Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color

284 Pages·2012·5.871 MB·English

by  Nina G. Jablonski

Living Color
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous
support of the Humanities Endowment Fund of the
University of California Press Foundation.
Living Color
The Biological and Social
Meaning of Skin Color
Nina G. Jablonski
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished
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visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2012 by Nina G. Jablonski
Title page. A scene from Brazil’s Carnival epitomizes
“living color.” Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images.
Lyrics quoted in chapter 13 are from “Young Woman’s
Blues,” by Bessie Smith. Reprinted by permission of
Hal Leonard Corporation. © 1927 (renewed), 1974
Frank Music Corp. All rights reserved.
Malibu Barbie and associated trademarks and trade
dress are owned by, and used under permission of,
Mattel, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jablonski, Nina G.
Living color : the biological and social meaning of
skin color / Nina G. Jablonski.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-25153-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Human skin color. 2. Human skin color—
Physiological aspects. 3. Human skin color—Social

aspects. 4. Human skin color—Cross-cultural studies.

I. Title.
gn197.j34 2012
573.5—dc23 2012003746
Manufactured in the United States of America
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997)
(Permanence of Paper).
To George

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
PART ONE. BIOLOGY
1 Skin’s Natural Palette 9
2 Original Skin 24
3 Out of the Tropics 34
4 Skin Color in the Modern World 47
5 Shades of Sex 64
6 Skin Color and Health 72
PART TWO. SOCIETY
7 The Discriminating Primate 93
8 Encounters with Difference 103
9 Skin Color in the Age of Exploration 117
10 Skin Color and the Establishment of Races 134
11 Institutional Slavery and the Politics of Pigmentation 142
12 Skin Colors and Their Variable Meanings 157
13 Aspiring to Lightness 169
14 Desiring Darkness 182
15 Living in Color 194
Notes 199
References 225
Index 249

Illustrations
PLATES
Plates follow p. 82
1. Von Luschan skin tiles
2. Person with vitiligo
3. Khoe-San woman with baby
4. Noh masks
5. Afghani women in burqas
6. Wall painting from tomb of Sebekhotep
7. Mostaert, Portrait of an African Man
8. World map of skin tones
9. Malibu Barbie
FIGURES
Frontis: Celebrants of Carnival in Brazil
1. Wangiella dermatitidis / 11
2. Melanogenesis / 13
3. Child with albinism / 17
4. Effects of UVR on melanin / 21
5. Herrero and German-Herrero women / 23
6. Chimpanzee mother and infant / 25
7. Neural tube defects / 31
8. UVR rays hitting Earth at different times of the year / 38
9. Melanosomes from different populations / 41
ix