A Modest Proposal

Recently, actress Julianne Hough was made the subject of outrage and controversy as a result of the costume she chose to wear to a Halloween party. She dressed up as a character from a popular show called "Orange is the New Black". The character in question's name is Crazy Eyes and she happens to be black, while Julianne Hough is white. Naturally, this made it hard for Julianne to portray the character she so enjoyed, because if she just wore an orange jumpsuit and did her hair in the manner of Crazy Eyes', she would have just looked like a Dr. Seuss Character went to prison and nobody would have understood her.

pictured: Crazy Eyes

Of course, Hough realized this, so to make sure her portrayal of the character was faitful to the show, she used darker make-up to appear black.

Comparison

Very soon after photos surfaced, the outrage began. She has been denounced for using something called "Black Face". What I don't understand is how, in this era of Political correctness, its not okay to want to look black. P.C. advocates have no problem with women who want to look like men and vis-versa, and yet its not okay for a white woman to want to look like a black woman. Next thing you know, they'll ban tanning beds and mandate SPF 400 for white people in the summer. Clearly Hough is not racist, or she would not have dressed up in this manner. In fact, this brings to light a  huge double standard by the media in general. Hough is criticized for looking black in an era where artists like Beyonce and Rihanna are very successful, to be sure, but black women are never criticized for trying to look white, in fact many modeling agencies only hire black women with traditionally white features and lighter skin tone, and may go so far as to photoshop whiter skin onto black models.

Pictured: Beyonce and her DoppleHonkey

In summation, I believe that although race relations have improved in the US, they're clearly not where they need to be if every time someone uses blackface or drops an N-bomb we all have to stop what we are dong and talk about it. Truthfully, it was a stupid thing to do, but the makeup was done as tastefully as it could have been, not sharing many similarities with the traditional offensive style. Controversy only highlights and exacerbates these issues, and until everyone gains a healthy apathy towards race there won't be any real progress.