Introduction
Skin bleaching is not only a controversial and global practice but also an old one. The Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used white lead on their skin, as did the Japanese Geishas in recent history. Skin bleaching occurred in medieval Europe and the European Colonies in Africa and the Caribbean; it was practiced in the United States in the early 1900s. It still exists today in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. People of all ages, races, ethnicities, genders, social classes, incomes, and education levels lighten their complexion (Blay, 2007; Charles, 2010).
Definition
Skin bleaching refers to people’s use of homemade, cosmetic, or dermatological products over time to remove the melanin from the skin. This process which is also known as skin whitening, skin lightening, and skin toning can be done formally by a dermatologist or informallyby nondoctors. People who bleach may do so for a duration of only...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Blay, Y. A. (2007). Yellow fever: Skin bleaching and the politics of skin color in Ghana. Ph.D. Dissertation. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Charles, C. A. D. (2010). Representations of colorism in the Jamaican culture and the practice of skin bleaching. Ph.D. Dissertation, Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York.
Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. P. (1950). Emotional factors in racial identification and preference in Negro children. Journal of Negro Education, 19, 341–350.
Cross, W. E., Jr., & Strauss, L. (1998). The everyday functions of African American identity. In J. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target’s perspective (pp. 267–279). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin white masks. New York: Grove.
Hall, R. (1995). The color complex: The bleaching syndrome. Race, Gender & Class, 2, 99–110.
Hunter, M. L. (2007). The persistent problem of colorism: Skin tone, status, and inequality. Sociology Compass, 1, 237–254.
Jablonski, N. G. (2006). Skin: a natural history. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Woodson, C. G. (2006). The mis-education of the Negro. New York: Africa World Press.
Online Resources
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Charles, C.A.D. (2014). Skin Bleaching. In: Teo, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_285
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_285
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5582-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5583-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Sciences