Colorism? Wow because the term “racism” is so blase.
pilambdaod Colorism specifically refers to people of their own race valuing lighter skin over darker skin. For example in latina culture, valuing “good” straight hair over “pelo malo” or bad, curly hair.
Racism would imply we’re talking about at least two different races here; colorism specifically is about racist ideals within one race, people of one race policing others appearance within their own race.
(since this is an indian book, presumably made by indian people for indian children to read, depicting a light skinned indian woman as more beautiful than a dark skinned one, it’s colorism.)
One of those is clearly Caucasian the other Indian.
Creating random new “isms” only makes legitimate grievances seem petty and stupid.
“One of those is clearly Caucasian”
Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut
Karisma Kapoor, Shruti Haasan, Zarine Khan
All actresses/models born in India to parents who were also born in India (or Pakistan), in a narrow view of “race.”
If a Papua New Guinean hooks up with a Swedish person all you get is a human. There’s no new thing you’re going to get. You just get a human.
Ideas on “race” have been in slow development over the years, but colourism is a real thing (often with roots in imperialism, especially as Western ideas of beauty began to intrude upon countries).
The 100 Years of Beauty: Philippines has a jarring jump where April Villanueva (who has light/medium-toned skin) gets her skin darkened for the 1910s-20s aesthetic, then becomes powder-white when US/European colonial interests make a stronger influence on Philippine society in the 1930s (more in the research video).
Two more examples of skin tone variation between famous women in countries where colourism has become prevalent in celebrity culture (ie, it was a lot harder finding photos of a dark-skinned Korean actress than a light-skinned one):
Koreans: Song Hye-kyo and Lee Hyori
Filipinos: Valerie Garica and Nicole Scherzinger (active in the US; Filipino father, Hawaiian/Samoan-Russian mother)
Variation in skin colour across a “race” is as real as variation in eye colour (”oh, you have brown eyes? I guess you’re not a real Caucasian”).
Colourism also pervades a lot of modern beauty marketing.
What’s underneath your dark skin? A prettier, lighter version of yourself! Everyone should strive to be more fair and lovely because only then you’ll be happy with your flesh prison!!
tl;dr colourism exists and isn’t some bogeyman made up by “”es jay double-ews,”” and if you’re the person bemoaning how it “delegitimizes racism” then it’s likely you actually don’t care about racism at all and are just trying to devalue the arguments with the classic “but so-and-so people have it worse! how could you be so self-centered and selfish??”
Also “colorism” was coined by Alice Walker in 1982. This is not some new internet fad.
“The day after Starbucks workers met at the Bat Cave we found ourselves working an understaffed morning shift but this time it was different. Instead of feeling the normal frustration, those of us who were at the meeting exchanged knowing glances and began implementing our plan of following every rule, thereby slowing down service. We also whispered to partners who were not in the know to slow down, don’t kill yourself. It was as if everyone took a deep breath and began working at a safe and thorough pace. The effects were instant. The speed of service dropped immediately. We ran out of brewed coffee because we were only brewing when the beeper signaled it was time. Everyone stayed in the positions they were assigned and acted only at the directions of the Store Manager. Every 10 minutes when someone was assigned to clean the lobby, we did a thorough job, ensuring everything was clean and properly stocked. Every drink and food order was perfect.
Dan, the Store Manager, lost his mind.”
Also sometimes referred to as “malicious compliance”, and it’s my favorite thing
… wait, something’s not right with the caption here. That can’t be the same time each day, that’s not how moonrise times work – moonrise at the new moon and at the full moon are almost twelve hours apart.
Okay, I have googled the image and found a more precise explanation: this is the calculated position of the moon at intervals of 24 hours and 41 minutes, thus capturing the way the time of moonrise drifts backward over the course of the lunar month. Further, this composite represents the 28-day cycle but actually took a year to capture, owing to weather difficulties.
Still an amazing composite photo, and deserves proper credit.
