The recent Baddies USA is the eighth season of the Zeus Network reality series, premiering in late 2025/2026. Created by Natalie Nunn and serving as a spin-off to Bad Girls Club, it follows primarily black female influencers travelling, partying, and fighting. With emotions running high in the houses, the women make and break friendships along the way. Baddies have been accused of negatively influencing African American and Black British cultures. The women claim to be bold, unfiltered, and independent women who are focused on “getting the bag”, but they’re often shown as violent, emotional and even alcoholic black woman defaming the image of a black woman. It paints us as ghetto, loud, reckless and hypersexual. This reality show is a problematic narrative of black women and intentionally shaping black culture negatively. My worry isn’t about the existence of these shows they will always exist; it’s rather the effect it  could have on the younger generation of black girls. It is teaching them it’s acceptable to behave violently and sexualise yourself for the approval of men. I feel the message is it’s okay to devalue yourself as long a man likes you, to numb your feelings with drink and drugs, to fight out your problems instead of having a mature discussion explaining how you feel. It’s disappointing to see these women exploring themselves in that way. Whilst these bad behaviours have been the stepping stone of these shows, it’s saddening that Zues and key producers Natalie Nunn and Lemuel Plummer condone this behaviour and encourages it. In no way these shows challenge the preexisting stigma against black women, its feeding into the image and proves the point of the ones who created this image. It’s ironic that it’s no longer society painting this image of us, black owned reality shows have now taken the paintbrush into their hands.  

 The show reflects a wider baddie culture. While baddie culture claims to celebrate confidence and independence, it often excludes those who don’t fit a specific mould which is typically slim or hourglass figure with big breasts and bum, light or tanned skin, and Eurocentric features. This exclusion reinforces harmful beauty and racial hierarchies, leaving many women and young girls feeling invisible. These standards need to change especially within the black community, it’s boring to see people marginalising, being ignorant and disrespectful to darker skinned women and anyone who doesn’t fit the beauty standard. A black female student in Xaverian who chose to stay anonymous quoted “I feel like an outsider from not fitting into the stereotypical role of black women” It specially makes young black girls feel overlooked by the people around them. Young girls are still growing into their adult body while being taught the image of a light skinned woman is what’s the beauty standard is hurtful and deeply affects their mental health and how they view themselves. This year alone women of colour have spent over $8.8 billion on bleaching creams and in 2023 the USA led with 153,135 BBL procedures these decisions are driven by colourism and Eurocentric beauty standards which are very prominent in the black community. 

It’s time to change that.  As time goes on, the black community is progressing. Young black women are rejecting the whole baddie aesthetic as a whole to curate and find their own identity, personality and style. We no longer want to be stuffed in a box feeling we must pretend to be someone were not, its tiring playing a fake role in the black community to fit in in a space where they can tell your pretending to conform to their standards and ridicule you for also trying to be yourself. It’s time to end that cycle, embrace your skin and body, young black girls are taking back the paintbrush their peers and society used to create an image that damages their future, changing the stereotype for the better. In your own small black communities, its time you dethatch yourself from the harmful stereotypes of the UK black girl and find ways to be your own person. Whether that’s through fashion, starting new hobbies or joining new social groups and clubs. There’s a power in being unique, in being confident, in being yourself and every black girl should feel that.