For every time that Amber Rose talks about her version of feminism, she then finds a way to put down women. Last week, Rose was a guest on the Drink Champs podcast and said that Philadelphia women weren’t “traditionally attractive.” She went on to say that she herself had been “blessed with beauty,” explaining that people often did not believe she was from South Philly because of her looks.
“I don’t know how I could say this without sounding fucked up, but a lot of the people where I’m from aren’t traditionally attractive people,” Rose said in the June interview.
Of course, people immediately felt that she was speaking about being ambiguously whatever she’s calling herself this week. Especially since throughout her career, she’s flip-flopped from saying she’s not a black woman to most recently saying she’s a biracial black woman.
Rose first clarified her comments on Instagram after facing backlash and people challenging her to come back to South Philly and call a woman not traditionally attractive to her face.
“I know that people really want me to be a superficial bitch, but I’m just not that person,” the model said in response.
“I find beauty in everyone. ... Unfortunately, it’s not easy doing interviews and always saying things the way you really want to articulate,” she continued. “I wasn’t saying that’s how I felt, I was saying that’s how people treated me.”
Over the weekend, Rose was caught on camera by TMZ, and she said she had used a poor choice of words.
“I never said anyone was ugly. I’m so frustrated,” she said.
“It makes me so sad because I never said that. And maybe I shouldn’t have used the word ‘traditional.’ But I just meant society’s standard of beauty,” she clarified. “Because I never felt like I was beautiful. I felt like they were beautiful. So it’s the opposite of what everybody’s saying. Shoutout to Philly.”
Personally, I’m not buying her “I didn’t mean it” response. Traditional attractiveness has always been tied to lighter complexions, and sometimes, people with such complexions automatically think that they’re beautiful and are praised for their complexions, not only by men (and women) individually but, as Rose said, by society in general.
For reference concerning her “traditional attractiveness,” here are photos of a young Rose:
It wouldn’t shock me at all if South Philly men had put Rose on a pedestal because she’s light-skinned. I’m sure she’ll have another slut-walk, and claim that all women are beautiful, before saying something else vapid.