Week 4 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Reading 1
Meagan Jacobs, Susan Levine, Kate Abney & Lester Davids. 2016. Fifty shades of African lightness: a bio-psychosocial review of the global phenomenon of skin lightening practices. Journal of public health in Africa.
Reading 1 Themes
Skin Lightening in Africa
Historical Context: Colonialism and Color Hierarchies
Postcolonial Transformations: From Colonial Subject to Modern Consumer
Gender and Beauty: Light Skin as Feminine Ideal
Health and Risk: The Biomedical Perspective
Emotions and Aspirations: Affective Dimensions
Moral Judgments and Stigma
Regulation and Resistance
Conclusion: A Bio-Cultural Approach
Reading 1: Skin Lightening in Africa
Skin lightening refers to the use of products or methods to lighten skin tone. Africa, this practice is widespread and highly controversial. It is sometimes
framed in health discourses (due to harmful ingredients like mercury or
hydroquinone), sometimes in moral discourses (accused of promoting hatred or colonial mentalities), and also in aesthetic discourses (linked to beauty, modernity, and status).
Reading 1: Historical Context: Colonialism and Color Hierarchies
During colonial times, lighter skin was associated with power, modernity, and
access to privilege, because colonial regimes were often racially segregated and discriminatory. This led to a “color hierarchy” where lighter skin was more highly valued socially and economically.
Example: In many colonial African societies, lighter-skinned people were more likely to be employed in administrative positions or treated more favorably by colonial authorities
Reading 1: Postcolonial Transformations: From Colonial Subject to Modern Consumer
Post-independence, African nations rejected overt colonial ideologies, but
colorism persisted in more subtle ways. With the rise of global capitalism and
consumer lightening became a way culture, new ideas about beauty and success emerged. Skin
upward mobility, cosmopolitanism, and
to signal success.
Example: In countries like Nigeria and South Africa, advertisements for skin lightening creams emphasize beauty, confidence, and success in love or employment, linking lighter skin to modern aspirations.
Reading 1: Gender and Beauty: Light Skin as Feminine Ideal
Women are the primary users of skin lightening products. This is linked to
dominant ideals of femininity, where beauty is a key marker of social value and marriageability. Lighter skin is often portrayed as more beautiful, youthful and desirable Example: In East Africa, beauty contests and marriage ads often feature or favor light-skinned women, reinforcing the desirability of lighter skin.
However, Thomas also notes that some men also lighten their skin, often to
Reading 1: Health and Risk: The Biomedical Perspective
Skin lightening products can contain harmful substances like mercury, corticosteroids, or hydroquinone. These pose serious health risks, including skin damage, kidney issues, and more.
Public health campaigns often frame skin lightening as dangerous or irrational. But Thomas argues this view oversimplifies the issue and neglects the social and emotional reasons people use these products.
Reading 1: Emotions and Aspirations: Affective Dimensions
Thomas highlights the emotional and aspirational aspects of skin lightening.
Users often feel joy, pride, and confidence when they achieve a lighter skin tone.
For many, it’s not about rejecting blackness, but about self-improvement, style,
or feeling good in a world where beauty is racialized.
Example: Some women interviewed described feeling empowered or “put
together” when using lighteners, comparing it to wearing makeup or dressing
stylishly.
Reading 1: Moral Judgments and Stigma
Skin lightening is heavily stigmatized in many African societies. Users are often
judged as vain, inauthentic, or ashamed of their race. But this stigma can gendered and classed—wealthy or celebrity users may excused, while be
poorer
users are criticized.
be Example: Ghanaian or Nigerian celebrities sometimes openly endorse skin
lightening products, while ordinary users are mocked on social media for
“bleaching.”
Reading 1: Regulation and Resistance
Governments and Resistance
and health agencies have attempted to ban or regulate skin
lighteners, especially those with toxic ingredients. However, enforcement is
or uneven, and black markets thrive. At the same time, some African women resist
the stigma by proudly owning their lightening practices criticizing the global
beauty standards that make dark skin undesirable.
Example: In South Africa, some women formed online communities lightening tips, framing it as a personal choice rather than to share skin
a colonial legacy.
