Research Paper

Shades of Beauty

 Beauty might only be skin deep, but society’s standards of beauty have the power to create harmful effects on its target audience. The preference for lighter colored skin is a global phenomenon, proven by the high praises and preferential treatment that people with “fairer” skin receive. In regions such as Southeast Asia, and West-Africa the use of skin-lightening products reflects the high pedestal that light colored skin is placed on. In the aforementioned geographical regions, the fact that women’s features strived to emulate a euro-centric model can be traced back to their involvement with colonialism. This euro-centric standard of beauty is also heavily represented in American society through advertisements for face products such as bleaching creams, specifically marketed towards African American women. As the appeal for skin bleaching diminished in the United States, makeup products such as foundation allowed black women to enjoy and display pride in their complexion. Through the evolution of visual advertisements depicting black women, there has been a shift from striving for lighter skin to embracing natural skin tones; which helps lessen the strongholds that racism and colorism have on American society.

“If you is white, you’s alright, if you’s brown, stick around, but if you’s black…get back.” These lyrics from Big Bill Broozy’s Blues “Black, Brown and White”, reflects the negative light with which dark skin is portrayed in American society. As seen through Figure 1, this is attempted to be solved through the use of skin bleaching soap. When this advertisement is combined with the historical context of the Jim Crow Era in which skin bleaching, alongside the brown paper bag test (which barred black people with skin darker brown paper bag from entering certain African American establishments) were used, it is clear than an added layer of discrimination based on an African American’s shade of Black, existed. The narrative at this point in time regarding darker skinned African American’s, is that they were not worthy to be treated as well as African Americans with brown or light-brown skin. The tagline of the advertisement being, “I b’leve Pearline made dat chile white”, as and the fact that both the mother and child appear to be smiling suggests that looking white is better than remaining black. The mother in the advertisement could simply be trying to give her son, the opportunity for a better life by lightening his skin. The origin of this narrative, which is especially discriminatory towards darker skinned black people, is that during the time of slavery, slaves who had lighter-skin and were possibly the offspring of the Master and were treated more sympathetically, leaving the dark-skinned slaves to suffer greatly. These trends from the 1800’s have unfortunately continued into the present time.

Since society’s treatment of dark-skinned African Americans was usually worse than the treatment of people of a “brighter” complexion, skin bleaching continued to be advertised. Through Figure 2 it is clear that the narrative supporting the bleaching of dark-skinned African Americans began to be more centered around women, and how the use of brightening cream would improve their quality of life. Since the brand creating the bleaching cream being advertised is called “Lucky Brown” it can be inferred that there are benefits that are supposed to come out of using this bleaching cream. “Lucky Brown” could mean that those who use the brightening cream will belong to the “luckier” or more privilege part of the African American population. One of the messages behind this advertisement is that standard for fair treatment in American society is according to how much one’s skin color deviates from the norm, and the norm is the skin color of white Americans. The fact that this brightening cream is “instant” suggests that the desire to get lighter skin is one that is imperative, proving that the benefits of having lighter skin during the early 1900’s in America were quite tangible. The change in the narrative from Figure 1 to Figure 2, is that Figure 2 places skin bleaching and the goal to have a lighter complexion to more closely resemble white people, as an aspiration that women should focus on, since the advertisement portrays a woman.

As the advertisements for the facial products used by black people continued to revolve around skin bleaching products, the narrative evolved as well. In Figure 3 the female driven audience for skin bleaching products is maintained, as well as the suggestion that good things will come from the use of skin bleaching products. The difference in the narrative from Figure 2 to that of Figure 3 is that there is the addition of gender-roles. The slogan for this particular advertisement being “He used to duck me, now he dates me”, emphasizes the attention the lady is getting from the man due to her freshly bleached skin. This advertisement reinforces the idea that lighter shades are considered more attractive, therefore, for a woman to attract the attention of a man, her best bet is bleaching her skin. There have been experiments conducted to prove that there is indeed a correlation between being a lighter-skinned black woman in America and having more marriage proposals. “The racial landscape, perhaps the availability of a broader selection of partners, allows mulatto women’s color advantage to come to the fore.” Although mulatto is used to describe people with mixed black and white ancestry, it is an outdated term that is considered offensive. Since it is a fact that “mixed” women received more marriage advances, it would certainly encourage darker skinned black women to emulate the physical appearance of lighter skinned women, so they could also receive more male attention. This advertisement not only attempts to lure potential customers with the promise of more male suitors, it also implies that beauty can only exist if one has lighter skin. Thanks to these advertisements skin bleaching creams are made to seem like a magic potion that will magically make someone beautiful and solve their life’s problems. The use of bleaching creams by women illuminates issues of structural violence, since both race and gender are its components. The bleaching cream advertisements illuminate the extra pressures placed on women, as well as the pressure to have lighter skin. The consequences of not using bleaching creams and succumbing to the societal standards could be devasting as one could lose several opportunities. Yet it also brings into question a socioeconomic factor that if a black woman could not afford skin bleaching at this time, her chance of advancing in society would be significantly diminished.

