Is lighter better? : skin-tone discrimination among Asian Americans / Joanne L. Rondilla and Paul Spickard ; contributing researchers and writers, Lilynda Agvateesiri [and nine others].

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This eye-opener exposes a prevalent but concealed issue of colorism among Asian Americans, particularly women. Basing their work on interviews with over 100 Asian Americans from different ethnic groups, doctoral student Rondilla (Berkeley) and history professor Spickard (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) find a prevailing preference for lighter skin color and European-like facial features in every Asian community, as well as discriminatory treatment of individuals with a darker complexion in both Asian and American societies. The authors explore colorism in Asian communities from historical, sociocultural, racial, and health perspectives. Their analysis covers such topics as the influence of class distinction based on skin tones in Asian societies, the struggle to seek acceptance and equal treatment in white-dominant US society, challenges to the authenticity of Asian-ness, the beauty industry's exploitation of Asian American feelings of imperfection in their appearance, and painful experiences with harmful skin lighteners and cosmetic surgeries. Considering that the scholarly literature on colorism among Asian Americans is very limited in contrast with the rich literature on other racial groups, Rondilla and Spickard's book is a pioneering work that raises numerous questions inviting further research. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. A. Y. Lee George Mason University