Today’s post is a little different; I’m talking about inclusion, because I think it’s something many people don’t even consider. I came out of the womb with the same racial classification of less than 3% of the United States. I’ve spent my entire life feeling underrepresented: in the books I’d like to read, in movies, commercials, advertisements, and TV shows — the list goes on. While inclusion and diversity are something that are talked about so much more these days; there’s honestly a long way to go. I wanted to share a little bit about what it’s like being an underrepresented person with the hope that it helps someone out there to be more aware and inclusive.
Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion & Being a Minority Click To Tweet{This post may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through a link in this post. Thank you for your support of What Nicole Wore.}
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Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion | Inclusion Isn’t Just About Political Correctness
There seems to be this thought that people that push for inclusion are on some over the top, political correctness crusade. That’s not what it’s about. Imagine going to purchase makeup and knowing you can’t buy from XYZ brand because they don’t carry a shade in your skin tone. Imagine a brand does carry a concealer in your skin tone but retailers won’t carry it in store because, “we don’t have many people that color here.” Imagine being invited to an event and having to whisper, “do you do black hair?” to the stylist because a company shows no women that look like you or have your hair type in marketing or on social media.
When inclusion isn't a priority, people feel like they're not valued by companies. Click To TweetRELATED: Why I Blog: Does Representation Really Matter?
SURPRISE — all of these things are regular occurrences in my life. Are they things that will kill me? No. Are they frustrating, do they make me feel like companies don’t value me as a consumer because of my looks, do I find myself in situations where I feel like a product isn’t “for” me? Hell yes.
Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion | Being an Outsider
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I came out of the womb as a minority so this is literally all I know. Going to hair salons and being told they didn’t have products for my hair or being at the mall with friends and being the only one that couldn’t get my makeup done because they didn’t have my color. While it’s definitely frustrating, at times I felt great amounts of shame. I rarely feel that way anymore, realize there’s nothing wrong with being different from the majority, and recognize that not all businesses mean to be exclusive — a lot of the time they aren’t hiring people of color to speak up and say, “WOW you have a campaign of people that all look the same!”
Why won't someone say: WOW this campaign is full of people that look the same. Click To TweetRELATED: 4 Things I Learned About Life at Sigma Kappa Convention
My friend Emily made a comment about not shopping at a retailer because all they had in her size was accessories and jewelry; while I’m quick to notice a lack of inclusion for people of color, let’s acknowledge the lack of inclusion for people that are plus-sized, people that have disabilities, families that are non-traditional, etc. When marketing firms and companies continue to only share the majority, minorities often seem “scary,” “weird,” or “too different” to people that haven’t been exposed. {LBR, this is a WHOLE different blog post.}
When companies continue to only highlight the majority, minorities seem scary or too different. Click To TweetRELATED: How to Rock Dirty Hair + This Week
Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion | How Can You Do Better
I want to re-emphasize that I don’t live in a small town in Kentucky; I actually live in the most populous part of the state. Still Kentucky is almost 88% white and you would think that minorities made up even less of the state’s population by the way small businesses and local brands handle their marketing. For clothing boutiques, I think it’s important to showcase different body types, weights, sizes, heights, races, etc. With salons that offer beauty services, you’d show different hair types and lengths, so why wouldn’t you showcase women of color?
Being a local influencer, I have local businesses reach out to me, ask me to attend or cover events, and even {*insert eye roll here*} tag me in posts on social media to get my attention. One did so recently and when I scrolled through their feed of various braids, curly undos, and beachy waves, I was disappointed to see ZERO women of color featured. This was a hair boutique that essentially tried to get free promotion for their business by using my following and their social media says, “hello, we don’t cater to women that look like you.”
Embracing inclusion helps businesses expand their client base. Click To TweetRELATED: How to Prep Your Back to School Skincare Routine
So what can businesses do better? As a business owner you should WANT all kinds of people to feel welcome. If you have a diverse clientele, ask if you can share photos of them/their photos. If your client base isn’t diverse, look to see if there’s local bloggers that you can partner with that are different than your “typical client” or can point you towards someone that looks different than your typical client. I think people get caught up in how much work it is; doing this is going to help you to expand your clientele AKA something you should want to do as a business owner!
Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion | Companies That Are Taking Strides Towards Inclusivity
I’ve talked a lot about what I’ve noticed companies doing wrong with their inclusion efforts, but I feel like it’s just as important to call out some brands that have welcomed diversity with open arms. In no particular order:
Highlighting some brands that have taken huge steps in being inclusive! feat. @aerie @beautybakerie @colourpopco @fentybeauty @target Click To TweetRELATED: What to Pack for a Quick Two Day Trip
- Aerie — The brand is known for their “untouched” photos and recently has done marketing campaigns that feature women with physical disabilities as well.
- Beauty Bakerie — This beauty brand features a foundation that comes in 30 different shades, but did something very unique. The shade range goes from dark to light, with shade #1 being the darkest shade.
- Target — Their Cat & Jack line has gotten a lot of love from parents of special needs children for featuring them on both the website and in store marketing.
- ColourPop Cosmetics — Following them on Instagram, you see male and female beauty experts of a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Their website usually shows swatched products on 3 different skin tones.
- Naja — This lingerie line features 10 different shades of nude versus the traditional beige bra that is only nude
- Fenty Beauty — What can I say about this launch that hasn’t already been said? Rihanna’s makeup line launched less than a year ago and made a HUGE impact. Since being introduced, we’ve seen tons of beauty companies follow suit by expanding their shade range to also be more inclusive.
While we still have a LONG way to go, I think it’s good to see companies realizing that marketing campaigns of the past won’t work in today’s society. Companies react to what consumers tell them is or isn’t okay; by speaking up when we notice exclusion in marketing, we’re telling brands what we want and having an impact.
Please Do Better: An Open Letter About Inclusion | The Outfits
I’m all about getting the most wear out of items in my closet; I bought this jumpsuit from LOFT about a month ago and have been finding different ways to wear it ever since. The tie back detail makes it too risqué for the office without a blazer, but it does make it easier to remix into pants! You can see some of the ideas for styling it in this post; I love the way it looks with a tank or blouse casually tucked in. With how warm and humid it’s been lately, I’ve been looking for super lightweight and breezy outfits — like this high neck tank with the red palazzo pants.
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