Colorism in Literature & Literary Theory

Colorism: Etymology/Term, Meanings and Concept

Colorism: Etymology/Term

The term “colorism” is believed to have been coined by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker in 1982. It originates from the word “color” and describes discrimination or prejudice against individuals with darker skin tones, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.

Meanings and Concept

• Prejudice or Discrimination Based on Skin Tone: Colorism operates by favoring lighter skin tones over darker skin tones, granting privileges to those with lighter skin and creating disadvantages for those with darker skin.
• Intertwined with Racism: Colorism often functions alongside and within systems of racism, where biases based on skin tone play a role in how individuals are treated and the opportunities they are offered.
• Global Phenomenon: Colorism exists in many societies worldwide, impacting various ethnic and racial groups. It is particularly prevalent in countries with histories of colonization and slavery.
• Impact on Self-Esteem: Colorism can have a significant negative impact on the self-esteem and mental health of individuals who experience discrimination due to their skin tone.
• Internalized Colorism: Colorism can be internalized by individuals, leading them to hold biases against both themselves and others with darker skin tones.

Colorism: Definition of a Theoretical Term

Colorism refers to discrimination or prejudice based on skin color, typically within the same racial or ethnic group. It manifests as favoritism toward individuals with lighter skin tones and the marginalization or devaluation of those with darker skin tones. Colorism can have pervasive effects on various aspects of life, including employment opportunities, social status, and perceptions of beauty.

Colorism: Theorists, Works and Arguments

1. Frantz Fanon:
   • Works: Black Skin, White Masks, The Wretched of the Earth
   • Arguments: Fanon explored the psychological impacts of colonialism on both colonized and colonizer, highlighting how internalized racism and colorism perpetuate oppressive systems.
2. Audre Lorde:
   • Works: The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism, Sister Outsider
   • Arguments: Lorde addressed the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality, emphasizing how colorism within feminist and anti-racist movements marginalizes women of color.
3. Toni Morrison:
   • Works: The Bluest Eye, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
   • Arguments: Morrison’s fiction and criticism delve into the complexities of racial identity and beauty standards, illustrating how colorism perpetuates self-hatred and internalized oppression.
4. bell hooks:
   • Works: Black Looks: Race and Representation, Killing Rage: Ending Racism
   • Arguments: hooks critiques the commodification of beauty and the media’s role in perpetuating Eurocentric beauty standards, contributing to colorism and the erasure of Blackness.
5. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva:
   • Works: Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States
   • Arguments: Bonilla-Silva’s research examines the subtleties of contemporary racism, including colorism, within a supposedly “color-blind” society, highlighting how racial hierarchies persist despite surface-level claims of equality.

Colorism: Major Characteristics

• Privilege and Favoritism for Lighter Skin:
  • Novel: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison: Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl, yearns for blue eyes, believing they would grant her beauty and acceptance.
  • Short Story: “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston: Delia, a hardworking dark-skinned washerwoman, is abused by her lighter-skinned husband, highlighting the power dynamics within their relationship.
• Negative Stereotypes Associated with Darker Skin:
  • Play: Shakespeare’s “Othello”: The titular character, a Moor with dark skin, is often associated with negative stereotypes of violence and deceit.
  • Novel: “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison: The protagonist’s dark skin renders him invisible to white society, emphasizing the dehumanizing effects of colorist prejudice.
• Beauty Standards Centered on Lightness:
  • Fairy Tales: “Snow White” and “Cinderella” both feature fair-skinned heroines, perpetuating the idea that beauty is equated with lightness.
  • Novel: “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston: Janie’s grandmother emphasizes the desirability of lighter skin within their community.
• Intersectionality with Other Forms of Oppression:
  • Novel: “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker: Celie, a dark-skinned woman, experiences compounded oppression based on her race, gender, and class.
  • Memoir: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou: Angelou explores how colorism within the Black community intersects with her experiences of sexism and trauma.
• Global Manifestation
  • Novel: “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy: The novel set in India delves into societal hierarchies based on skin tone and their impact on the characters’ lives and relationships.
  • Novel: “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Set in Nigeria, the story highlights the dynamics of colorism both within the Igbo community and in the context of colonialism.

Important Note: It’s crucial to remember that colorism functions as a complex, insidious form of discrimination, often deeply ingrained in societal structures and cultural values.

