Living color [electronic resource] : the biological and social meaning of skin color / Nina G. Jablonski.
2012
GN197 .J34 2012eb
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Details
Title
Living color [electronic resource] : the biological and social meaning of skin color / Nina G. Jablonski.
Author
Jablonski, Nina G.
ISBN
9780520953772 (electronic book)
9780520251533
9780520251533
Publication Details
Berkeley : University of California Press, c2012.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xiii, 260 p., [8] p. of plates) : ill., maps.
Call Number
GN197 .J34 2012eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
573.5
Summary
This book investigates the social history of skin color from prehistory to the present, showing how our body's most visible trait influences our social interactions in profound and complex ways. The author begins with the biology and evolution of skin pigmentation, explaining how skin color changed as humans moved around the globe. She explores the relationship between melanin pigment and sunlight, and examines the consequences of rapid migrations, vacations, and other lifestyle choices that can create mismatches between our skin color and our environment. Richly illustrated, this book explains why skin color has come to be a biological trait with great social meaning-- a product of evolution perceived by culture. It considers how we form impressions of others, how we create and use stereotypes, how negative stereotypes about dark skin developed and have played out through history. Offering examples of how attitudes about skin color differ in the U.S., Brazil, India, and South Africa, the author suggests that a knowledge of the evolution and social importance of skin color can help eliminate color-based discrimination and racism.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form
Living color.
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Table of Contents
Biology
Skin's natural palette
Original skin
Out of the tropics
Skin color in the modern world
Shades of sex
Skin color and health
Society
The discriminating primate
Encounters with difference
Skin color in the age of exploration
Skin color and the establishment of races
Institutional slavery and the politics of pigmentation
Skin colors and their variable meanings
; Aspiring to lightness
Desiring darkness
Living in color.
Skin's natural palette
Original skin
Out of the tropics
Skin color in the modern world
Shades of sex
Skin color and health
Society
The discriminating primate
Encounters with difference
Skin color in the age of exploration
Skin color and the establishment of races
Institutional slavery and the politics of pigmentation
Skin colors and their variable meanings
; Aspiring to lightness
Desiring darkness
Living in color.