i still don't get why they pull us in all there beefs. Why aren't they showing west or central African to represent there own beauty standards? Ive always pushed a notion that Horner's should stop claiming Africa but strictly the Horn. This would have aided us because cadaan would understand the difference between us. For instance why aren't they using North Africans ?
Because they dislike the way they look? Somalis fit an approximation to those standards but also firmly share skin colour with them. Basically Somalis/Horners have features that both align with and deviate from broader Black/African beauty norms. North Africans are often excluded from "Black beauty" conversations due to lighter skin and Arab identity ties
There is nothing inherently or even objectively ugly or bad about West/Central African appearance/features , i believe they can be beautiful just as much as East Africans or North Africans but they are programmed by white society to think otherwise. It's not something that comes natural to them.
But the pendulum also swings in the other direction almost like a double edged sword, just as we are praised for our looks , they will also attack us for our looks to bring us down a notch so they can feel more comfortable with themselves or have a knee jerk reaction because we deviate from how they believe black people should look like(in reality African groups are diverse) in order to self regulate their negative inner feelings they have about their own appearance. Being perceived as "different" in the Black/African spectrum makes Somalis both idealized and attacked.
To be honest growing up i didn't get an impression that Somalis invested a whole lot importance on their appearance or looks, not even their hair which they covered(women) or cut short (men). So we never put the same level of emphasis on beauty. We focused more on family, social ties, culture, work and religion,
West/Central Africans were historically told their features were undesirable, creating deep insecurities. This led to an obsession with beauty, self-image, and external validation.
To put in laymans term. Black/African people hyper focus and obsess over their looks or even hair because they are deeply self-concious and insecure about it. Consequently Somalis are often placed in debates they didn’t ask to be in as extension of this.
In my opinion Somalis should focus on defining their own narrative rather than reacting to how others perceive them. Somalis should focus on strengthening their economy, building their culture from within, rather than engaging in superficial beauty debates.