Is Lighter Better?

Skin-Tone Discrimination among Asian Americans

Joanne L. Rondilla, Paul Spickard

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781461638100
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Minority Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Colorism is defined as "discriminatory treatment of individuals falling within the same 'racial' group on the basis of skin color." In other words, some people, particularly women, are treated better or worse on account of the color of their skin relative to other people who share their same racial category. Colorism affects Asian Americans from many different backgrounds and who live in different parts of the United States. Is Lighter Better? discusses this often-overlooked topic. Joanne L. Rondilla and Paul Spickard ask important questions such as: What are the colorism issues that operate in Asian American communities? Are they the same issues for all Asian Americans—for women and for men, for immigrants and the American born, for Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese, and other Asian Americans? Do they reflect a desire to look like White people, or is some other motive at work? Including numerous stories about and by people who have faced discrimination in their own lives, this book is an invaluable resource for people interested in colorism among Asian Americans.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 - Colorism in Asian America
• 2 - The Darker and Lighter Sister: Telling Our Stories
• 3 - The Survey
• 4 - Making a Better Me? Pure. White. Flawless.
• 5 - The Unkindest Cut: Cosmetic Surgery
• Epilogue
• Appendix 1: Colorism Interview Schedule
• Appendix 2: Interview Respondents’ Demographic Data
• Appendix 3: Cosmetic Surgery Interview Questions
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Authors