Jamaican Researcher

A Historical Review of Perceptions of Beauty and Colour in the Jamaican Society

I decided to write this post as a follow-up to my articles: From Skin Lightening… and Skin Cancer… so as to demonstrate the impact of socialization on perceptions of beauty and colour, and the retention of such values for more than 30 years between 1940 when Kerr and Henriques researched the issue and 1970 when Miller published Body Image, Physical Beauty and Colour Among Jamaican Adolescents. Miller’s article illustrated that perceptions of beauty in the Jamaican society are directly related to race and colour and hence my underlying argument: Skin Lightening has a direct relationship to Perceptions of Beauty.

Article Review: Body Image, Physical Beauty and Colour Among Jamaican Adolescents- Errol Miller (from Caribbean Sociology)

Introduction:

Miller’s article provides a report on the findings of a research conducted with urban adolescent Jamaicans on how they perceive their bodies and conceive of physical beauty in relation to their actual skin colour. Miller noted that historically in the Jamaican society, “…colour has been an important determinant of social niche, economic status and personal worth … for practically all of its history. Whiteness has become associated with the desirable and Blackness with the undesirable”.

Reports/ Evidence of Colour Discrimination in Jamaica:

In the 1940s Kerr wrote:

In Jamaica there is no colour bar and theoretically  any man of colour can go anywhere. But the Government is a white man’s Government and white people still have most of the positions of heads of departments and own much of the business enterprises. Most of these people would definitely not meet the coloured people on terms of equality. This means that there always exists the possibility of discrimination both in regard to jobs and personal snubs. The shops even prefer to have lightly coloured girls as assistants and advertise openly for them. The better positions in banks go to white people; therefore people feel the lighter the skin colour the better their chances of success.

Henriques also wrote on the matter in the 1940s:

The upper class is composed of whites and fair coloured people who monopolize  executive positions in the civil service, such positions as planters and the professions generally. He further claimed that although a black doctor may have the occupational qualification to be a member of the upper class he would not be accepted as such because of his colour.

However by the 1970s Miller argued that:

At the present time the Government could not be described as a white man’s Government, neither are the heads of Government departments mainly white people, nor do shops openly advertise for light coloured girls. In fact, pressure is brought to bear on private enterprise to employ black people in the better positions. The claim of racial equality is publicly accepted . However the situation at present is not a complete reversal of the 1940s trends. Economic power still resides to a great extent with the white and fair  groups and individuals within these groups do not generally accept black people as equals.

Main Research Questions:

1. How do maturing members of the society (in and around 1970) who have been forming their personalities perceive their bodies and physical beauty in relation to their skin colour?
2. Is there still (in and around 1970) a preference for whiteness and Caucasian features as reported by Kerr and Henriques of the 1940s?
3. How do Chinese adolescents who have been maturing (between the 1950s and 1970) view their bodies and conceive of their physical beauty?

Specific Research Questions:

1. What do you like about your body?
2. What do you dislike about your body?
3. What parts of your body would you change if it were possible?
4. Describe your idea of a handsome boy
5. Describe your idea of a beautiful girl
6. Describe what the average Jamaican looks like

Research Participants Classification:

The 475 secondary school students age 11 to 15 years who were born between 1951 and 1955 were classified into two groups:

1. The White to Black colour continuum, which comprised of six different shades (white, fair, clear, brown, dark, and black) and
2. The Chinese, Indians and hybrids of unions with Negroes

Core Characteristics of Body Image:

The features of body image were classified into three distinct categories: hair and facial features, body build, and general features and strength.

