Colorism in Comparative Perspective: Examining How Young Sudanese and African-AmericanWomen Experience Their Skin Color.

Date Presented:

Abstract:

This project is a comparison of the experiences with skin color of young black women in Khartoum, Sudan and Atlanta, Georgia. It was prompted by the rising trend of skin bleaching in Sudan, coupled with a gap in the literature surrounding skin color, as well as the lack of research into the experiences of today’s young African American women with colorism. These are issues that are often dismissed as trivial in the public discourse, and so this project aims to center the voices of the population most affected by colorism and understand their experiences. The methodology used is in-depth interviews, conducted with forty-five women over the summer of 2014. Their experiences are compared to see how colorism and the reactions to it vary based on the national and racial context. Analysis is ongoing, though a major trend is in the manifestation of colorism, whereby in America it is seen in the public discourse, particularly through competing stereotypes, while in Sudan it tends to be tied to strict beauty standards, which are adhered to through bleaching. There is also a consistent theme of women of all shades feeling constricted by this form of prejudice but reacting in varying ways. I am currently still working on analysis and write-up, so any input on that aspect would be more than welcome.