Reading 1: Conclusion: A Bio-Cultural Approach
Thomas urges us to view skin lightening through a bio-cultural lens—one that
combines biology, culture, politics, economics, and emotion. Skin lightening is
not just a health issue or a colonial hangover; it’s a complex practice shaped globalization, personal aspirations, local norms, and structural inequalities.
Reading 2
Jarrín, A., 2017. The biopolitics of beauty: cosmetic citizenship and affective capital in Brazil. Univ of California Press. (Introduction)
Reading 2 Overview
Jarrín’s book explores how beauty operates as a form of power in
Brazilian society, shaped by race, class, gender, and neoliberal
economics. He introduces concepts like cosmetic citizenship, affective
capital, and the enforced and biopolitics of beautyto examine internalized, particularly through plastic how aesthetic norms are
surgery.
Reading 2: Themes
Biopolitics of Beauty
Cosmetic Citizenship
Affective Capital
Reading 2: Biopolitics of Beauty
Drawing from Foucault, biopolitics refers to the way the state and institutions regulate bodies and populations.
In Brazil, plastic surgery becomes a tool of governance—used to shape
citizens’ bodies to match national ideals of race, gender, and modernity.
Example: The state subsidizes plastic surgery for low-income people via
the public healthcare system—not just for health, but to promote certain
ideals of beauty.
Reading 2: Cosmetic Citizenship
This term captures how aesthetic conformity becomes tied to belonging
and dignity.
Citizens gain social inclusion and respect by altering their bodies to
match dominant norms.
Example: Many working-class Brazilians believe getting plastic surgery
(like nose jobs or breast augmentation) increases their job prospects,
respectability, and romantic opportunities.
Reading 2: Affective Capital
Beauty creates emotional and social value that translates into real material benefits.
People feel seen, validated, and hopeful when they believe they are beautiful.
Example: The phrase “There are no ugly people, only poor people” reflects how beauty is seen as something purchasable—if you’re ugly, you just can’t afford to be beautiful yet.
Reading 2: more themes
A. Beauty as a Social Hierarchy
B. Plastic Surgery as a Public Good
C. Race, Class, and the “Dictatorship of Beauty”
D. Aesthetic Violence and Racialized Bodies
E. The Role of Affect
F. Hope, Agency and Magical Thinking
Reading 2:
A. Beauty as a Social Hierarchy
Beauty in Brazil reflects and reproduces racial and class inequalities.
Whiteness, thin noses, straight hair, and light skin are idealized.
Case Study: Samara, a Black transgender woman, dreams of a nose job. after embracing Black feminism, she still desires cosmetic surgery—showing
how deeply beauty standards are internalized.
Even
B. Plastic Surgery as a Public Good
Brazil uniquely offers free or low-cost plastic surgery in public hospitals.
Surgeons present themselves as humanitarians, even as they uphold narrow
beauty norms.
Iconic Figure Dr. Ivo Pitanguy is mythologized as the “god of plastic surgery,” celebrated for offering beauty to the poor
C. Race, Class, and the “Dictatorship of Beauty”
Beauty isn’t just about vanity; it’s a requirement for social survival, especially for women and gender non-conforming people.
It operates like a dictatorship: failure to participate can mean social exclusion. Quote: “A beleza abre portas” (“Beauty opens doors”)—used widely in Brazil to justify the pursuit of beauty at all costs.
D. Aesthetic Violence and Racialized Bodies
Surgeons describe Black features (e.g., wide noses) as deformities to be corrected. Scientific racism is embedded in aesthetic discourses.
Visual Example in Text: Surgeons publish “before and after” pictures correcting
the “negroid nose,” naturalizing whiteness as the beauty norm.
E. The Role of Affect
Jarrín uses affect theory to explain how beauty is felt in the body- viscerally,
emotionally—not just cognitively.
Beauty judgments are pre-conscious but deeply socialized. Example: People describe noses or explain why—these are internalized.
hair textures as “ugly” without being able to
historical judgments linked to race.
F. Hope, Agency and Magical Thinking. Beauty offers hope. even poor individuals believe surgery might change their lives.
Cosmetic transformations are seen as “miracles” that can change social class.
Example: The “handsome beggar” in Curitiba becomes a model after his photo
goes viral—because his light skin and European features make him “deserving”
of success.