Research Findings:

• Facial and body build features are the most important ones of the body image
• Facial features appear to be cathected in a manner that is related to the colour of the subjects
• The colour relationship was not very evident when subjects were reporting satisfaction, but was most evident when they were reporting dissatisfaction and intense dissatisfaction
• White and Chinese subjects expressed relatively more satisfaction with hair than all others. Only a small amount of dissatisfaction was expressed by the fair group. However, dissatisfaction and intense dissatisfaction with hair increased  as the Black end of the colour continuum was reached
• The subjects having Caucasian hair type were satisfied with it, while those with Negroid hair were dissatisfied
• No white subject reported intense dissatisfaction with nose, while the highest percentages of intense dissatisfaction were reported by the dark and black subjects. The former group was expected to have straight noses, while the latter was not expected to have this feature. Cathexis of nose depends on the closeness of subjects’ nose to Caucasian standards
• The Chinese group responded in a manner similar to the white group about the matter of hair
• In the case of nose, however, the Chinese subjects reported in a manner similar to the darker groups. Chinese subjects cathect themselves within the same frame of reference as the subjects to the White Black colour continuum. Where typical Chinese features approach closely to Caucasian features, subjects cathect themselves positively, but where they differ they cathect themselves negatively
  
• Lips and colour were not frequently reported on by the subjects, but dissatisfaction with these features was only reported by the brown, dark, and black subjects
• Although these adolescents have been growing up at a time in the society when public attitudes are not discriminatory and in fact actively support the idea of the ‘equality of the races’, they still associate Caucasian features with the desirable and the Negroid features with the undesirable
• The six features that were the most popular markers of a handsome boy by 20 percent of the subjects across the seven colour groups were: hair, nose, colour, height, face, and physique
• Five features were common amongst 20 percent of the subjects from all seven colour groups about conceptions of a beautiful girl: hair, nose, face, shape, and eyes
• The average Jamaican described by subjects is basically Negroid in character, which is inferred from the description of hair, mouth, lips, colour, and physique. This is not surprising in light of the fact that approximately 90 percent of the population is of Negro origin
• The concept of the average Jamaican is very far removed from the concept of the handsome boy or beautiful girl. The six most frequently mentioned features used to describe the average Jamaican are the same as for the handsome boy. The average Jamaican is described as: Hair- bad, woolly, kinky, course; Nose- flat, big; Face- average; Colour-dark, brown; Height- medium, tall; Physique- well built, stout. The ideal handsome boy is described as: Hair- blonde, good, straight, wavy; Nose- straight; Face- good looking; Colour- fair, clear; Height- tall, medium; Physique- well built, good.
• The generalisation which it seems reasonable to make is that the average Jamaican is negatively conceptualised in facial features and colour, but positively conceptualised in terms of body build. Interpreted another way, one may say that the stereotype of the Negro is partially undesirable. It is undesirable in colour and facial features and desirable in body build
• The idea of the partial negativity of the concept of the average Jamaican is supported when the miscellaneous comments of the subjects were examined. These include: fools, vicious, crude, hooligans, illiterates, senseless and hideous, monkeys, dogs, dirty and childish, idiots and lazy.
• Both the physical description of the concept and general comments on personality and behaviour of the average Jamaican seem to indicate that it is more negative than positive
• Beauty is associated with Caucasian features and ugliness with Negroid features
• The subjects were growing up at a time when racial equality is extolled, yet their concept of beauty is to a great extent congruent with the ideas of beauty reported by Henriques and Kerr of the 1940s when colour discrimination was commonly evidenced
• White is not the ideal colour, as one would predict, but instead, Fair and Clear
• Although public attitudes are not at present discriminatory, the individual’s private conception of his body reflects a preference for Caucasian type features. Since the majority of subjects are Negroes or of Negro extraction, it is apparent that there is widespread dissatisfaction with such physical features as hair and nose
• The most important features of the body image are of two types: Racial features- hair, nose, colour, and eyes; and Developmental features- hands, legs, toes, and feet.

Miller’s findings support the rationals given by individuals who practice skin lightening in Jamaica that, “Perceptions of Beauty and Colour Privileging are the Root Causes of the Practice”. Although there is need to attend to the issue as a medical condition that can cost Jamaica millions, we should also take a comprehensive look at addressing the root causes.