How “Insecure” Honors Dark-Skinned Black Women Will Be Its Enduring Legacy

In late December 2021, the long-awaited collection finale of “Insecure” aired, the fruits of nothing lower than a cultural phenomenon inside the tv panorama. The present could also be over, however its affect and legacy on tv — the way it exhibits, affirms, and honors dark-skinned Black ladies — will undeniably be felt for years to return. “Insecure” is a present for and about Black individuals. From the storylines, music, and costuming to the cinematography and Black Los Angeles as its backdrop, “Insecure” is the primary present to concentrate on dark-skinned Black ladies characters in a nontokenizing method: authentically representing Blackness untethered from whiteness.

Sometimes, if there’s a Black character on a TV present, they’re the one Black character: their principal goal is to assist the white principal character’s storyline as the very best buddy or colleague. The tokenization of dark-skinned ladies characters consists of being decreased to the mammy trope, the “indignant Black girl” stereotype, or the oversexualized sidekick. Even exhibits with a principally Black forged are likely to function only a few dark-skinned Black individuals; many middle on whiteness and the way Black characters navigate white America.

This follow is the results of each racism and the lesser-discussed colorism, or prejudice towards these with darker pores and skin in favor of lighter pores and skin. Colorism stems from enslavement, at which period the enslaved with lighter pores and skin have been granted privileges and perceived as smarter and extra fascinating due to their proximity to whiteness. The legacy of colorism is realized at this time in who will get forged as leads and who finally ends up fading into the background — if proven in any respect — on tv exhibits during the last 50 years. When Black ladies prevail because the lead or principal love curiosity, they’ve traditionally been nearly completely mild skinned, skinny with Eurocentric options, or biracial — at instances showing racially ambiguous.

Rae mirrored on the shortage of illustration for dark-skinned Black ladies in media in a July 2018 interview with “Teen Vogue,” saying: “Darkish-skinned ladies nonetheless painting a sure archetype and I need to change that . . . they’re both tremendous robust, impassive, robotic — or hyper-sexual, and you do not get the in-between very a lot.”

Rae greater than achieved her objective of spotlighting dark-skinned Black ladies with “Insecure.” Not solely is its principal character, Issa (Rae), darkish skinned, however her greatest buddy and gut-check, Molly (Yvonne Orji), is as effectively. Beginning with Kelli (Natasha Rothwell) and Tiffany (Amanda Seales), their prolonged friendship circle additionally exemplifies the significance of Black sisterhood proven not as a monolith, however as a illustration of Black ladies of various hues, sizes, and social class. Rae intentionally selected to inform nuanced tales that signify the lived experiences of dark-skinned Black ladies on display, like when Molly finds out she’s getting paid considerably lower than her white male colleague (an all-too-real expertise for Black ladies), or when Issa feels the burden of illustration when she’s anticipated to be the voice for all Black individuals on the group nonprofit the place she works.

And “Insecure” would not solely forged dark-skinned Black ladies — it additionally amplifies pure hair, contradictory to the overwhelming development of Black ladies having to straighten their hair to ascribe to white skilled norms inside society. Issa rocking her pure hair within the office sends an empowering message to Black ladies who’ve lengthy feared that sporting their hair in braids or in pure textures would make them seem “too Black” for the white gaze, stereotyped as indignant and aggressive by their white colleagues.

Seeing two dark-skinned characters on display for 5 consecutive seasons challenged the colorism that prevails in Hollywood and past to this present day. It helped viewers reimagine who and what shade is taken into account lovely and fascinating inside the diaspora of Blackness. Issa and Molly will not be outlined or measured by the “mild is correct” yardstick, featurism, and even what is taken into account “Black magnificence” by societal requirements.

The ultimate chapter of “Insecure” has closed, however certainly one of its most enduring legacies will likely be what it does for dark-skinned ladies. As a dark-skinned Black girl, how “Insecure” decentered Eurocentric magnificence requirements and centered dark-skinned Black ladies as multidimensional, fascinating, and unapologetically worthy of affection made me really feel seen on tv for the primary time. Having the ability to see Molly and Issa navigate their friendship — like when Molly would not share her mom’s well being points at work, fearing her coworkers will suppose she will’t deal with her duties, so she turns to Issa for assist — is a big second in itself. Friendships between Black ladies are hardly ever proven in depth on TV, however it’s the sisterhood of Black ladies that’s the essence of how we join and take care of one another.

Sooner or later, I would think about psychologists, movie programs, and the following era of TV connoisseurs alike will likely be dissecting and learning the affect of “Insecure” and the way its place within the cultural zeitgeist revolutionized how dark-skinned ladies are understood as lovely, vital, and of the second. I’m grateful to “Insecure” for affirming dark-skinned Black ladies in every single place. It is a present the place we’re seen, valued, and made to really feel safe within the magic of our personal pores and skin. By means of “Insecure,” we get to see and love ourselves. As a dark-skinned Black girl, I’ll always remember how monumental “Insecure” is in celebrating darkish pores and skin as a mirror and reflection of self-love.