Gabrielle Union made headlines when she shared how her stepsons preferred light-skinned girls in school as opposed to the girls with darker complexions. But now, she’s sharing how her similar past dating preferences have spoken to her own self-worth.
The “Breaking In” star discussed more about her sit-down with the boys she co-parents with husband Dwyane Wade clearing up some confusion her stepsons got onto her about.
“I was not super articulate in that we were talking to a group of kids,” Union explained on Thursday, Oct.11 while on the “Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham” podcast. “A couple of them [were] the boys that live in our house, but a gang of them were not … and those were more talking about [it].”
Back in July during the AT&T Dream in Black Luncheon, Union recalled the sitdown with reporters.
“Literally, probably about 10 girls I looked at had the same light skin, curly hair, tiny waist, butt, boobs — it was the same girl over and over again,” she said according to Refinery29. “So I asked them to show me the most beautiful chocolate sister they’ve seen. They say there are none.”
But whether or not it was Wade‘s sons Zaire and Zion and his nephew Dahveon who shared the opinion of their schoolmates, Union told host and model Ashley Graham that further examination is necessary.
“We gotta go a little deeper. What is it about your skin that you can’t see a girl your skin color and see the beauty in her?” she continued. “Do you see the beauty when you look in the mirror? Because for me, I feel like you’re projecting feelings that you have about yourself onto these young women, in erasing them and ignoring them, and not seeing their beauty.”
And Union knows about that first hand. She went through that very thing when she solely dated light-skinned men for a time in her life.
“I somehow thought that I was more visible and real and valid and worthwhile if a light skin boy found me attractive,” she explained. “Like it was somehow negating my darkness. And in the reverse, what is it about what you see in yourself that makes you erase these young women? I want you to be able to see that women are beautiful in every shade, shape, race, ethnicity, religion … along the spectrum there is beauty. And right now, what I’m seeing is a very, very, very narrow scope of beauty.”
A couple of fans who caught the podcast sang Union’s praises.
“This was powerful. I applaud Gabrielle and Dwayne on their way of parenting those young men. Great post!”
“Bless her heart…I’m glad she realized her worth and saw past skin color, too.”
