tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/skin-colour-39543/articles
Skin colour – The Conversation
2021-07-28T15:40:42Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164324
2021-07-28T15:40:42Z
2021-07-28T15:40:42Z
The story of an African children’s book that explains the science of skin colour
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411246/original/file-20210714-27-ig4bz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://newafricabooks.com/products/skin-we-are-in-sindiwe-magona-nina-g-jablonski?variant=32109559742500">Skin We Are In</a> is a landmark South African book for children (and grown-ups) on the subject of skin colour. Published in 2018, it was co-authored by an artist and a scientist, both South African luminaries – the author <a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-the-story-of-pioneering-south-african-writer-sindiwe-magona-155670">Sindiwe Magona</a> and the anthropologist and palaeobiologist <a href="https://anth.la.psu.edu/people/ngj2">Nina Jablonski</a>. Here they talk about how – and why – the book came about.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> As someone who studies the human biological past, I had been writing about skin colour and race for academic journals and for adult readers for years. The idea of doing a children’s book was planted back in 2010 when a friend impressed on me the importance of writing up my <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520275898/skin">research</a> on <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520283862/living-color">skin colour and race</a> as an illustrated book for young readers. Like many South Africans, he realised that skin colour had been transformed through the country’s colonial history from a simple bodily trait – something that covers our bodies – to something that determines human worth and destiny. </p>
<p>I had found, in the course of my work, that people knew its social significance, but they didn’t understand it. Many were convinced that there was a genetic connection between skin colour and other physical and intellectual traits, including intelligence. This information – about how skin colour had evolved and how it didn’t determine any other human traits – really needed to be conveyed to the people who counted most: young people. </p>
<p>But I had no experience in writing for kids and no idea where the story would come from. I had the big challenge of finding a storyteller. I turned to the writer <a href="https://www.njabulondebele.co.za">Njabulo Ndebele</a> for advice. He suggested you, Sindiwe, saying “she has the spirit and spine needed”.</p>
<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> The project scared me for I had never worked with a scientist. But the subject matter is one of the most important aspects of my life as it has been the bane of black life in this country and, indeed, the world. This was a book that could enable parents to broach the subject of skin colour with their children. All parents need help to deal with race and racism; many did not get good grounding as children. Skin colour is often a difficult subject and dealing with it through storytelling is a great aid.</p>
<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> One of the things that most impressed me, once we were talking, was your ability to express the everyday wear-and-tear of skin colour and colour-based racism.</p>
<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> Racism in South Africa was a way of life as it was sanctioned. Social stratification, according to skin, was reinforced by <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid laws</a> that in turn embedded and entrenched poverty and lack of mobility for the oppressed. The darker the skin colour, the less legal protection accorded, to the extent of denial of citizenship. Just as skin colour is inescapable, so was poverty inescapable. This created and reinforced a deep-seated sense of inferiority in most black people while most white people suffered the reverse and felt superior.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover with the words 'Skin we are in' on an illustration of five young people, each a different skin tone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411224/original/file-20210714-19-12xcgux.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The cover of the book written by two South African luminaries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New Africa Books</span></span>
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<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> You found the hook to start writing the book quite by chance…</p>
<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> Coming back from our first meeting, Nina, I walked through the gate and reached behind the post for mail. Right there, on the small bush whose leaves I often have to brush aside to look into the mailbox, sat a chameleon. I watched as it slowly made its way from the stalk onto a leaf … changing colour as it did. At once, I morphed into a child, a boy, and I envied the chameleon’s ability. If only I could do that. Strange thing is – never before and never since have I spied another in my garden.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-the-story-of-pioneering-south-african-writer-sindiwe-magona-155670">Learning from the story of pioneering South African writer Sindiwe Magona</a>
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</em>
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<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> When you told me about Njabulo, who longed to change his colour, I knew we had a great story. From there, we worked step by step, fitting the science alongside the developing text. We began working with Lynn Fellman, the illustrator, to create the look of the characters and their setting… </p>
<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> Enter Uncle Joshua and a group of children – Njabulo, Aisha, Tim, Chris and Roshni. Given a recycling project, Njabulo offers his Uncle Joshua’s junkyard, where the group from a multiracial school should meet. Njabulo, waiting for his group, is suddenly assailed by misgivings. Will his “friends” find him wanting? Are they, indeed, his friends? That is when he comes across the chameleon and wishes they were all the same colour … or if one could change colour like the chameleon. Uncle Joshua is stricken by the realisation of the self-doubt that is the lot of the black child. Later, he gets the group talking about skin colour; and here Nina’s science comes in very handy. With understanding grows self acceptance and appreciation. The result is the song that the group presents with the instruments they make using bits and pieces from the scrap yard.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elder woman smiles lightly as she looks into the camera, eyes warm and dressed in black, beaded traditional Xhosa attire, a zebra skin on the wall behind her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413535/original/file-20210728-23-k84xc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sindiwe Magona has written over 130 children’s books.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Bjorn Rudner/Sindiwe Magona</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> Uncle Joshua was a believable and trusted wise uncle, who talked to the kids about things like the effects of sunlight on the body and how people got it wrong when they equated skin colour with intellectual potential. The science content boxes on each page provided basic facts backing up what Uncle Joshua was saying. The characters are very true, I don’t know how you do it.</p>
<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> I am fortunate that I never discarded my childhood, or perhaps it never left me. This enables me to go into that world of the child, imagine its delights, its fears, its doubts, and the absolute thrill of discovery, of mastery.</p>
<p><strong>Nina Jablonski:</strong> We can’t force books into the hands of children, parents and teachers. But we made the book available in all of the official languages of South Africa, and made free copies readily available to schools in the Western Cape through <a href="http://www.biblionefsa.org.za">Biblionef South Africa</a>. We are incredibly fortunate that we had support from the businessman <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/koos-bekker/?sh=793484be416d">Koos Bekker</a> through the Babylonstoren Foundation to make these things possible.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-unpack-the-word-race-and-find-new-language-138379">We need to unpack the word 'race' and find new language</a>
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</em>
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<p><strong>Sindiwe Magona:</strong> All parents are challenged by the issue of race and racism. White parents often feel “accused” of racism and black parents, by and large, feel since they are at the receiving end of racism, it is the other side that should learn. If white people would just stop being racist then the problem would be no more. Were it that simple. </p>
<p>We all need to forgive ourselves and one another … so we can go on and own our past and what it dealt us and then rid ourselves of beliefs we have come to know or recognise as unfounded. From there, we might be able to hand over a cleaner, wiser belief system to our children.</p>
<p><em>You can order a copy of Skin We Are In over <a href="https://newafricabooks.com/products/skin-we-are-in-sindiwe-magona-nina-g-jablonski">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164324/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina G. Jablonski receives funding from the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of STIAS.. </span></em></p>
For parents, skin colour is often a difficult subject and dealing with it through storytelling can be a useful aid.
