this was done in order to further make the point that they truly represent the multi-ethnic woman. I found this alarming because it reminds me of  something I have noticed with the middle school children I work with. I constantly hear them rattle off to eachother the different cultures of their family members as a matter of self defense when anyone refers to them as just black. However when questioned further on their Native American, Hispanic, and European lineage and they are clueless and have no answers.
      In all honesty Lisa Price and her company Carol's Daughter are not the only brand geared towards women with natural hair who has used fairer skinned and/or kink-less women to model their products.  Furthermore, I'd be interested to see the pictures from this months upcoming 2011 World Natural Hair Health and Beauty Showmainly to see who the natural hair companies will use to demonstrate their products. How many will represent me? Just some food for thought. Looking for more? Check out: thesweet7.com and bglhonline.com for some interesting thoughts and comments. Solange post to follow.
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