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‘In This Country, Beauty Is Defined by Fairness of Skin.’ Skin Colour Politics and Social Stratification in India

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Beauty and the Norm

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment ((PSGE))

Abstract

A pervasive preference for lighter complexions in India has become apparent, not least in the increasing consumption of skin-lightening products. Scholarship on colourism situates skin bleaching primarily within the context of (post-)colonial racism and global white supremacy. Building on these approaches, this chapter proposes to understand ‘white’ as a travelling and relational concept and, in the Indian context, to distinguish analytically between the concepts of ‘fair’ and ‘white’. Hence, the central aim of this chapter is to de-centralise, even de-colonialize ‘whiteness’ in beauty studies. By examining the shades of meaning of skin colour and different social functions of skin bleaching, it shows how skin colour is (re)produced as a political signifier and as the embodied materiality of social relations, primarily those of class and gender.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bayreuth University, Bayreuth, Germany

    Nina Kullrich

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  1. Nina Kullrich
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Claudia Liebelt

  2. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Sarah Böllinger

  3. University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Ulf Vierke

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Kullrich, N. (2019). ‘In This Country, Beauty Is Defined by Fairness of Skin.’ Skin Colour Politics and Social Stratification in India. In: Liebelt, C., Böllinger, S., Vierke, U. (eds) Beauty and the Norm. Palgrave Studies in Globalization and Embodiment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91174-8_11

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