Nina G. Jablonski, Evan Pugh University Professor of Anthropology, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128340
2019-12-15T08:04:29Z
2019-12-15T08:04:29Z
Being darker makes being a migrant much harder
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305423/original/file-20191205-38993-12cdkfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In India, dark skin is often associated with poverty, partially due to the hierarchichal caste system.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa is becoming infamous on the world stage for its violent, even deadly, xenophobia. Attacks periodically <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47800718">erupt</a>. Often the targets are African foreign nationals as well as Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.</p>
<p>Similarly, in India, xenophobic sentiment is aimed at Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and African migrants, some of whom have <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-failed-to-deter-xenophobic-racist-attacks-on-africans-envoys/articleshow/57989227.cms">even lost their lives</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, in my <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-030-04941-6_22-1">research</a> on migration to India and South Africa, I found that migrants’ experiences vary greatly: while many experienced xenophobia, many did not. In fact, there were migrants in both societies who were warmly received and enjoyed xenophilia – the love of foreigners.</p>
<p>The aim of my research was to try to find out why some foreigners are welcomed with open arms while others are denigrated, or even murdered. </p>
<p>I found that socio-economic status was extremely significant. Two additional characteristics also determined what daily life in a new country was like for a person: their skin colour and their country of origin. Local people assign values to these characteristics.</p>
<p>Wealthier, lighter-skinned migrants were often the most warmly greeted, especially those from “developed” countries with <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/public-culture/article-abstract/29/2%20(82)/261/31081/Frontier-Heritage-Migration-in-the-Global-Ethnic">“First World cultural capital”</a>.</p>
<p>In a skewed, unequal global economy, it is important to understand how the experiences of white or light-skinned migrants compare to darker-skinned migrants. This comparison enables an analysis of how prejudice and privilege affect daily life. </p>
<p>In South Africa, as in India, whiteness or lightness often denotes power and prestige. There are many stereotypes associated with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749813/">skin colour</a>. For example, the label “yellow-bone” is often used in South Africa as a compliment to women with light brown skin. The term is <a href="http://www.bookverdict.com/details.xqy?uri=Product-61940103365638.xml">associated </a>with US slavery.</p>
<p>In South Africa, dark skin is often used as a way to identify foreigners during xenophobic attacks. (Stereotype holds that South Africans are “light” but this is not true as they can have any skin tone.) In India, dark skin is often associated with poverty, partially due to the hierarchichal caste system.</p>
<p>When a migrant enters the new society, the local population tends to “read” the migrant’s skin tone and then assign it positive or negative associations. Thus to understand the migrant experience, we must understand these associations and stereotypes.</p>
<h2>Colour matters</h2>
<p>Skin colour dictates what opportunities and challenges occur in a migrant’s daily life. </p>
<p>For example, previous <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002764218810758?journalCode=absb">research found</a> that darker-skinned migrants to the US received significantly lower wages than migrants with the same qualifications who had fairer complexions. </p>
<p>My research, which involved collecting data through interviews, focused on middle-class professionals who had left more industrialised countries such as Japan, South Korea and those in the West to live in industrialising countries like India and South Africa. </p>
<p>In India, white men told me how their white privilege enabled them <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-mens-privilege-in-emerging-economies-isnt-measured-it-should-be-75557">to get ahead</a> in their business and social lives. For their part, dark-skinned African migrants told me that they were sometimes called derogatory names like “monkey.” </p>
<p>In South Africa, racial hierarchies affected the experiences of migrants. An American woman living in Johannesburg explained to me that being Caucausian in a highly-racialised South Africa where white people wielded a great deal of economic power afforded her a lot of clout.</p>
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<p>If anything, I think I’m surprised by how often as a white American, people are still afraid to confront or challenge me in some way. I think there are times in which probably the colour of my skin gives me power in their eyes…</p>
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<p>But white privilege and prejudice against dark skin are not just about a migrant’s skin colour. The reception of a migrant is also related to local attitudes about the migrant’s country of origin.</p>
<h2>Developed country advantage</h2>
<p>People in “emerging markets” like South Africa and India view migrants from more “developed” nations as adding value because they see them as a benefit to their own country’s development. </p>
<p>This belief is based on the perceived relative difference in “modernity” and “developmental” levels between different countries.</p>
<p>For example, in South Africa and India, the <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2017/10/the-african-churches-of-south-delhi/">local populations</a> tended to view their economic development as more “advanced” than that of countries like Zimbabwe or Nigeria.</p>
<p>Hence when South Africans and Indians encounter African migrants they associate them with the negative stereotype of being from less “developed” countries.</p>
<p>The inverse perception becomes a benefit for migrants from “First World” countries. Researchers in international politics illustrate how <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264774679_Volgy_Thomas_J_Jennifer_L_Miller_Jacob_Cramer_Megan_Hauser_Paul_Bezerra_2013_An_Exploration_Into_Status_Attribution_in_International_Politics_Occasional_Paper_Series_on_Political_Science_and_Public_Po">“status attribution”</a> benefits powerful countries because their perceived status gives them even more power. This is true for migrants from powerful countries too. </p>
<p>Many of the middle-class professionals I studied were actually economic migrants seeking out better opportunities by moving to “developing” countries. But they were not perceived in the same way as economic migrants from poorer countries because of the admiration local people had for their country of origin.</p>
<p>A white American man who moved from New York to Johannesburg told me that South Africans would ask him: “Why would you choose to be here as opposed to the USA … I think the States in general, Europe in general, people look up to it.”</p>
<p>A white Dutch woman who had moved to Cape Town told me, “Many
people think of Europe as this wonderful place of opportunity and of education … I think that’s why many people are quite open to having me.”</p>
<p>Developed-country advantage is not only enjoyed by white migrants. I found that skin colour, like gender, was a dependent variable that was interpreted in relation to other factors. African American, black British, and Afro-German migrants I interviewed in South Africa also reported experiencing the developed country advantage.</p>
<p>When a migrant benefits from positive stereotypes of being wealthier, fairer or coming from a “developed” country, xenophilia can result. The converse is that being perceived as darker, poorer and coming from an “inferior” country can factor into xenophobia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128340/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Tandiwe Myambo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For migrants, prejudice can be a life and death matter. Research in India and South Africa shows life is considerably harder if migrants have a darker skin and come from a poorer country.
Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, Research Associate, Centre for Indian Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/110976
2019-02-21T11:43:48Z
2019-02-21T11:43:48Z
The US adoption system discriminates against darker-skinned children
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258592/original/file-20190212-174883-1dbhy1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children who have darker skin wait longer on average to leave foster care.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/child-holds-drawn-house-family-close-308048285?src=g49vyp5plKNnLLwRfFXTkA-1-84">Stepan Popov/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to adoption, Americans might assume that each child is treated equally. But research shows that darker-skinned children are repeatedly discriminated against, both by potential adoptive parents and the social workers who are charged with protecting their well-being.</p>
<p>Social workers are often called upon to assess a newborn’s skin color, because skin color influences potential for placement. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/06/27/195967886/six-words-black-babies-cost-less-to-adopt">As a 2013 NPR investigation found</a>, dark-skinned black children cost less to adopt than light-skinned white children, as they are often ranked by social workers and the public as less preferred. </p>
<p>According to Washington University law school professor Kimberly Jade Norwood, “In the adoption market, race and color combine to create another preference hierarchy: white children are preferred over nonwhite. When African-American children are considered, the data suggest there is a <a href="https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1547&context=law_globalstudies">preference for light skin and biracial children</a> over dark-skinned children.” </p>
<p>As a social worker with an interest in the social effects of skin color, I believe that the social work profession must be held accountable for its discriminatory practices. </p>
<h2>Light skin versus dark</h2>
<p>Regardless of race, adopting parents prefer to adopt a light-skinned child. A 1999 study at the Institute of Black Parenting, a Los Angeles adoption agency, showed that as many as 40 percent of the African-American couples <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1321511">expressed a preference for a light-skinned or mixed-race child</a>, regardless of their own complexion. </p>
<p>Children who are white are slightly more likely to be adopted out of foster care. Of the more than 400,000 children in foster care awaiting adoption in 2017, <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/afcarsreport25.pdf">about 44 percent were white</a>, while the majority were children of color. However, of those who were adopted with public agency involvement, 49 percent were white.</p>
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<p>According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2004 data shows that children with lighter skin were <a href="https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/docs/MEPABriefingFinal_07-01-10.pdf">adopted more quickly out of foster care</a>. While white children waited 23.5 months on average, black children waited 39.4. </p>
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<p>In preparing a paper on this subject in 2017, I found a 1999 report from the American Civil Liberties Union which conducted a court-authorized review of 50 adoption case files in New York City. They concluded that the practices of social workers <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1321511">favored children with more Caucasian features</a>. When social workers were asked about this, they contended that it was to insulate dark-skinned children from rejection. </p>
<p>Research suggests that the skin color issue continues to be a problem across the U.S. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1091142114547412">A study similar to that of the ACLU’s</a> was conducted in 2010 in the state of Michigan. This study looked at 1,183 adoptive Michigan families who adopted children from 2007 to 2009, through both public and private adoption agencies. According to the findings, 42 percent of adoptive parents’ most recently adopted children were “very fair or somewhat fair” in skin color, while 31 percent were “somewhat dark or very dark.”</p>
<p>Finally, research shows that it costs more to adopt a white child in the U.S. than it does to adopt a black child. According to the NPR investigation, <a href="http://foster-care-newsletter.com/human-discount-black-children-cost-less-adopt/#.XFnc77x7mpo">it costs about US$35,000 to adopt a white child</a>, absent legal fees. Meanwhile, a black child cost $18,000. </p>
<p>These prices, which are set internally at adoption agencies based on a number of factors, suggest that white children have a higher market value in the adoption marketplace and are more highly sought after by adoptive parents.</p>
<h2>The dark side of adoptions</h2>
<p>The evidence suggests that social workers do discriminate based on skin color. What’s more, private agencies that do not employ social workers no less enable skin color discrimination by referring to adoptees’ skin color.</p>
<p>Adopting parents may ask for a child <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91834&page=1">who looks similar to them</a> or who has lighter skin. Currently, even when skin color is not an official record, social workers are inclined <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1091142114547412">to share such information casually in response to parents’ questions</a>.</p>
<p>When social workers accommodate a preference regarding skin color – by evaluating a child’s skin color or by responding to parents’ questions about a potential adoptee – they are breaching their code of ethics. <a href="https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English">The official Code of Ethics for the National Association of Social Workers</a> clearly states that social workers “should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination” on the basis of race, ethnicity or color, along with other factors. </p>
<p>Assessing children by skin color allows for a ranked ordering, where dark-skinned children may be singled out as less valued. While it is not always a matter of formal record, children assessed as dark-skinned clearly have a different experience than white children in the adoption process.</p>
<p>No doubt, the significance of skin color requires it be noted in files – but, in my view, it should not be monetized. I feel that skin color should be maintained as a confidential record, unless social workers can establish a clear reason why sharing it would lead to the best adoptive outcome for the potential adoptee. </p>
<p>I believe that it’s important to expose the dark side of adoptions that children regardless of skin color be valued and safe from discrimination.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110976/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronald E. Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In the US, black children wait longer to be adopted and cost less to adopt than white children.
Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/103754
2018-09-25T20:00:10Z
2018-09-25T20:00:10Z
New colour change wristbands help you balance too much sun vs not enough – no matter your skin tone
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237826/original/file-20180924-85758-1mlznb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Different skin tones need different amounts of UV light to activate vitamin D in the skin. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-children-enjoying-water-ocean-shore-32100412?src=RrtS8KQ9MvF_QdmLQpoCTg-2-15">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiations have both <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/sun-protection/sunsmart-position-statements.html">harmful and beneficial effects</a> for our health. Too much exposure can lead to sunburn, skin ageing, eye damage or even skin cancer. With too little UV we may become vitamin D deficient.</p>
<p>This big challenge of managing our daily UV exposure limits motivated my colleagues and I to develop a low-cost, paper-based sensor people can wear. The colour produced by our sensor indicates when you have achieved 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of your daily recommended UV exposure. </p>
<p>To accommodate our ethnically-diverse population, we developed six such sensors, each personalised for a particular <a href="https://www.myuv.com.au/about-uv/">skin tonality</a>. </p>
<p>The key discovery behind our sensor is an invisible ink that develops a colour when exposed to the UV rays.</p>
<p>We published these findings today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06273-3">Nature Communications</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237721/original/file-20180924-85773-chmkuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Personalised paper-based wearable solar UV sensors suitable for people of different skin tones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vipul Bansal, RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Problems with the UV index</h2>
<p>When you step outside your home do you notice the intensity of the sun? </p>
<p>If it’s cloudy where you live today, perhaps you assumed you didn’t need protection. If the sun felt intense, maybe you put on sunscreen and a hat.</p>
<p>But irrespective of your judgement about this risk, in reality UV rays neither feel hot (it’s the infrared rays that do this), nor are they visible to the human eye.</p>
<p>So, how do you track UV intensity? </p>
<p>Your current option is the <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/news/blog/prevention/health-check-what-does-the-uv-index-mean.html">UV index</a>. This is a number calculated by the <a href="https://www.arpansa.gov.au/our-services/monitoring/ultraviolet-radiation-monitoring/ultraviolet-radiation-index">Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)</a> that tells you whether the UV intensity is low, moderate, high, very high or extreme. </p>
<p>But UV index is a rather blunt tool: it still leaves you wondering about when and for how long you should step out for your vitamin D dose, and when should you go back inside to minimise skin cancer risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237719/original/file-20180924-85776-6n8kdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cartoon depicting different Sun exposure needs of individuals based on their skin tonalities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wenyue Zou, RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our reliance on the UV index is further complicated by the fact that it’s calculated for a fair skin tone. While lighter skinned individuals are more prone to UV damage, darker skin needs much more sunlight to produce enough vitamin D – which is <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-protect-your-skin-while-getting-enough-vitamin-d-34143">vital</a> for strong bones and other aspects of health. </p>
<p>This means the current UV index may not be suited to our ethnically-diverse population. And substituting sunlight with oral vitamin D supplements may not always be a good solution either, as a number of factors – including certain medications – <a href="https://wiki.cancer.org.au/policy/Position_statement_-_Risks_and_benefits_of_sun_exposure">interfere with oral vitamin D metabolism</a>. </p>
<h2>UV sensitive ink</h2>
<p>As another way to measure UV exposure, we developed sensor paper made with an ink that changes colour in the presence of UV radiation. </p>
<p>An important component of this ink is a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41570-018-0112">polyoxometalate molecule</a>. It belongs to a family of materials described as “multi-redox photo-electrochromic” – meaning they can produce different intensities and tonalities of colours when excited with different energies. </p>
<p>We know that solar UV irradiation is comprised of different types of UV waves – so our unique ink responds to these different kinds of radiation and produces distinct colours that are visible to the naked eye.</p>
<p>Using this initially-invisible ink, we can draw or print a design on a paper or any other surface. On exposure to UV, the ink starts to become coloured. The colour intensity allows us to track our total UV exposure in real time. </p>
<p>By changing the ink composition and the sensor design, we can make the ink to develop colour either slow or faster. This allows us to produce sensors for people with different skin tonalities and sun exposure needs.</p>
<h2>Wearable wrist bands</h2>
<p>This low-cost paper-based technology also offers design flexibility to produce UV sensors as stickers, hairbands and wristbands. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237726/original/file-20180924-85767-1gj2tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A paper-based solar UV sensor prototype in a wristband format after different levels of permissible solar UV exposure. The smileys are initially invisible, but they become blue from left to right after 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% sun-safe UV exposure limits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wenyue Zou, RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Currently, the sensor comes as a wearable wristband with four smiley faces. As the wearer is exposed to more and more UV with increasing time in the sun, the smileys start lighting up one after another. Finally, a sad smiley appears when the wearer approaches their maximum-allowed UV dose – this acts as a warning sign to leave the Sun. </p>
<p>We have successfully tested the performance of these sensors across various environmental conditions, such as changing humidity, temperature and altitude. </p>
<p>The next stage is to distribute UV sensor prototypes to volunteers to collect sensor response data. This feedback will also assist in optimising the sensor design before we progress towards third-party validation, certification and manufacturing.</p>
<h2>Applications outside of health</h2>
<p>Overall, we are excited that our modular paper-based UV sensor technology will be useful in helping people negotiate the delicate balance between not enough and too much UV exposure. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237850/original/file-20180925-85758-ozz2pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The developers of the colour-changing UV sensors model their wrist bands (L to R: Rajesh Ramanthan, Wenyue Zou and Vipul Bansal).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But UV rays not only directly impact humans – they also have complex effects on the growth of our agricultural crops, and shelf-lives of many consumer, industrial and defence products. </p>
<p>Our UV sensors show large dynamic range – this means that they can detect extremely low as well as extremely high UV doses. This feature may be particularly promising for those industries that wish to assess the long-term impact of UV rays on their outdoor products.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vipul Bansal receives funding from Australian Research Council (ARC) and is an ARC Future Fellow. </span></em></p>
UV ratings indicate risk of skin damage – but they’re based on pale skin. New wrist bands designed for six different tones of skin provide a more personalised way to track safe UV exposure.