Colorism: Relevance in Literary Theories

Literary Theory	How Colorism is Examined	Example
Postcolonial Theory	Explores how colorism is a legacy of colonialism, where lighter skin was often associated with colonizers and positions of power. Challenges narratives that perpetuate the privileging of whiteness.	Examining how internalized colorism affects characters in novels set in former colonies, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun.”
Feminist Theory	Focuses on how colorism intersects with gender, creating double standards for women based on skin tone. Analyzes beauty standards and how they often uphold Eurocentric features, influencing self-perception and experiences.	Analyzing how lighter-skinned female characters are portrayed differently than darker-skinned characters in terms of desirability, morality, and agency.
Critical Race Theory	Views colorism as a manifestation of systemic racism within racial groups. Examines how colorism reinforces power hierarchies and contributes to unequal outcomes and opportunity within a racialized society.	Exploring the concept of “passing” in literature and the ways characters navigate racial boundaries based on their skin tone, like in Nella Larsen’s novel “Passing.”
Psychoanalytic Theory	Investigates the psychological impact of colorism: internalized biases, trauma, and the effect on self-esteem and identity formation.	Analyzing how characters in works like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” manifest the internalization of colorist ideas.
Reader-Response Theory	Examines how readers’ own experiences with race and colorism shape their interpretations of literary texts. Considers how readers might identify with, challenge, or be blind to colorist themes in a work.	Analyzing varying reader responses to a novel that deals with colorism and how their backgrounds may influence their understanding of the issues presented.

Colorism: Application in Critiques

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

• Colorist Elements: The novel’s portrayal of wealth and privilege is intertwined with whiteness. Characters like Daisy Buchanan and Tom Buchanan embody idealized beauty standards associated with light skin and European features.
• Critique: A colorist critique could examine how Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy is partly fueled by aspirations towards a social status linked with whiteness. It could also analyze how the marginalized character of Meyer Wolfsheim, coded as Jewish, contrasts with the ‘old money’ characters with their implied Anglo-Saxon heritage.

2. Sula by Toni Morrison:

• Colorist Elements: Morrison directly confronts colorism within the Black community. The two protagonists, Nel and Sula, have different skin tones. Nel embodies a more conventional beauty standard associated with lighter skin, while Sula challenges these norms.
• Critique: A colorist critique could explore how Sula’s defiance of colorist expectations leads to her ostracization. The novel could be analyzed for the way it deconstructs notions of beauty and desirability within the Black community.

3. Quicksand by Nella Larsen:

• Colorist Elements: Protagonist Helga Crane’s mixed-race heritage places her in a precarious position in terms of both racial and color-based hierarchies. The novel explores how her skin tone impacts her experiences of acceptance, opportunity, and love.
• Critique: A colorist critique might focus on Helga’s sense of alienation and her search for belonging, highlighting how colorism compounds the difficulties of navigating racial identity.

4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley:

• Colorist Elements: The Creature’s monstrous appearance is often described in terms that could be interpreted as racialized. His “yellow skin” and grotesque features mark him as other and undesirable.
• Critique: A colorist critique could investigate how Shelley’s portrayal of the Creature taps into anxieties about racial difference and reinforces a hierarchy where whiteness equates to beauty and humanity.

Colorism: Relevant Terms

Term	Definition
Colorism	Discrimination or prejudice against individuals with darker skin tones, often occurring within the same racial or ethnic group.
Intra-racial Discrimination	Discrimination based on differences within a single racial group, such as variations in skin tone.
Pigmentocracy	A social hierarchy where lighter skin affords more privilege, power, and status.
Skin Tone Bias	Preference for and favoritism towards individuals with lighter skin tones.
Shadeism	A form of colorism where the focus is primarily on the shade of one’s skin rather than other racial features.
Beauty Standards	Societal ideals of beauty often influenced by colorism, favoring lighter skin tones and Eurocentric features.
Internalized Colorism	The acceptance and perpetuation of colorist beliefs by individuals within an affected community, leading to negative self-perceptions.
Intersectionality	The way colorism interacts with other forms of oppression like racism, sexism, and classism.
Paper Bag Test	A historical practice within some Black communities where a person’s skin tone was compared to a brown paper bag to determine social acceptability.
Global Phenomenon	The prevalence of colorism in various societies around the world, with a particular legacy in locations affected by colonialism and slavery.

Colorism: Suggested Readings

1. hooks, bell. Black Looks: Race and Representation. South End Press, 1992.
2. Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 1984.
3. Morrison, Toni. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. Vintage Books, 1993.
4. —. The Bluest Eye. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
5. Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press, 2008.
6. —. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press, 2004.
7. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010.
8. Smith, Susan. “Colorism and Its Impact on African American Women: An Examination of the Literature.” Journal of African American Studies, vol. 14, no. 4, 2010, pp. 433-455.
9. Jones, Maxine Leeds. The Invisibility Faktor: Administrators and Faculty Perspectives on the Advancement of African American Women in Higher Education. Cambria Press, 2010.