Chapter Five: Colorism and Skin-Color Stratification By Tanya Maria Golash-Boza

Colorism Colorism: refers to how—within a racial group— people are ranked as more deserving and superior based on their phenotype (physical appearance). This could include shade of skin color, the shape of one’s eyes, nose, the kind of hair, and the color of one’s eyes.

Aspects of Colorism Colorism does not necessarily indicate a desire to be white, however. It may indicate a desire to match the ideal form of beauty within that group which may have been influenced by white standards of beauty.

Skin-Color Stratification Groups have an internal group scaling system, such as that lighter skinned people are seen as more capable and beautiful and darker skinned members are not provided as many opportunities. For blacks, this has an origin in slavery where lighter skinned blacks worked as slaves in other places other than the heavy labor of the fields.

Across a Range of Ethnoracial Groups This preference for light skin is present in Latina, South Asian, and other Asian ethnoracial groups. This is not just a phenomenon for preference in beauty but translates into everyday lived opportunities.

Across a Range of Ethnoracial Groups Women all over the world use products to lighten their skin through skin bleaching. They use these products for different reasons. Some of these products are harmful to a woman’s health. For some the product is sold as if it would make a woman more attractive and a good marriage prospect.

Material Rewards of Light Skin and “White” Features “Having light skin has real, material rewards for Latinos in the United States in terms of education and income.” (p. 133) Additionally, in another study Latinas with light skin had higher rates of marriage than darker skinned Latinas. Some Asian women get eyelid reduction surgery. Companies that do business in more than one country also advertise these products in a way that favors white appearances.

Material Rewards of Light Skin “Beauty divides women through competition and diverts their attention to their physical appearance and away from other oppressive forces in their lives.” (p. 139) The “beauty queue” notion refers to a system that enables lighter-skinned women to have more resources than darker-skinned women.

The Costs of Light Skin “Colorism, it turns out, is a manifestation of racism that further splits fractured groups into an internal hierarchy related to color. At the same time, since race is closely tied to identity, there are costs to being perceived as too light or, especially too white.” (p. 143)

Conclusion “Physical attractiveness serves as capital for both men and women, but patriarchy has created a situation in which women must depend more than men on their physical appearance.” (p. 143) Therefore, women may turn to products or surgery to make them more presentable , but not necessarily to make themselves appear “white.”