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"Pretty" has always been a conditional adjective for me. My entire life I've heard, "You're pretty for a dark-skinned girl." "You'd be prettier if . . ." Growing up, I didn't want to play outside too long out of fear of getting darker. I'd wish I had skin tones like my mom and dad, who are both light skinned. I'd hear whispers about whether I was my parents' child because there was no way I, a dark-skinned little girl, could have picked up genes from my dark-skinned grandparents. 人们总用"漂亮"这个词形容我的外在。我活了这么多年，总是听到别人说，"虽然你黑，但你好看啊。""如果……，你会更好看。"长大一点后，我不喜欢在外玩太久，因为我怕晒的更黑。我真希望能和爸爸妈妈一样肤色较浅。我曾听到别人八卦，说我不是父母亲生的，因为总不可能我皮肤黑是因为遗传了祖父祖母吧。 Not only was my perception of pretty shaped by how my peers, family members, and society saw my deep brown skin, but my hair was always a topic of a conversation, too. My hair was my crown and glory, at least that is what I was taught. Every week, I spent hours in the hair salon getting my hair chemically straightened. 我的同伴、家人和社会对待我棕色皮肤的看法塑造了我对美的感知。我的头发也总是人们的谈资。我的头发是我的骄傲，至少我是这么想的。我每周都会去理发店化学拉直我的头发。 | 
