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I think this is a useful question and thread for several reasons:
A. I'm curious about the same thing...meaning, I'm starting to wonder why Shonda's skin color has been depicted as several shades lighter as her success has increased.
B. I'm curious as to what other people's reaction would be.
A. As to the skin lightening, I think it does matter...or, at least it matters to me. BTW: For those of you who believe it doesn't or shouldn't matter, feel free to stop reading at this point because my goal is not to make it matter to you.
However, for those of you who do think it matters, here are my thoughts and concerns: When I first started to see the color change, I only had a few pictures to compare so I thought it was a one or two off. But, now that several years have passed and many, many images circulate, I've actually come to the conclusion that I don't actually think Shonda is proactively lightening her complexion. However, what I think is going on is that Shonda is being depicted as lighter in many interviews and magazine covers. However, when you see her in a red carpet walk, she looks shades darker. So the more accurate question may be why does the media have the need to depict successful african-americans as several shades lighter on magazines (in fact, why do they have a need to depict women as several pounds lighter also...but that's a whole 'nother thread). Why do they lighten the make-up, why do they use lighting that casts a totally different tonality to the skin color. It is disturbing because (1). they are altering a person's color and (2). they are eliminating the presentation of darker skinned role models for darker skinned people that are reaching for role models in various fields to look up to, to aspire to and to emulate. That's why the singular complexioning of successful people is disturbing to me.
B. As for the second issue of "why does it matter?", media's depiction of race matters for the same reason the depiction of gender does, the depiction of sexual orientation, age, masculinity, etc. does. Media influences many people. That's their goal and that's what they get compensated to do. If they are insensitive about how they go about it, we should note it, comment on it and try to influence the media to be more proactive in their treatment of issues that are still very emotionally, politically, and financially charged for the vast majority of people/age groups that are discriminated against due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc.
Thanks of this thread because I was starting to wonder if anyone else saw what I (and a few others) saw.
A. I'm curious about the same thing...meaning, I'm starting to wonder why Shonda's skin color has been depicted as several shades lighter as her success has increased.
It could be as simple as the more successful she became, the less time she had to spend in the sun. Or it just happened about the same time that she became concerned about melanoma and skin cancer and started taking better care of her skin. There's no actual evidence that she's actually lightened her skin.
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