We examine a vast, interdisciplinary, and increasingly global literature concerning skin color and colorism, which are related to status throughout the world. The vast majority of research has ...investigated Western societies, where color and colorism have been closely related to race and racism. In Latin America, the two sets of concepts have particularly overlapped. In the rest of the world, particularly in Asia, color and colorism have also been important but have evolved separately from the relatively new concepts of race and racism. In recent years, however, color consciousness and white supremacy appear to have been increasingly united, globalized, and commodified, as exemplified by the global multibillion-dollar skin-lightening industry. Finally, we document the growing methodological attention to measurements of skin color and social science data that incorporate skin color measures.
Applying an intersectional framework, this study moves beyond binary categories of sexuality, gender, and race/ethnicity and considers the role of skin tone (colorism), gender expression, and sexual ...identity, in victimization risk. Using data ( N = 9,108) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we evaluate associations between everyday discrimination, intimate partner violence (IVP), and lifetime sexual assault, and key sociodemographic covariates. Analyses suggest gender expression, sexual identity, and skin tone are significantly associated with everyday discrimination, but victimization outcomes vary by intersecting sociodemographic factors. Results from the current study suggest an intersectional framework is necessary for future victimization research and policy in the U.S.
Penelitian ini merupakan riset awal untuk melihat gambaran besar mengenai Colorism di Kawasan Asia Tenggara. Colorism merupakan bentuk diskriminasi kepada seseorang karena perbedaan warna kulit. ...Dalam Colorism biasanya mereka yang memiliki warna kulit lebih cerah diberikan akses lebih mudah dalam berbagai hal. Colorism dikatakan sebagai fenomena global, namun dalam penelitian ini, peneliti bertujuan untuk menggambarkan fenomena tersebut di kawasan Asia Tenggara. Metode yang peneliti gunakan adalah kualitatif dengan pengumpulan data melalui focus group discussion dan studi pustaka. Kerangka teoritis dalam studi ini adalah Poskolonialisme, konsep Kekerasan serta konsep Colorism. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Colorism di wilayah Asia Tenggara terjadi salah satunya diperkuat oleh inferioritas masyarakat di Asia Tenggara terhadap kulit putih sebagai hasil dari penjajahan, akibat dari kelas-kelas sosial yang selama ini dikonstruksi oleh penjajah untuk melanggengkan kekuasaan mereka.
A long legacy of media imagery persistently distorts, stereotypes, and ignores marginalized racial and ethnic groups despite widespread calls to diversify media representations. In particular, ...fashion and beauty media continue to feature light-skinned models and celebrities over dark-skinned individuals, even lightening dark skin with photo editing to achieve ideals of whiteness and lightness. This practice aligns with colorism, or the privileging of light skin tones for access to economic and social capital. This study examines colorism in a particular genre of digital photography, online retail images, as a problem of visual representation. The novel method of visual computational analysis is used to quantitatively compare how mainstream clothing retail brands represent model skin tones across still and video media modes. The findings suggest that analyzed retailers tended to favor light-skinned models on their websites and that model skin tones in product videos were significantly darker than in product photos. These findings are considered through research on race and technology, photographic manipulation, and media misinformation. Ultimately, the study suggests that visual (in)consistencies can reveal the role of structural biases in shaping media representations. The article also provides a methodological tool for conducting this work.
A growing literature documents skin color stratification in punishment, whereby darker-skinned individuals fare worse than their lighter-skinned counterparts. Virtually all of this research has ...focused on colorism operating through direct channels. Utilizing a novel dataset linking the mugshots and court records of 6931 felony defendants from Miami-Dade County (Florida) from 2012 to 2015, we show that colorism in punishment, particularly for Hispanics, operates through indirect mechanisms - in addition to direct channels. We argue that colorism in punishment is sustained through a cumulative (dis)advantage process, highlighting how skin color stratification is institutionalized in the criminal justice system.
It is well established that skin lightness-darkness is associated with social outcomes, but little is known regarding the social salience of skin undertones (redness and yellowness). Our study ...addresses two related research questions on this topic: first, we ask whether red and yellow undertones are consistently perceived by observers; second, we ask whether red and yellow undertones are associated with expectations of discrimination across a range of social settings. We address these questions using novel survey data in which skin lightness-darkness and undertones are captured using CIELAB measurements and a two-dimensional categorical skin color scale. Although we find skin lightness-darkness to be the strongest and most consistent predictor of discrimination expectations, respondents also perceived skin undertones consistently, and skin yellowness was associated with a higher predicted likelihood of discrimination net of lightness-darkness in certain social settings. Our findings suggest that colorism can extend beyond a light-dark binary and emphasize the value of capturing undertones, particularly yellowness, in social surveys assessing skin color.
•Skin tone bias persists in the U.S. with both intra-racial and inter-racial forms.•Gender, African phenotype, and the racial context shape skin tone bias.•Skin tone bias is linked to economic, ...educational, and health disparities.
This article is a developmental review of research on skin tone bias and its consequences for African Americans. In the first section of the paper, we summarize research findings on skin tone attitudes, preferences, and stereotypes from childhood through adulthood. Next we summarize literature regarding African Americans as the target of skin tone bias. This section is organized in terms of individual and contextual factors that shape whether and how skin tone bias occurs; factors that moderate the target's reaction to such bias; and consequences of bias, including psychosocial and health outcomes, economic and educational disparities, and repercussions within the legal system. We conclude by discussing limitations of the extant research.
The commentary focuses on three publications in Research in Human Development (e.g., Centeno, Bayazitli, Purnell, Bravo, & Mello, 2023; Khan, Nguyen, Branigan, & Gordon, 2023; Reece, 2023). The ...commentary makes linkages to the extant literature and suggests additional areas of inquiry. The commentary concludes with implications of colorism in the face of the Supreme Court decision that addressed race and college admissions decisions. Finally, presented are future directions for colorism research.
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