Growing up, I was always that girl. The sidekick for the pretty girls. The nice, nerdy girl with the glasses - the one boys sought out...........to ask me to put a good word in for them....in hopes of dating my friends. Make that the nice, nerdy, and dark-skinned girl with the glasses.
I remember being 15 and thinking to myself, I can't wait to get contacts. Maybe my skin will get lighter if I never, ever step foot in the sun. Ever. Beauty came in long, flowing locks of blond, voluptuous bosoms and teeny waistlines, skin so fair you could almost see right through it. Beauty stared back at me from the television set and from magazine covers, reminding me daily of a world defined by standards I would never be able to attain.
So when producer, comedian, brown girl-with-glasses extraordinaire debuted on the cover of Entertainment Weekly this month, I was a bit blown away. There she was, Mindy Kaling in all of her true, authentic glory. Her rich, dark skin wasn't lightened a few shades by photo editors. Her face adorning thick, dark glasses, almost identical to the ones I wore in my teenage years.
And she was stunning.
And for the first time in my life, I dared to imagine a world where dark brown girls with glasses no longer played the sidekick. Thanks, Mindy Kaling.
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