Mixed-light complexions gain economic and social status in colonial societies

Evidence

Surveillance of Beauty The surveillance of beauty is another way that Muslim American women who wear the hijab are surveilled for their cultural practices. Whiteness has become a marker of beauty and privilege both in the United States as well as in countries that make up the southern hemisphere, such as India (Hunter 2011). This is evidenced by the increased interest and use of skin lightening creams both in the United States and internationally. Hunter (2011) refers to “racial capital” as a material benefit people possess based on their skin tone. In a racialized society, the lighter one’s skin tone, the more access one has to economic resources such as jobs or social networks (Glenn 2009; Hunter 2011). Muslim women who wear the hijab were told wearing it made them ugly; they are also racialized for their beauty. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 403 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Antillean folklore and mate-choice rules enforce avoidance of the darkest skin; Colonial officials proposed legal recognition of European status based on visible racial traits; Colonial rule rewarded mixed-bloods according to their degree of whiteness. (+19 more)

Related

• Skin tone confers material economic benefits through racial capital (similarity 0.89)
• Skin color trumped wealth and education as the criterion of Trinidadian social prestige (similarity 0.87)
• Whiteness links beauty with citizenship and uncontested belonging. (similarity 0.86)
• The hijab functions like skin tone by marking bodies as racial others (similarity 0.81)
• The hijab rather than skin tone triggers racializing surveillance of Muslim women (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Colonial rule rewarded mixed-bloods according to their degree of whiteness. #corroborates (0.85)
• Colonial petit bourgeoisies formed from mixed-race populations and property holdings. #expands (0.80)
• Skin tone confers material economic benefits through racial capital #corroborates (0.75) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 403
• Skin color trumped wealth and education as the criterion of Trinidadian social prestige #corroborates (0.70)
• Colonial race was judged by conduct and affiliation rather than appearance #complicates (0.60)
• Colonial desire inverts cause and effect, making whiteness the true object of love #expands (0.60)
• Colonial moral epithets encoded specific class and racial transgressions #expands (0.55)
• Racial hierarchy and whiteness were invented inside Europe before modern capitalism #qualifies (0.55)
• Capitalism conserving non-capitalist modes produces racial and colonial ideologies. #exemplifies (0.50)