Vipul Bansal, Professor, ARC Future Fellow & Founding Director, Sir Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/97149
2018-08-17T08:44:22Z
2018-08-17T08:44:22Z
Colourism – how shade bias perpetuates prejudice against people with dark skin
<p>When a person of colour with light skin rises to prominence, or becomes the first to occupy a particular position, it’s often heralded as a sign that structural barriers to the progress of people of colour have been removed. This was the case when Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in May, joining the British royal family as the Duchess of Sussex. </p>
<p>Some media reports portrayed Harry’s marriage to Meghan, who has one black parent and one white parent, as <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/royal-wedding-meghan-markle-prince-harry-marriage-has-meaning-for-people-of-color-2018-5">signifying “hope”</a> for people of colour while others said the match could spark a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-might-spark-a-royal-cultural-revolution">“royal cultural revolution”</a>. This parallels what happened when Barack Obama, the son of a white mother and black father, was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/barack-obama-first-black-president-us-racism-white-supremacy-donald-trump-a7532206.html">celebrated</a> as “the first black president” in the US. His election was <a href="https://thegrio.com/2017/01/19/hope-change-obama-presidency/">described</a> as a “milestone in race relations,” ushering in a “postracial country” – one that had <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1527476409340906">moved beyond race</a>. </p>
<p>However, the outstanding achievements of some prominent people of colour with light skin doesn’t signify an advance for black people, or people of colour more generally. Those with light skin still benefit from the privilege that comes with an approximation to whiteness. People of colour with light skin who are public figures are often viewed as having transcended their “race”, whereas negative perceptions of people of colour more broadly are left largely unchanged. </p>
<p>There have been some recent incidents where people of colour with light skin have expressed disdain for those with darker skin. The Radio 1 DJ and TV host Maya Jama, who is of Somali and Swedish descent and celebrated as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/29/maya-jama-interview-true-love-or-true-lies-stormzy">unquestionably stunning</a>”, was compelled to apologise when an offensive tweet she posted in 2012 resurfaced. </p>
<h2>Creeping ‘colourism’</h2>
<p>Colourism is prejudice involving the preferential treatment of people with light skin within and between ethnic groups. While it affects both men and women, colourism intersects with sexism so that it particularly affects women of colour. The sociologist <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781317557968">Meeta Rani Jha</a> argues: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Physical attractiveness, whiteness, and youthfulness have accrued capital just as darker skin colour, hair texture, disability, and ageing have devalued feminine currency. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mathew Knowles, the father of the superstar singer and actress Beyoncé and singer Solange, has <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/matthew-knowles-beyonce-darker-skin-success-music-industry-colourism-interview-solange-race-issues-a8196406.html">highlighted</a> how light skin leads to opportunities in the entertainment industry: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When it comes to black females, who are the people who get their music played on pop radio? … Mariah Carey, Rihanna, the female rapper Nicki Minaj, my kids … and what do they all have in common? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Grime artist Lioness <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44229236">told BBC Newsbeat</a> that she gave up music for seven years in part because talent scouts made it clear she would have more success if she had lighter skin. According to the BBC, between January 2017 and early June 2018, of the 68 female solo artists in the British Top 40, 17 were of black ancestry and the vast majority had light skin. </p>
<h2>Light skin privilege</h2>
<p>Colourism has evolved in different ways in different parts of the world. In countries with a history of transatlantic slavery, or European colonialism, colourism dates back to the preferential treatment <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00006.x">given to people of colour with light skin</a> who were often the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0891243208316089">progeny of white slave masters</a> or colonisers. </p>
<p>Today, there are still considerable advantages to having lighter skin. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00006.x">Research in the US</a> has pointed to advantages for people of colour with light skin in education, the job market and relationships. Women of colour are burdened with an oppressive ideal of what is “beautiful” that often excludes the majority of the world’s population. </p>
<p>Colourism is simultaneously exploited by companies determined to turn insecurities about skin colour into financial gain through <a href="https://qz.com/1072367/skin-lightening-the-dangerous-obsession-thats-worth-billions/">marketing lucrative skin lightening products</a>. Interviews and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0wfjx6L9q0">videos</a> featuring black women who use <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45085674">skin-bleaching products</a> make clear that it is insecurities about skin shade that lead them to seek lighter skin, fuelling the multi-billion dollar global skin lightening industry. In the UK, some people resort to skin lightening products in an effort to try and gain advantages in the job market, or relationships, that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/16/health.healthandwellbeing">they believe</a> will result from having lighter skin.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/companies-that-promise-to-lighten-baby-skin-colour-reinforce-prejudice-95024">Companies that promise to lighten baby skin colour reinforce prejudice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Obscuring other people of colour</h2>
<p>British writer Laura Smith has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11205165/Mixed-race-in-the-UK-am-I-the-future-face-of-this-country.html">argued</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The trend for mixed actors, models or television presenters to be deployed as the unthreatening faces of ‘diversity’ can squeeze out other people of colour.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This exclusion is compounded by the way in which people with power and privilege use the success of those people of colour with light skin, such as Markle, to claim advances for people of colour more generally. In doing so, they can obscure the marginalisation of those with dark skin and hide the effects of colourism and racism. </p>
<p>To challenge colourism, we must draw attention to the lack of people with darker skin shades in high profile or high status positions and the obstacles they face. These obstacles include a global beauty industry that thrives on insecurity and the allure of achievable “enhancement” built upon ideals that privilege whiteness and light skin. Only in recognising and challenging the racism that underpins colourism can we begin to address this pernicious prejudice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aisha Phoenix does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The racism that underpins colourism must be challenged.
