Piece 1: A summary of an academic paper or report relating to
social divisions and inequality
Word count: 754
In Phoenix and Craddock’s (2024) journal article “Dark skin penalty, shame and
resistance: negotiating colourism in UK families”, the effect of colourism within
families is addressed. They categorise different experiences within four themes: dark
skin perceived as negative, bringing familial shame; romantic relationships
influenced by colourist attitudes; colourism causing psychological distress; and
families resisting colourism (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, p.7). This allows for a
clearer understanding of how family plays an essential role in either reinforcing or
resisting colourism.
The article communicates the narrative that dark skin is associated with being “ugly”
contrasted by lighter skin being akin to “purity”. This point is evidenced through
multiple semi-structured interviews as participants illustrate how they’ve grown up
with notions of “Blackness as shameful” and lighter skin as “sophisticated” (Phoenix
and Craddock, 2024, p.7). These semi-structured interviews have successfully
illustrated the concept of lighter skin being a form of social capital due to the high
regard of those who have lighter skin. Phoenix and Craddock also indicate that dark
skin signifies a lower socioeconomic status as one Chinese participant recalls her
experience of being called a “peasant” by a family member ( 2024, p.9). Phoenix and
Craddock support this narrative by claiming it aligns with Leong’s idea of low
socioeconomic status being interlinked with dark skin in China (Leong, 2006).
Despite the authors’ intersectional approach, in which they acknowledge the
consideration of various identities in the context of inequality (Crenshaw, 1991), the
discussion on class being an important intersection with colourism seems to be
lacking due to only addressing this connection in a Chinese context.
Phoenix and Craddock argue that colourism is gendered as they recognise the
existing literature regarding colourism’s links to beauty which reflect patriarchal
, norms (2024, pp. 7-9). This is evident in their ‘Methods’ section wherein they
disclosed the large portion of women that they interviewed compared to men: “24
women and 9 men” (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, p. 4). The authors have also
established that some participants’ maternal or matriarchal figures have attempted to
influence their romantic partners. In the article, this “maternal colourism” is seen
through grandmothers or mothers preferring a lighter-skinned partner for their
(grand)children. It is supposedly “uncomfortable” for a participant to date men who
have mixed-ethnic backgrounds according to her grandmother, implying that dating a
Black or South Asian man would be unacceptable (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, pp.
9-10). Despite the substantial amount of evidence collected through these interviews
whilst simultaneously acknowledging the intersection between gender and
generation in relation to colourism, the authors have failed to further emphasise why
these leading, feminine figures in the family have such biases towards lighter skin.
More explanation and research could have been done to show the importance of
generational difference and where they come from when discussing colourism in the
family as it could be an opportunity to explore the culture of where these
grandmothers and mothers came from.
As mentioned before, women are overrepresented in this article which does benefit
the article as they address the gendered experience of colourism. This is evidenced
as various existing literature is referenced - one example is the investigation of
pressure received by South Asian women to have light skin, increasing their
marriage prospects (Mishra et al., 2023). In consideration of the male perspectives,
one admitted that his preference is skewed towards black women as opposed to
lighter-skinned women and a female participant recalled that she knew some “Black
men who don’t…date or like darker skinned women” (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024,
pp.10-11) . However, it would be insightful to look at a detailed investigation into
men’s experiences when colourist comments and families intersect. In addition, due
to the researcher’s “outsider” status (Dwyer and Buckle, 2009) as a woman, they
may have not gathered enough data on men’s experiences or history with romantic
relationships in the context of colourism due to the fear of being embarrassed to
admit their biases on skin colour and physical preferences.
social divisions and inequality
Word count: 754
In Phoenix and Craddock’s (2024) journal article “Dark skin penalty, shame and
resistance: negotiating colourism in UK families”, the effect of colourism within
families is addressed. They categorise different experiences within four themes: dark
skin perceived as negative, bringing familial shame; romantic relationships
influenced by colourist attitudes; colourism causing psychological distress; and
families resisting colourism (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, p.7). This allows for a
clearer understanding of how family plays an essential role in either reinforcing or
resisting colourism.
The article communicates the narrative that dark skin is associated with being “ugly”
contrasted by lighter skin being akin to “purity”. This point is evidenced through
multiple semi-structured interviews as participants illustrate how they’ve grown up
with notions of “Blackness as shameful” and lighter skin as “sophisticated” (Phoenix
and Craddock, 2024, p.7). These semi-structured interviews have successfully
illustrated the concept of lighter skin being a form of social capital due to the high
regard of those who have lighter skin. Phoenix and Craddock also indicate that dark
skin signifies a lower socioeconomic status as one Chinese participant recalls her
experience of being called a “peasant” by a family member ( 2024, p.9). Phoenix and
Craddock support this narrative by claiming it aligns with Leong’s idea of low
socioeconomic status being interlinked with dark skin in China (Leong, 2006).
Despite the authors’ intersectional approach, in which they acknowledge the
consideration of various identities in the context of inequality (Crenshaw, 1991), the
discussion on class being an important intersection with colourism seems to be
lacking due to only addressing this connection in a Chinese context.
Phoenix and Craddock argue that colourism is gendered as they recognise the
existing literature regarding colourism’s links to beauty which reflect patriarchal
, norms (2024, pp. 7-9). This is evident in their ‘Methods’ section wherein they
disclosed the large portion of women that they interviewed compared to men: “24
women and 9 men” (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, p. 4). The authors have also
established that some participants’ maternal or matriarchal figures have attempted to
influence their romantic partners. In the article, this “maternal colourism” is seen
through grandmothers or mothers preferring a lighter-skinned partner for their
(grand)children. It is supposedly “uncomfortable” for a participant to date men who
have mixed-ethnic backgrounds according to her grandmother, implying that dating a
Black or South Asian man would be unacceptable (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024, pp.
9-10). Despite the substantial amount of evidence collected through these interviews
whilst simultaneously acknowledging the intersection between gender and
generation in relation to colourism, the authors have failed to further emphasise why
these leading, feminine figures in the family have such biases towards lighter skin.
More explanation and research could have been done to show the importance of
generational difference and where they come from when discussing colourism in the
family as it could be an opportunity to explore the culture of where these
grandmothers and mothers came from.
As mentioned before, women are overrepresented in this article which does benefit
the article as they address the gendered experience of colourism. This is evidenced
as various existing literature is referenced - one example is the investigation of
pressure received by South Asian women to have light skin, increasing their
marriage prospects (Mishra et al., 2023). In consideration of the male perspectives,
one admitted that his preference is skewed towards black women as opposed to
lighter-skinned women and a female participant recalled that she knew some “Black
men who don’t…date or like darker skinned women” (Phoenix and Craddock, 2024,
pp.10-11) . However, it would be insightful to look at a detailed investigation into
men’s experiences when colourist comments and families intersect. In addition, due
to the researcher’s “outsider” status (Dwyer and Buckle, 2009) as a woman, they
may have not gathered enough data on men’s experiences or history with romantic
relationships in the context of colourism due to the fear of being embarrassed to
admit their biases on skin colour and physical preferences.