Skin bleaching did not remain the prominent face product being advertised towards black women, as makeup products such as foundation began appearing on advertisements. With Figure 4, there is a clear shift in narrative that is more embracing of natural skin tones. “Finally, makeup that’s sensitive to your skin and to your skin tone.” This tagline in this advertisement makes it clear that there is concern for black women’s skin, and that the foundation encourages them to embrace their true shade. One of the obvious shifts in narrative being observed from the different types of advertisements is that products that will make individuals lighter skinned version of themselves are no longer at the forefront, even though they are still being sold. The advertisements’ focus on selling makeup that is “sensitive” to the skin, is another shift in narrative that departs from the advertisements for skin bleaching. Skin bleaching products are notoriously dangerous to use because they contain chemicals that are harmful to the skin. The Almay advertisement not only allows the skin to be safe with its hypo-allergenic and dermatologist tested product, it also makes it known that black women can be comfortable wearing foundation that is their shade, and that they no longer have to turn to products that will make their skin appear lighter. Despite this advertisement’s effort to showcase the true skin color of African American women, it should also be noted that the model used is still on of a relatively “light” complexion. This could mean that at the time this advertisement was created which was in the 1990’s there still was not complete acceptance for very dark skin tones.

In the 2010’s there has been a greater push for the inclusion of more makeup shades, specifically catering to black women. Figure 5 depicts yet another change in narrative that is occurring as deeper and more unique foundation shades are being demanded from makeup brands. From Figure 1 to Figure 5, there has clearly been a huge jump from the narrative that lighter skin was better and that it should be achieved by all costs, to the embracing of darker complexions through the use of foundation. Although euro-centric standards of beauty are still heavily present in society, advertisements such as this one show that there is an effort to celebrate darker skin tones, instead of making them lighter. There is even a shift from the narrative in Figure 4 and Figure 5, because Figure 5 boldly and unapologetically conveys the message that dark brown skin can be beautiful, not only medium and tan shades. The importance of the Lupita N’yongo being on the cover of a Lancôme advertisement is that it teaches women that having a lighter skin color is not the only way to be beautiful. “Black women [do] not find mainstream ideals of beauty as relevant social comparisons and only compared themselves to Black in-group standards.” This quote highlights the significance of having diversity among black women in advertisements. It is not enough to have one standard of beauty within the black community, and for all other black women to be expected to follow. Diversity in the complexions of black women who are in advertisements is necessary and looks like black models of all complexions appearing on advertisements so that the idea that lighter skin is better is no longer perpetuated.

Beauty products that targeted African American women as their customers did not always want them to embrace their true skin color, hence the numerous advertisements for bleaching creams, which created the narrative that black women could only be beautiful if their skin was of a lighter complexion. This narrative eventually changed as foundations that were true to the natural skin tones of African American women were advertised and celebrated. The message became that it was possible to African American and beautiful, without having a lighter skin tone. Skin bleaching is still used in modern society, but its gradual erosion in America indicates a celebration of people’s natural skin color. In certain countries in which the popularity of bleaching creams has continued into the 2010’s, there have been a few counter-advertisements warning of the health risks of using these bleaching products, showing the global advancement to combat colorism.

 

Works Cited

Fig.1. Murray, Stella. “Extra! Extra! Read All About It! Qiaobi Laundry Detergent ‘Washes’ Black Men into Chinese Men!” Penn State Presidential Leadership Academy PLA, sites.psu.edu/academy/2016/10/08/qiaobi/.

Fig.2. “Soap And Skin Narrow Rarity.” Crewkuch, crewkuch.weebly.com/blog/soap-and-skin-narrow-rarity.

Fig.3. “Nadinola Bleaching Cream Vintage Ad – Jet Magazine, October 10, 1963 – a Photo on Flickriver.” Flickriver, www.flickriver.com/photos/vieilles_annonces/10460351324/.

 

Fig.4. Jobson, C. Shardae. “Almay Is Trying to Undo Years of White-Washing Its Beauty Campaigns.” Fashionista, 5 Apr. 2018, https://fashionista.com/2018/04/almay-inclusive-diverse-makeup-brand-controversy.

Fig.5. Richards, Katie. “Lupita Nyong’o Rocks Her First Lancôme Campaign.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 25 June 2014, www.businessinsider.com/lupita-nyongo-lancome-ad-2014-6.

Big Bill Broonzy. “Black, Brown and White”, Mercury Recordings, 1946.

 

EVANS, PEGGY CHIN, and ALLEN R. McCONNELL. Do Racial Minorities Respond in the SameWay to Mainstream Beauty Standards? Social Comparison Processes in Asian, Black, and White Women. Psychology Press, 25 Aug. 2002.

 

Reece, Robert L. Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States. Journal of Black Studies, 2019.