Aisha Phoenix, Post-Doctoral Researcher, School of History, Religions & Philosophies, SOAS, University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/95024
2018-07-27T12:29:59Z
2018-07-27T12:29:59Z
Companies that promise to lighten baby skin colour reinforce prejudice
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229438/original/file-20180726-106517-1eakvvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/144900295?src=kqd3EGCL_KqFfyoglTNA1A-1-5&size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Skin lightening is a longstanding practice that occurs in many parts of the world. It’s been done through the use of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/23/skin-lightening-creams-are-dangerous-yet-business-is-booming-can-the-trade-be-stopped">creams, lotions, soaps</a>, folk remedies, and staying out of the sun. The desire for light skin has been extended to children too. Advice to “marry light” is not uncommon in <a href="https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/144">Asian</a> and <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0192513X10390858">black</a> families, for example, in order to produce a light-skinned child. </p>
<p>Some have also tried to lighten the skin of their unborn child with the help of new technologies, whether or not these technologies are effective or safe. In Ghana, some women have reportedly <a href="https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-43214786">taken a pill to lighten</a> the skin of their foetus despite the questionable science. Others in the US using IVF technology have selected egg or sperm donors with <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2015/06/dear_prudence_my_white_wife_won_t_let_us_use_a_black_sperm_donor.html">light or white skin</a> irrespective of the inaccurate results. There is even the possibility – however remote at the moment – of <a href="https://theconversation.com/genome-editing-poses-ethical-problems-that-we-cannot-ignore-39466">genetic selection of embryos</a> for traits such as fair skin. If there was a diagnostic test for skin tone that could be carried out on embryos, for instance, reproducers could select “this” embryo likely to have fairer skin over “that” one likely to have darker skin. </p>
<p>Philosophers have offered some conflicting moral principles to provide direction on whether people looking to have a child via assisted conception technologies should select certain embryos. While some have suggested that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/">we should not select at all</a>, others have argued we should select embryos in various morally significant ways. These include picking: the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8519.00251">“best” child</a>; the child you <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/AuthorProfile?search_name=Robertson%2C+John+A.&collection=journals&base=js">most want</a>; the child that will do the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28786178">least harm to others</a>; or the child that will provide the <a href="https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4109108">most benefit to others</a>. </p>
<h2>Complicity of companies and states</h2>
<p>Whatever the current plausibility of these various interventions, I believe there is a wider socio-political question to ask in these debates. This goes beyond individual decisions, and looks at the role played by companies which provide embryo, or sperm or egg, selection services, or skin-lightening products, and those legislators who govern such practices. </p>
<p>Companies that produce skin-lightening pills for foetuses, laboratories that develop technology for non-disease embryonic selection, and clinics that offer sperm and eggs likely to have lighter skin at a higher cost, all have a vested, monetary, interest in offering these services or products. </p>
<p>Liberal democracies too might want to allow such services or products because decisions about children are private matters and such states profess to respect citizens’ autonomy. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-future-of-genetic-enhancement-is-not-in-the-west-63246">Non-liberal democracies</a> might want populations that are stronger, smarter, more competitive or more beautiful. </p>
<p>The hypothetical argument is that, so long as there are protections in place – it is medically safe, no one is coerced, and there is recourse to resolve disputes – then it should be permitted. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229321/original/file-20180725-194140-nzmqs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Embryo selection: is it ethical?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-ivf-invitro-fertilization-embryo-laboratory-1121729447?src=gXuG57mdLXMXdw0LOJh2lA-1-49">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Some moral arguments about selection</h2>
<p>However, there are moral arguments – most often raised in the case of disability, but no less relevant in other cases – against these practices. Foremost among them is a concern over <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599826452">being eugenic</a> if we select against disability. Applying this to the skin colour case, if babies are bred to have fairer skin, could whole populations of darker skinned people begin to disappear? </p>
<p>Defenders of non-disabled embryo selection reject this eugenic concern. They argue this is because neither <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8519.00251">the state</a>, at least in liberal democracies, nor companies, are mandating the selection of particular traits. Rather it is individuals who are choosing what they want. This could apply equally to the skin colour case too. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-you-turbo-charge-your-genes-to-produce-designer-babies-53261">Can you turbo-charge your genes to produce 'designer babies'?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There are other concerns too when selecting against disability, including what is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/medlaw/article-abstract/19/2/334/944634">expressed</a> about current disabled people through selection. When applying this to the skin colour case, if darker skin is chosen less often by parents than fairer skin – a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/hypa.12056">global trend</a> when buying sperm and eggs for IVF for surrogacy – then existing darker skinned people might feel they are less valuable. </p>
<p>Those philosophers that defend embryo selection against disability discount this worry by proposing ways to make current disabled people <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/choosing-children-9780199238491?cc=gb&lang=en&">feel valuable</a>. By extension, others may argue that although people could select against darker skin, we can promote broader messages that emphasise that <a href="http://womenofworth.in/dark-is-beautiful/">dark skin is beautiful</a> and that existing darker-skinned people are valuable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229320/original/file-20180725-194137-1mhnp0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colourism is a practice where one type of skin colour is portrayed as better than another.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/home">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Colourism</h2>
<p>Another worry that I am exploring in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjcjYvXoOTaAhXrCcAKHXpgCvgQFggpMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Flink.springer.com%2Farticle%2F10.1007%2Fs10728-017-0341-y&usg=AOvVaw13NDhwdFZyYWsII0iO2Wgs">my research</a>, is that companies or states that offer or allow embryo selection for fairer skin are complicit in practices that are substantively about one type of skin colour being better than another – a form of what’s called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6V1AjDqXnk">“colourism”</a>. Put into a context where skin colour, as a proxy for race and ethnicity, has been used to enslave, colonise, rape and marginalise, this is deeply troubling and ethically suspect. If we are committed to values of equality, where skin colour – among other traits – should not matter to us privately or publicly, it’s wrong to allow companies and institutions to develop or permit selection for this very unequal thing.</p>
<p>Banning practices can drive them underground: the pill to lighten foetuses is illegal, as is <a href="http://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/mercury_flyer.pdf">mercury in products</a>, which also lightens skin. Yet both are still available, and are used by some of the poorest women in the world to boot. Stopping production of such products or services won’t eradicate the desire or societal norm in some places for lighter skin. But companies and states should consider whether current products – like lightening creams – or future interventions, such as embryo selection for fair skin, encourage or perpetuate inequality, and they should not partake in them if they do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Herjeet Marway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A philosopher’s take on the ethics of products that allow parents to lighten the skin colour of their unborn baby.
Herjeet Marway, Lecturer in Global Ethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/82200
2018-02-02T11:29:53Z
2018-02-02T11:29:53Z
Black America’s ‘bleaching syndrome’
<p>For black Americans, skin color is a complex topic.</p>
<p>Whenever a black celebrity lightens his or her skin – whether it’s pop star Michael Jackson, retired baseball player Sammy Sosa or rapper Nicki Minaj – they’re usually greeted <a href="http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-shocking/10-celebrities-who-shockingly-bleached-their-skin/">with widespread ridicule</a>. Some accuse them of self-loathing, while many in the African-American community <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-counts-as-black-71443">view it as a rejection of black identity</a>.</p>
<p>Increasing numbers of mixed-race births have further complicated matters, with light-skinned blacks occasionally <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-counts-as-black-71443">being accused</a> of not being “black enough.”</p>
