The phrase “Flexin My Complexion” was born out of the work of artist, Kameelah Janan Rasheed. Not long after her work was shared throughout the internet, #flexinmycomplexion became a viral hashtag celebrating the rich darker skin tones amongst women of color.
The twitter account @PoCBeauty aided in signal boosting the movement to over 26,000 followers which resulted in over 85,000 tweets in just one week.
#FlexinMyComplexion ? pic.twitter.com/wZEQnFX9u4 — amaru. (@areycc) August 14, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion because I am ?? pic.twitter.com/IIEPTj21V9
— Misha B (@IamMishaB) August 14, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion because I love love LOVEEEEE my brown skin ?? pic.twitter.com/FcUqF3VbEg — Thelmz (@itsthelmzz) August 15, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion loving what Ghana heat is doing to my skin though ?? pic.twitter.com/4Tl9nht5o1
— ‑spectacles- (@JacklynnMelB) August 14, 2015
Abit late but I’m still #FlexinMyComplexion pic.twitter.com/qHN24AoWVL — — (@Dazhaneleah) August 14, 2015
Woooooooh shoutout to my summer tan! haha #FlexinMyComplexion ???? pic.twitter.com/o9DlUYIioa — neela (@foxyneela) August 14, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion cause snapchat captures it perfectly x4 pic.twitter.com/g9TbGGzNq9 — DymondLivesForever? (@janaymichele) August 14, 2015
When white people complain about #FlexinMyComplexion #MelaninMonday or anything Blackout related????? pic.twitter.com/VpyIjZsdyL — Tatiyana Sierra (@TatiyanaSierra) August 15, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion Because my dark skin is an asset, not a flaw pic.twitter.com/Io6vEfwD8k
— Paula||Denise (@DownAzzJawn) August 14, 2015
May I cut in here? #FlexinMyComplexion pic.twitter.com/2RDhe8EraR — Betty Shabadazz (@BELLEionaire) August 14, 2015
#FlexinMyComplexion : because I’ll never allow myself to be ashamed of my skin color again pic.twitter.com/S4dxGKY5we
— aaliyah jewel (@blackheaux) August 14, 2015
As with any online movement, there was some dissent. Some felt the #flexinmycomplexion tag isolated those with lighter skin by choosing to solely focus on POC with dark skin.
If you don’t understand why darker people sometimes need extra support that’s on you #FlexinMyComplexion
— Beauty in Color (@PoCBeauty) August 14, 2015
What do you think about the #Flexinmycomplexion tag?
I’m for anything that acknowledges chocolate beauty and helps to facilitate self-acceptance for people who are shamed for the darkness of their skin.
As for any light women who feel excluded…open your eyes, look at the ideals promoted in popular culture, consider how society views people of (dark) color, and flip through some magazines, then get back to me about who’s excluded. And with that one sentence, I have exhausted the amount of consideration I’m willing to give how light people feel about this.
OMG, there are plenty of other cultures that hate and try to divide us. While I understand what you are saying, when will we personally get over the dark skin vs light skin issues. As far as other cultures are concerned, we are Black and that’s that.
I’m not exactly sure why you replied to my post with this; nevertheless, thank you for your contribution. It brought to mind a quote I once heard somewhere…
“If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.”
Salut!
What light skin va dark skin issue? Who said anything about that? Are you serious. You were the one who brought that up! You almost sound like a Becky. Please we have got to do better.
so you’re saying that because other cultures consider all of us equally black, we should consider ourselves as black without noticing any difference? because other cultures, of course, get to dictate how blackness is defined.
[…] Women of Color Are Showing Love For Their Skin With the #FlexinMyComplexion Tag […]
Dark skin has been frowned down upon for decades, not to mention over generalized so I can understand wholeheartedly about this hash tag. It emphasizes the struggle. I really like this dedication. I like that I’m seeing more social awareness these days. I like the way certain make up colors brings it out like purple.
It was high time for us. putting down ourselves for nothing really
[…] as younger blacks celebrate their dark skin with movements like #iwillnotapologizeforbeingdarkskin, #flexinmycomplexion and […]
Love it!
I could have sworn that the opening picture was flexin all complexions with the pigment paper.…I could be wrong, lol