Black henna is low class?!

Posted by Kenzi on January 08, 2000 at 03:59:19:

Just ran across the following in one of the back alleys of this site,
in a discussion of the history of henna:

"In this day and age, women of all socio-economic status get henna
designs of latice and flowers for weddings. The bride and bride's
mother getting the most intricate work. Black henna is avoided
because that would indicate you have dark skin, and in Morocco mid-
colored skin is considered the most beautiful (not to dark lest you
be a worker, not to light least you be european). It is true that
some moroccons do not get the work done because they want to appear
more "modern" but this is a rare case. "

Seems avoidance of black henna has traditions elsewhere...and also
has a racist tinge!

From my travels in Morocco I can attest to this attitude. Most women
seemed to prefer the red-brown color. The only place I saw really
really dark (almost black) henna was in the Sahara, where the women
have darker skin for the most part. And there is definitely the
attitude among many Moroccans that darker skin is less beautiful.

Follow-ups:

• Re: Black henna is low class?! Kree Arvanitas 21:21:10 1/09/00 (1)
  • Re: Black henna is low class?! Kenzi 05:22:45 1/10/00 (0)