<p>At the same time, The New York Times recently detailed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/health/skin-lightening-glutathione-bleaching.html">the growing popularity of glutathione treatments</a>. The antioxidant, which is administered intravenously, can deactivate the enzyme that produces darker skin pigments. </p>
<p>The article noted that while these treatments have become hugely popular in Asia, “it is also cropping up among certain communities in Britain and the United States,” with demand “slowly growing.”</p>
<p>As someone who has studied and written about the issue of skin color and black identity for over 20 years, I believe the rise of glutathione treatments – in addition to the growing use of various bleaching creams – reveal a taboo that African-Americans are certainly aware of, but loathe to admit. </p>
<p>Though they might criticize lighter-skinned black people, many people of color – deep down – abhor dark skin. </p>
<h2>The power of fair skin</h2>
<p>There are few places in the world where dark skin isn’t stigmatized. </p>
<p>Many Latin American countries <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/world/americas/brazil-enacts-affirmative-action-law-for-universities.html">have laws and policies in place</a> to prevent discrimination relative to skin color. In many Native American communities, “Red-Black Cherokees” <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-over-Black-Contributions-Afro-American/dp/0837190347">were denied acceptance</a> into the tribe, while those with lighter skin were welcomed. </p>
<p>But it is in Asia where dark skin has seen the longest and most intense level of stigma. In India, dark-skinned Dalits, for thousands of years, were viewed as “untouchables.” Today, <a href="http://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf/New_files/India/Dalit_children_in_India_-_victims_of_caste_discrimination.pdf">they’re still stigmatized</a>. In Japan, long before the first Europeans arrived, dark skin was stigmatized. <a href="https://japansociology.com/2014/11/01/white-skin-covers-the-seven-flaws/">According to Japanese tradition</a>, a woman with fair skin compensates for “seven blemishes.” </p>
<p>The United States has its own complicated history with skin color, primarily because “mulatto” skin – not quite black, but not quite white – often arose out of mixed-race children conceived between slaves and slave masters.</p>
<p>In America, these variations in complexions produced an unspoken hierarchy: Black people with lighter complexions ended up being granted some of the rights of the master class. By early 19th century, the “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=o_FGvL1ZQ3IC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=mulatto+hypothesis&source=bl&ots=BlKJP5RmJb&sig=hegCbqWgblA-1ee3SiyGctIyy7w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig86uPx4DZAhVQS60KHUZXBMYQ6AEIPzAE#v=onepage&q=mulatto%20hypothesis&f=false">mulatto hypothesis</a>” emerged, arguing that the “white blood” of light-skinned slaves made them smarter, more civilized and better looking. </p>
<p>It’s probably no coincidence that light-skinned blacks emerged as leaders in the black community: To white power brokers, they were less threatening. Harvard’s first black graduate was the fair-skinned <a href="https://media.poetryfoundation.org/m/image/15830/web-dubois-cropped-hires.jpg?w=1200&h=1200&fit=max">W.E.B. Du Bois</a>. Some of the most prominent black politicians – from former New Orleans Mayor <a href="http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/morial_ernest.gif">Ernest Morial</a>, to former Virginia Gov. <a href="http://www.azquotes.com/public/pictures/authors/f9/84/f9849b43468d068b785a03bea9a06e7c/5494c6fbe5740_douglas_wilder.jpg">Douglas Wilder</a>, to former President <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/President_Barack_Obama.jpg">Barack Obama</a> – have lighter skin.</p>
<h2>Fair skin and beauty</h2>
<p><a href="http://homepage.smc.edu/delpiccolo_guido/soc34/soc34readings/colonial%20relationship.pdf">In 1967</a>, Dutch sociologist Harry Hoetink <a href="http://www.ijpsy.com/volumen5/num2/114/from-psychology-of-race-to-issue-of-skin-EN.pdf">coined the term</a> “somatic norm image” to describe why some shades of skin are favored over others. </p>
<p>In America, some trace the emergence of light skin as the “somatic norm image” for all modern-day races to the 1930s advertising campaign of <a href="http://www.retroarama.com/2012/05/breck-girl.html">Breck Shampoo</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204339/original/file-20180131-157458-1r7sj5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A print advertisement features the fair-skinned Breck Girl.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbcurio/4243655958">Jamie/Flickr.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To market its product, the company created the “Breck Girl.” In advertisements, her fair, alabaster skin was touted as the perfect ideal of feminine beauty. Few considered the devastating affects a glamorized image of light skin might have on the self-esteem of dark-skinned Americans – in particular, women. </p>
<p>In a 2008 study, researchers at the University of Georgia called skin color distinction “a well-kept secret” in black communities. “The hue of one’s skin,” <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J137v01n02_05">they wrote</a>, “tends to have a psychological effect on the self-esteem of African-Americans.” </p>
<p>Yet they also noted that existing research on the relationship between skin color and self-esteem didn’t even exist. Fear of being perceived as a race traitor continues to make the topic taboo in the United States – in a way which exceeds that in places like India or Japan.</p>
<p>To obtain a fairer complexion, many apply bleaching creams. Some of the most popular are Olay, Natural White, Ambi Fade Cream and Clean & Clear Fairness Cream. </p>
<p>While these creams can work, they can be dangerous: Some contain <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/world/asia/14thailand.html?scp=7&sq=skin+whitening&st=nyt">cancer-causing ingredients</a>. Despite the potential danger, skin bleaching cream sales have grown. By 2024, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bleaching-creams-are-by-products-of-colonialism-a-view-from-french-history-83692">it’s projected</a> that global profits will reach $31.2 billion. </p>
<p>In the U.S., sales are difficult to assess; African-Americans are reluctant to admit that they bleach. For this reason, American companies will often market their creams by using <a href="https://www.cvs.com/shop/ambi-fade-cream-normal-skin-2-oz-prodid-1140270?skuId=350666">abstract language</a>, claiming that the creams will “fade,” “even the tone” or “smooth out the texture” of dark skin. In this way, black people who buy the creams can avoid confronting the real reasons they feel compelled to purchase the product, while skirting accusations of self-hate.</p>
<h2>The harmful effects of the ‘bleaching syndrome’</h2>
<p>After studying skin color for years, I coined the term “bleaching syndrome” to describe this phenomenon. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07399863940163008">I published my first paper</a> on the topic in 1994. Put simply, it argues that African-Americans, Latinos and every other oppressed population will internalize the somatic norm image at the expense of their native characteristics. So even though dark skin is a feature of African-Americans, light skin continues to be the ideal because it’s the one preferred by the dominant group: whites.</p>
<p>The bleaching syndrome <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002193479502600205">has three components</a>. The first is psychological: This involves self-rejection of dark skin and other native characteristics. </p>
<p>Second, it’s sociological, in that it influences group behavior (hence the phenomenon of black celebrities bleaching their skin). </p>
<p>The final aspect is physiological. The physiological is not limited to just bleaching the skin. It can also mean altering hair texture and eye color to mimic the dominant group. The rapper Lil’ Kim, in addition to lightening her skin, <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/lil-kim-how-her-face-has-changed-w204002/">has also changed</a> her eye color and altered her facial features. The fact that so few in mainstream culture can even acknowledge the existence of the bleaching syndrome is a testament to how taboo the topic is.</p>
<p>The solution to the bleaching syndrome is political. The disdain for dark skin today is similar to disdain for kinky hair in the 1960s. African-Americans’ dislike of their natural hair was so ingrained that the first black millionaire, <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/madam-cj-walker-9522174">Madam C.J. Walker</a>, was able to accumulate her fortune by selling hair-straightening products to black folks.</p>
<p>“Black is Beautiful” – <a href="https://search.proquest.com/openview/9504cc0ef53aaa2eaa2b1f04187bf540/1?pq-origsite=gscholar">a slogan popularized at the tail end of the 1960s</a> – was a political statement that sought to upend the negative associations many Americans, including many African-Americans, felt toward all things black. In response, the Afro became a popular hairstyle, and black entertainers, from Sammy Davis Jr. to Lou Rawls, proudly grew out their hair, refusing to apply hair straightening products. </p>
<p>“Back to Black” – a nod to the “Black is Beautiful” campaign – is a political statement that could address the impulse many feel to bleach their dark skin. It has the potential to reverse the disdain for such skin and hence those so characterized. Even black celebrities who possess fair skin could help glamorize dark skin by repeating the slogan and paying tribute to the numerous dark-skinned beauties whose attractiveness goes seldom acknowledged: Lupita Nyong’o, Gabrielle Union and Janelle Monae.</p>
<p>These dark-skinned black women would qualify as beautiful by any standards – regardless of skin color.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronald E. Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The longing for lighter skin remains a taboo topic in African-American communities.
Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83878
2017-10-17T19:14:04Z
2017-10-17T19:14:04Z
Curious Kids: Why do so many animals seem to have pink ears, when their bodies are all different colours?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189115/original/file-20171006-25758-1c0w700.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's all about evolution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/myri_bonnie/33391930610/in/photolist-SSJnBy-7TWWNH-29W1uY-EYyRkm-67Aacv-SfjvRu-eudyTt-ciM6oA-4AXH5c-6gLcJm-6SpLdQ-4MtHzu-5H1Gfg-pEcRAA-7D7BQf-rcxc3R-nwckMa-9NqfJQ-4SzfEs-K1MkD-9q5hyu-4QKVCY-6h1ese-6TJCrD-QuUUi-LLBVx-6YMcwE-7cSkm7-7SphNB-2tBjBz-cddhR7-81nDzN-6JJ4T5-3emTo-LiTzt-6r7Fa8-9FnCxM-7Z27tv-6WsYcV-aHHwcx-5mtcpD-bdJD6r-7Jie6R-4w5YNu-7KA4Hn-6gG2Yr-6p4U1d-57dkhg-6oZWzX-eh2keR">Flickr/myri_bonnie</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is an article from <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a>, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky!</em> </p>
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<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do so many animals seem to have pink ears, when their bodies are all different colours? – Heather, age 8, Brisbane.</strong> </p>
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<p>Interesting question, Heather.</p>
<p>The short answer is that ears have a lot of blood vessels near the skin, which is pretty thin in that spot. Having blood vessels close to the skin helps animals – including you and me – to keep their body temperature just right.</p>
<p>Animals that evolved in cold parts of the world usually have lighter skin. If a light-skinned animal has blood vessels close to the surface of their ear skin, this will make the ears look pink.</p>
<p>But the truth is that most animals actually don’t have pink ears. Let us explain.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SKIzT2bMfXI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-satellites-get-back-to-earth-82447">Curious Kids: How do satellites get back to Earth?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Evolution gave us different ear shapes and colours</h2>
<p>You’ve probably heard of evolution. That’s where animals change their appearance, how they hunt (or how they’re hunted) and how they attract their mates. All of these changes and adaptations improve their chances of survival.</p>
<p>Evolution helped influence skin colour in animals as well. </p>
<p>Near the equator, where the climate is hot, animals tend to have darker skin, including on their ears. Think of the African elephant, which has quite dark ears (they also have the biggest ears of any animal on the planet).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189102/original/file-20171006-25772-15h1iqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Animals in hot climates often have darker skin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/birdbrian/33562574320/in/photolist-T8NY3u-W3yh8i-68vMQD-THRDMM-Twn7nv-TEfw2W-TwoKzV-Su1hKZ-Twn5VH-LTu8J-T8NYyQ-TwoUhK-Twn6DM-6hwaZq-qUP3bi-Su3KgF-7QjznT-zvvau-8EZX4D-Twn8XK-THRETp-XTYfUU-iggDgF-TwoPe8-TEfn69-Srkbdw-Su3HFX-TtYmcy-qFcsFT-6k5aF6-nzCzJB-94me8S-58tm3A-dF5pDB-94iezZ-2PGETV-58p9WB-94mkjW-58tmQu-2PGBgi-a2s9ws-oSapQX-2PM1xS-94mbim-cPRo2Q-XjQigQ-2MRX2Z-oa9rFG-TEhCZ9-Su3CkB">Flickr/Brian Ralphs</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In colder climates, skin colour is usually lighter and often pink. This is true for humans too. The skin colour (and ear colour) of early humans became lighter as they migrated out of Africa into colder regions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189110/original/file-20171006-25772-t7flxn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many animals with light-coloured fur have light-coloured pinkish skin underneath.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vmos/1337535118/in/photolist-33cdAj-phGWXL-8fvkai-dLFnPi-6tXugh-dU9YKU-ecJ1hs-hHEem5-Y7GzDx-4jLpTK-9PEZut-Jk7NcQ-ebVjcH-gx5nd2-qRh8a5-5j2JCn-HDnaT-5AzmSc-hHCWpu-5kZYkH-dPqU2T-hHDd56-nerV6H-roYc1S-pYkKJt-8Apn58-p4nhSR-5iJmAB-5m5diY-hHCY3j-5iNxMC-Fzni6A-7GegfX-JS1XwX-hHCtgU-599D7J-5uLgmQ-6EhfvY-hHEYnc-ek8AbY-w6Whm-9yDHT4-WG6amV-95y3SH-5CSa8p-a5Qhnt-d3mqsd-4AWykj-qVT68T-7LRMZS">Flickr/J</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why is skin colour different in different climates? Skin pigmentation, which is what gives skin its colour, can protect against sunburn and skin cancer. When animals live in colder, more overcast parts of the world they don’t need this pigmentation as much to survive. Light-coloured skin also helps animals stay warmer because it reduces heat loss, which is handy if you’re in a colder climate.</p>
<p>You mention, correctly, that animals can have bodies of all sorts of colours, but still have pink ears.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-happens-if-a-venomous-snake-bites-another-snake-of-the-same-species-81564">Curious Kids: What happens if a venomous snake bites another snake of the same species?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For most species, the colour of their fur, feathers or other body covering has generally evolved as camouflage. That allows animals to blend into the background and avoid being eaten, or for predators to remain hidden during hunting. One example is the sandy-coloured coat of the desert fennec fox. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189111/original/file-20171006-25772-99wph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fennec fox has sandy-coloured fur and large ears.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/24650682516/in/photolist-Dyic6w-DEnB2y-6m5DvT-mL21De-8mHSGy-m7k5Jv-m7kH4n-jHdRYh-9vsv87-bddQHr-9A9cco-qFRrSt-dVCFih-bUTg54-f9FHAx-dLunLC-9MMgXY-AwnSBF-bUTg5a-7WYVu1-jKZPgv-ihQWG-6zCU4X-dL32SC-f3tjLZ-au2RmC-qfsWq-DqcPKQ-bjBLJn-51bMcQ-9Vn7tf-9u6fBB-6MUMBr-5jbx8M-6WHgEc-7HTPnn-6WHgtc-NZKuz-5vCVer-dL328m-UsXgQR-oVnbTf-bwzze4-dKuCb7-8jbn2y-oRE4Td-q5oBGC-f8bvR-BEuPGu-f89Py">Flickr/Nathan Rupert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like ear colour and size, body colour also helps animals keep their body temperature at just the right level.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189112/original/file-20171006-25792-4umxgq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The serval, a type of African wildcat, has evolved large ears that help it hear better.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfra07/5695544337/in/photolist-9Fi9Ui-7YEZaL-7YBLJ6-byxHan-a54RnM-6URnQW-a54Rpv-dH6Yk3-7YBLfx-7YEZAm-9u9jFQ-a54Rmx-a54Rqr-52keA7-fSLdV-a54Rkr-7YEZSq-scStt8-8seARa-5BC5jw-85cWQS-ceupuf-eih2XV-eih2mT-ayjWaQ-8deWuM-qy8v1H-eih32e-SrEGuy-qRNeno-bGLWUP-einL37-5v7TUJ-9bxcv8-scQ4HT-8gjGfM-p6R27G-ijdHP9-einLKY-einLTh-einL9A-9YL4fw-einLQb-eih2z2-eih2t4-einLHL-einLBQ-nrdW7w-8TsPX5-yi2VJ">Flickr/Brad</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But even when animals have feathers, scales or fur that is brown, orange, white or any number of colours, they might have skin underneath that is light-coloured.</p>
<p>And when you get ears that don’t have much fur or feathers, you’ll see that light-coloured skin looks pink because of the blood vessels that are close to the surface in the ear area.</p>
<h2>Ear shapes and sizes</h2>
<p>In many animals, ears come in many different shapes and sizes. </p>
<p>For example, in bats, the serval (a type of African wildcat) and the fennec fox, the ears are large compared to their body size – this helps them hear better because it allows them to detect more sound waves.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189113/original/file-20171006-25772-1xi5v60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Naked mole-rats have tiny ears because they need to dig a lot. Big ears would get in the way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/riussi/54718701/in/photolist-5QrXT-9zpcG3-2k68Zk-cvNVyC-58jEbx-89u2Kr-8Dgd1V-6EPrc7-dbEC3L-3LQK6u-f6KPBu-4UfJd7-bCJYR-4JaZ5e-pP7Q4J-ajb7EB-aRzyNP-dF9uFW-f6KRMA-2ALEo-92TLDn-iMWga-awWFhM-cEbYd5-75GH3-92TLDg-7ZzbUq-6dBXx8-8DjjTG-a6B481-89xh2W-cF8yau-awZo8C-awZnM7-awWERP-awZo5G-awWEBD-awZob1-awZnJG-8DgeJr-awZnAu-awWFfg-89xmrA-a8ZyJ8-2ALEp-aib5K6-gAiye-awZnGG-awZnv3-6XLvjV">Flickr/Juha Ristolainen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These creatures, and other animals with large ears, have excellent hearing, especially at night when many are active. </p>
<p>In contrast, the naked mole-rat has very small ears because it needs to burrow a lot – big ears would get in the way of their digging, so it’s not worth it. </p>
<p>The other downside of big ears is that you can lose a lot of body heat. That’s why animals that live in really cold places, like the Arctic fox, have quite small ears.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189114/original/file-20171006-25772-1hde7s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Arctic fox has really small ears, to help reduce heat loss.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dmongrain/6897386531/in/photolist-bvuUHr-bq7Wh4-dMgP9V-e5urjK-rb3eMx-bmPoV3-hh2WrW-eeiPSY-wxwfA-jfjbZC-9kf3Aa-m1YfNv-bLmWsT-rosFAq-dVJgfU-9boYLX-dBHfa9-Bkhrm7-5d3tfP-BSf4qu-98mYn6-e9s5LH-q97kQm-e3Rk3Z-ej1MPP-k2PQEt-iEkuFj-4uVg7W-aCqyqh-9jNdN3-4u9LP1-b5yXg2-dtQacT-dtQaez-E8osGy-adktAn-5Uyh4t-D8t3Bd-k87cqH-AphQRH-CGaLS1-7J3pKm-rpDHNc-DcZk3C-dYRqJg-FRiZkL-j9ZHyu-6uKEBM-7HYmdt-t2JR8d">Flickr/Dan Mongrain</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wayne Davies is supported by Future Fellowship and Discovery Project grants awarded by the Australian Research Council (FT110100176 and DP140102117). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shaun Collin receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>
Animals that evolved in cold parts of the world usually have lighter skin. If a light-skinned animal has blood vessels close to the surface of their ear skin, this will make the ears look pink.
