Black Women Have Amazing Confidence, Survey Shows

12 November 2011 ~ 26 Comments

Black Women Have Amazing Confidence, Survey Shows

Last week we loved on our hair, this week we’re bringing sexy back.

Allure magazine polled 2,000 men and women from across the country in an attempt to find out “what’s beautiful now.”

And when African American women were asked about their personal attractiveness, “they were three times as likely as Caucasian women to rate themselves at the ‘hot’ end of the spectrum.”

That may sounds trivial or shallow, but a little self-love goes a long way–especially in the face of those hateful reports that black women are the reason for the falling marriage rates in the African-American community.

Beverly Bond, founder of “Black Girls Rock,” is trying to plant the seed of self-confidence early. Her organization helps create, reaffirm and/or reclaim that self-worth in young girls across the country.

“I want our young girls to be inspired to not settle for being less than their best selves,” Bond told the Associated Press. “I want them to feel proud of who they are and who they can be and who we have been.”

That’s definitely something worth rooting for and thanks to this survey it sounds like we’re headed in the right direction.

Here are a few more interesting findings from the survey:

Seventy-three percent of women say that a curvier body type is more appealing now than it has been in the past ten years. Still, when asked if they wanted to change their hips, 85 percent of women wanted them to be narrower.

Thirty-five percent of men and women said that, if there is one part of their bodies they’d like to change the most, it’s their stomachs.

Eighty-six percent of men said that they wanted to weigh less—as did 97 percent of women.

When it comes to sexual attraction, women list their top five favorite male attributes as a guy’s face, body type, smile, eyes, and height. And men’s answers, in order? Face, body type, breasts, smile, and butt.

So interesting! Ladies, what are your thoughts?

Tags: Black Women

26 Responses to “Black Women Have Amazing Confidence, Survey Shows”

Lita 12 November 2011 at 4:58 am Permalink

Body confidence, I agree. But confidence in our right to be considered smart? That, I think is different.

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Meena 12 November 2011 at 6:57 am Permalink

I think reports like this are a little questionable. I say this because this has always been the case for magazines that distribute to a majority white audience. However, after reading this blog post, I really began to think about reports like the one in the Allure magazine on a deeper level:http://blackfemininity.com/2011/02/22/othering-reports-how-theyre-not-so-positive-after-all/
it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

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- Mecca 12 November 2011 at 9:12 am Permalink
  
  I agree Meena and the link you provided raised great points. I also think that the fact that many Black women were raised to “put on a happy face” (for lack of better words) plays a role in these survey findings. Someone may hate their nose or butt or skin or wish they were a few pounds lighter, but they dare not say so.
  
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- Charlese 13 November 2011 at 7:57 am Permalink
  
  That post, that site was awesome. I know that when we are falsely seen as confident, happy and OK our problems are ignored. We contribute to it when we pretend to be divas by day but cry ourselves to sleep at night. People feel like they don’t have to show us any sensitivity because, well, we got this. Not true. Too many of us are dropping it low for lascivious, abusive men for that to be true.
  
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Kj 12 November 2011 at 7:55 am Permalink

I can’t speak for y’all but I think Im hot! :)

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- June 12 November 2011 at 10:17 am Permalink
  
  + 1
  
  They may be pretending, but I think I carry my own just fine.
  
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- Sisou 12 November 2011 at 3:35 pm Permalink
  
  +1
  
  Surveyed myself and I know I am hot. And so are all Black females. Period.
  
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YelloKat 12 November 2011 at 8:43 am Permalink

The problem with this study, like most other studies done on women and confidence levels, is that they base all of their inquiries on beauty/body image. Not to mention, when mentioning black women all they seem to care about is acceptance of a curvy body image. According to their logic, if you’re a curvy black woman and you consider other curvy black women to be beautiful, I guess you have high self-esteem about yourself. Backwards and false.

Self-esteem and confidence generally have little to do with how someone feels about their looks, although poor body image is one of several ways that low self esteem can manifest itself. There are plenty of women (and I’ve been in this situation myself) who accept their looks or even know they’re beautiful, but have trouble managing other aspects of their life due to lack of self worth and self respect.

What about what we feel we deserve in relationships? Confidence in our ability to set high standards for ourselves and dream big? Treating ourselves well, and treating others well? Ability to set boundaries in all kinds of relationships and stand up for ourselves when its needed? Ability to choose friends who have healthy self-esteem, and ability to leave those who don’t? And what about the loads of successful, beautiful black women who date DOWN (a man who is not on their level financially, class-wise, or education-wise) just to be with someone of their own race?

NONE of these things are ever looked at, even though they are all strong indicators of how someone feels about his or herself.

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- Charlese 12 November 2011 at 9:07 am Permalink
  
  +1,000,000
  
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  - Gemlocs 12 November 2011 at 10:03 am Permalink
    
    Brilliant post YelloKat!
    
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- Annie L. 12 November 2011 at 12:47 pm Permalink
  
  Brava!
  
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- Abi 12 November 2011 at 2:05 pm Permalink
  
  Sorry but I don’t agree with the last part,
  “And what about the loads of successful, beautiful black women who date DOWN (a man who is not on their level financially, class-wise, or education-wise) just to be with someone of their own race?”
  
  Many women of any race “date down”. And while you may consider it dating down, these men could be really kind, loving and supportive but just not be superficially ‘up there’ in terms of western standards. I’m really sick of people looking down, and generalising all black men and the black women that stick with their men.
  