Wayne Iwan Lee Davies, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia
Shaun Collin, Winthrop Professor/WA Premier's Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences and the Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia
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tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/77985
2017-06-12T14:48:50Z
2017-06-12T14:48:50Z
Self-love - not bans - will bring an end to Africa’s bleaching syndrome
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173166/original/file-20170609-4790-wpn69o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children as young as three internalise a bias against dark skin. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To be black in the world today is to be <a href="http://static.oprah.com/pdf/dark-girls.pdf">stigmatised</a> for having dark skin. To be light-skinned, on the other hand, is to be celebrated in line with western beauty standards. </p>
<p>Black people not only experience this stigma from outside of their “racial” group. The bias against dark skin has also been internalised by black people the world over and manifests as <a href="http://www.eurweb.com/2015/02/dr-ronald-e-hall-the-colorism-conversation-still-an-issue-in-the-african-american-community/#">colourism</a> within the black community.</p>
<p>My research <a href="http://www.sachajournals.com/user/image/ajss2014hall002.pdf">suggests</a> that African-Americans consider light skin as the most ideal personal characteristic one can have. And this internalised bias towards whiteness is not only limited to the US. In my 30 years of studying this subject, I have found it to be prevalent in all places where people of African descent live – including Togo, Senegal, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. </p>
<p>The stigmatisation of dark skin has led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-all-african-countries-took-a-stand-on-skin-lightening-creams-49780">the popular practice</a> of skin bleaching. After discovering the practice three decades ago, I began to investigate a condition that I have named the “<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/41675381?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">bleaching syndrome</a>”.</p>
<p>There have been attempts by governments to discourage the use of skin bleaches through sales bans, but these have been <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/life/2016-11-29-south-african-women-still-use-dangerous-skin-lighteners-research-finds/">largely unsuccessful</a>. </p>
<p>For as long as black people continue to idealise light skin, the bleaching syndrome will continue to afflict many dark-skinned populations. </p>
<h2>The bleaching syndrome</h2>
<p>The bleaching syndrome has three components. In the first place, it’s psychological, involving the adoption of alien ideals and the rejection of native characteristics. </p>
<p>African-American psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted a famous “<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/05/13/doll.study/index.html">doll study</a>” in the 1940s that showed how black children as young as three come to understand their place in the world as “less than”. They reach this conclusion long before they have the ability to articulate race. It’s a phenomenon black psychologists refer to as a “<a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=mIrf1uUTNCYC&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=john+e+lind+color+complex&source=bl&ots=VTgwsPsh8h&sig=RXpjy4nKpKk235KkIIYYV9EbBVI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjAz6iVs67UAhVCtBQKHQrTAl8Q6AEIIDAA#v=onepage&q=john%20e%20lind%20color%20complex&f=false">colour complex</a>” </p>
<p>This idea that dark skin is “less than” gets reinforced daily on television, in <a href="http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/ac0651.pdf">advertisements</a> and through other forms of mass media.</p>
<p>The bleaching syndrome is also sociological. This means that it affects group behaviour in line with these ideals. The fact that black rappers systematically <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW_Vtp-JzV4">select</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsFxtIxRqJA">light-skinned women</a> to model in their videos is a good popular example of this. </p>
<p>The final aspect of the bleaching syndrome is physiological. Here, individual psychology and group behaviour eventually lead to the alteration of skin colour. </p>
<h2>Demand fuels supply, despite bans</h2>
<p>Throughout the African continent there have been attempts to discontinue the use of skin bleaches. These products are banned in <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/gambias-president-orders-female-government-workers-to-cover-their-hair">The Gambia</a>, <a href="http://thewip.net/2008/08/12/skin-bleaching-thrives-despite-ugandan-government-ban-on-dangerous-cosmetics/">Uganda</a>, <a href="http://www.whiterskin.com/banned-skin-bleaching.html">Kenya</a>, <a href="https://qz.com/572707/why-its-time-all-african-countries-banned-skin-lightening-creams/">Cote d’Ivoire</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/26/fashion/skin-bleaching-south-africa-women.html?_r=0">Ghana</a>. Nigeria has not banned bleaching per say but has banned the <a href="https://nlipw.com/a-quick-look-at-some-drugs-banned-by-nafdac-in-nigeria-issue-3/">toxic additives</a> like mercury contained in bleaching creams. While experts in <a href="http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=2457.0;wap2">Senegal</a> have called on the government to take similar steps. </p>
<p>Bleaching soaps and creams have also been <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/skin-lightening-hydroquinone/">banned</a> in the European Union, Australia and Japan. </p>
<p>Despite these efforts it does not appear that the popularity of the practice has slowed significantly. In countries such as Nigeria and Togo <a href="http://howafrica.com/nigeria-has-the-highest-number-of-women-bleaching-their-skin-in-africa-who/">over 50%</a> of the women bleach. </p>
<p>The fact is that the continued demand for bleaching creams means that they will continue to be manufactured and sold on the market, even if they are illegal. The bleaching syndrome persists because light skin remains the ideal and the sale of bleaching creams remain profitable. </p>
<h2>Treat the problem at its root</h2>
<p>The “<a href="http://www.curlcentric.com/natural-hair-movement/">natural hair movement</a>” offers a good example of how we may be able to combat the bleaching syndrome. </p>
<p>Natural black hair, afros and dreadlocks have been historically <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-slavery-to-colonialism-and-school-rules-a-history-of-myths-about-black-hair-64676">stigmatised</a> – much as dark skin is today – and there was a time when Black people applied all sorts of concoctions to straighten their hair. In fact the first African-American millionaire, <a href="http://time.com/3641122/sarah-breedlove-walker/">Madame C.J. Walker</a>, made her fortune selling hair straightening products to black people. </p>
<p>But today, many black people take pride in their natural hair and refuse to straighten it. This was not achieved by banning relaxers and other chemical hair straightening concoctions. </p>
<p>Rather, it was political action that changed black people’s ideas about black hair. <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/stokely-carmichael-9238629">Stokely Carmichael</a>, <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/angela-davis-9267589">Angela Davis</a>, <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/stephen-bantu-biko">Steve Biko</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Patrice-Lumumba">Patrice Lumumba</a> are among those who rallied against self-hate and spread a message of African pride. Natural hair came to be associated with freedom and justice. </p>
<p>The problem with bleaching bans is that they attempt to treat the physiological symptoms of the bleaching syndrome without addressing the sociological causes and the psychological colour complex that is at its root. </p>
<p>The bleaching syndrome will only come to an end when Africans and all black people learn to love their skin, just as they have learned to love their hair. Only then will bleaching creams become obsolete.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronald E. Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
At the root of the skin bleaching phenomenon is a psychological complex.
Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work, Michigan State University
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