  All of the “oh, lets all chase after anything but black men to show how evolved we are”. Most people full stop stick within their ethnic group because you’re more likely to be brought up around and socialise with said people. And what about the succesful, beautiful black women, who maybe don’t need a rich man or a man of another ethnicity to make their lives complete?
  
  There’s nothing wrong with promoting strong, black families, especially since racism still disadvantages many black people. And there’s also nothing wrong with being with who you love, regardless of colour, class, education level or even criminal background. So no need to be snobbish.
  
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  - Annie L. 13 November 2011 at 8:05 am Permalink
    
    I believe the writer was referring to women who specifically compromise what and who they want to meet a societal protocol or institutionalized expectation not women who choose to date men of different financial, educational, social backgrounds because they want and value that man. I find that your argument went completely left of what was stated.
    
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    - Abi 13 November 2011 at 12:18 pm Permalink
      
      I agreed with most of it but the last part. On this blog I find that statements like such keep surfacing. I don’t see where the observation that black women date down just to be with someone of their own race is coming from. I’ve never heard women say they ended up with someone that they feel is beneath them just because they are black.
      
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  - EG 13 November 2011 at 5:54 pm Permalink
    
    You are overreacting. No one here generalized black men, and it is naive to try to pretend that there aren’t plenty of black women who date someone not at their financial/educational level just because they want a black man. I have known women with advanced degrees dating losers with no jobs and 3 baby mamas. That is dating down because they want to stick with the brothers.
    As for the “oh, lets all chase after anything but black men to show how evolved we are”…puh…lease!!!! Are we talking about the same black men who have turned dating interacially into an art form? You way want to save your rant for them. Black women are less likely to date IR then black men, so that statement was really out of place on this board.
    As for being snobbish? Set whatever standards you want for you and yours, but don’t lecture me because I chose to date someone with the same goals/credentials as me.
    
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    - 1hotshon 14 November 2011 at 8:01 pm Permalink
      
      +1
      
      Reply
- Betty Chambers 12 November 2011 at 2:20 pm Permalink
  
  On the money. Perfect response.
  
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- EG 13 November 2011 at 5:47 pm Permalink
  
  +1
  
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BlackOnyx03 12 November 2011 at 10:07 am Permalink

I don’t put too much stock in surveys like this. First, I feel like there’s probably some sampling bias here in that the women surveyed aren’t really representative of the demographics of black women on the whole. Second, I think body type/outer appearance is being conflated with confidence in other (and in my view, more important) aspects of life. And finally, I really don’t believe that the majority of black women have all this confidence that’s being touted. On the whole, our homes, communities, and relationships are telling a vastly different story.

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- Cinnamondiva 12 November 2011 at 7:55 pm Permalink
  
  Well said, BlackOnyx30.
  
  I agree with this comment as well…”And finally, I really don’t believe that the majority of black women have all this confidence that’s being touted”. Yes, I would say there might be some truth in that.
  
  No doubt that a lot of Black women are confident, but there are also many Black women with depression and low self-esteem. Very few studies or surveys actually discuss that, however, because there is a perception that all Black women are “strong”. This can be unhealthy because Black women aren’t a monolith. We all have different experiences in life and our emotions are diverse.
  
  In short, we are individuals and not all of us are confident. Some Black women have had to overcome years of abuse and pain to achieve a sense of self-worth.
  
  Reply
Zyaran 12 November 2011 at 12:10 pm Permalink

Check out these cute natural shirts with different pics style messages. Titled “Curlfriends Collectables Natural Hair T- Shirt Line” video by youtuber Ladytstanglez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWKQN9uWTic&feature=channel_video_title

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- Zyaran 12 November 2011 at 12:10 pm Permalink
  
  httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWKQN9uWTic&feature=channel_video_title
  
  Reply
Donna Sherry 12 November 2011 at 12:28 pm Permalink

Oh wow! Thanks for this post. Its about time women acknowledge that a curvier body is sexier! But still, such a high percentage wish for narrower hips! Overall, I am not too surprised by these findings though, as all they do is point out that us human beings all strive for ultimate perfection when it comes to being confident.

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Lin 12 November 2011 at 10:09 pm Permalink

I find it interesting that so many want narrower hips, because the guys I’ve talked to all like wide, “child-bearing” hips.

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park 13 November 2011 at 12:16 am Permalink

The ladies in this comment section, and around the web, have done a great job of debunking this survey. The only consideration I’d add is that a survey like this can’t possibly account for cultural differences in how we speak about ourselves. For instance, in many Asian and Caucasian American cultures, it’s socially unacceptable to speak about one’s own good looks, regardless of how a woman actually feels about herself. I think a lot of black women (and their mothers) get in the habit of praising our looks early and often just as a counter to the way mainstream American beauty culture unjustly puts us at the bottom of the beauty rankings.

This reminds me of a particularly unfortunate college experience of mine. My white friends’ self-esteem sessions would consist of pointing out their own insecurities, so that others would be forced to disagree. They’d say, “Ugh, I’m soo fat!”, and as a friend, you’d be forced do disagree: “No way Jane, you look beautiful!” Anyway, one friend in particular was pretty and smart but before she’d even say hello, she’d start in on her pity party… so after a while I’d start agreeing with her. She’d say, “Ugh, my ears stick out so far!” and I’d go, “Yup, they do”. I was truly awful. I realize now a lot of that was cultural – It would just never enter my mind to randomly talk badly about myself unless I were asking for help in how to change things at that moment.

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dani 13 November 2011 at 4:37 pm Permalink

i just hope it’s true.
i try to walk by people and if i like their outfit, at least, i’ll let them know. i know that it feels good when someone calls you out in a positive way. it’s a rarity.

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