People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research University Abd El Hamid Ibn Badis Faculty of Foreign Languages Department of English Master in Literature and Interdisciplinary Approaches The US Beauty Industry and the Other Face of Racism towards the 21st Century African -American Women Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Master in Literature and Interdisciplinary Approaches Submitted By: Reguig Khadidja Board of Examiners: Chairperson: Ms. Bellel Hanane Supervisor: Mr. Teguia Cherif Examiner: Mrs. Adnani Rajaa 2018-2019 Dedication It is my genuine gratefulness and warmest regard that I dedicate this work to my beloved people who have meant and continue to mean so much to me. Although some of them are no longer in this world, their memories will always stay engraved in my heart. First and foremost, to my dear late grandmother Fatma who taught me kindness. To my family: my parents, my brothers and sisters for believing in me and for their unceasing encouragements and support. I would like to dedicate my work to my friends from secondary school days: Sarra and Omar. Unfortunately, I cannot mention everyone by name, it would take a lifetime. Just make sure you all count so much to me. Without your prayers, benedictions, sincere love and help, I would have never completed this dissertation. i Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Teguia Cherif for his continuous support, patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped me all the time of research and writing of this dissertation. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor. Besides my supervisor, my sincere thanks also go to Dr.Larbi Youcef whom I am grateful to, for his discussions in class that gave me the first glance about my chosen topic. I must also express my very profound gratitude for his precious support for all the students, his door was always open for us whenever we ran into trouble spot or had questions. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Prince EA and Jay Shetty for the inspiration they have been to me through their videos. Last but not the least, I am thankful and fortunate enough to get constant encouragements, support and guidance from my friend and classmate Soufi Amira. I would like to thank her for the stimulating discussions and for the sleepless nights she spent listening to me. ii Abstract Although the formal legal codes of enslavement and segregation that stood for centuries has ended, the racist ideas rested and newer forms of racial prejudice appeared. In a supposed post racial period, new discrimination forms can be clearly seen in many fields like the beauty industry. Through products releases and advertisement campaigns, the industry defines beauty and sets its norms. Such conventional beauty standards are typically Eurocentric. It means that models should have lighter complexions, smoother hair textures and smaller noses and lips. As a reason to that, black skinned African-American women do not fit the Eurocentric beauty standards. They are marginalized from the industry. They are also deprived from any access to its products. In addition to all that, they get insulted through the language and pictures used in their advert campaigns. Keywords - Post Racial Period - Racial Prejudice - Beauty Industry - Conventional Beauty Standards - Eurocentric Beauty Standards - African-American Women iii Table of Contents Dedication ………………………………………………………………………...…………....i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………….…….….…..ii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….……….…. iv List of Acronyms…………………………………………………………………………......vii List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………………..viii General Introduction…………………………………………………………...……………….1 Chapter One: The American History of Racial Discrimination. 1. The Connection between Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination………..……......…3 2. Definition of Race and Racism……………………...…….……………………..…..……4 3. The History of Racial Discrimination in U.S………………….………...……..……….....5 3.1 The First Africans on the American Soil……………..…………………………...…6 3.2 Slavery in U.S.A (1916-1985)….…………………………………......……………...9 3.3 The Resistance of the Slaves…………………………………...............…………...11 3.4 The Control Procedures Followed…………………………………………………..12 3.5 The Abolitionist Movement (1830s -1870s)…………………......…...………….....13 3.6 Civil War (1861-1865)……………………………………………………...………14 3.7 The African-Americans during the Reconstruction Period (1865–1877)…..............15 3.8 The Civil Rights Movement (1954 – 1968)……………………………………...…16 iv Chapter Two: The History of Cosmetic Use in Relation to White Skin Colour 1. Definition of Cosmetics....................................................................................................19 2. The Creation of the First Cosmetics in the World............................................................20 3. The History of Cosmetics Use in Relation to White Skin Colour....................................22 3.1 The Ancient Greek Civilization ................................................................................22 3.2 The Ancient Roman Civilization………………….….………………….……….....23 3.3 The Middle Ages …………………………………………..……..………………...25 3..4The Elizabethan Era………………………………….……..…………….………..26 3.5 The U.S.A (20th century………………………….………………..….….………...27 Chapter Three: Main Acts of Racism in Beauty Industry 1. The Lack of Diversity in Products…………………………...……………..…...……...31 2. The Features’ Changing Products…………….....…………...…………….....………..34 3. The Misrepresentations of African-American Women…...………………........……....35 3.1 The White-Washed Technique…………………………………..……………….....35 3.2 The Black-Faced Technique………………………...………………...…………….36 3.3 The Mixed-Race Models………………………………………………..…………..37 4. Racism Behind the Scenes……………………………………………………………....37 5. Racism on the Runways………………………………………………………………....38 6. The Racist Beauty Adverts…………………………………………………….………..39 7. Racial Bias in Beauty……………………………………………………….……….......41 8. The Impact of Racial Beauty Standards on Women of Colour…………………….…...42 8.1 The Health Status…………………………………………………...………..……..42 8.2 The Psychological Side……………………...……………………………………...43 General Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………....45 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………...46 v Appendices vi List of Acronyms B.C: Before Christ CEO: Chief Executive Officer EU: European Union GIF: Graphic Interchange Format H&M: Hennes&Mauritz KKK: Ku Klux Klan NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People U.K.: United Kingdom U.S.A: The United States of America U.S: The United States vii List of Tables - Table 1: Connecting Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination………………………. 3 - Table 2: Slaves as a Percent of the Total Population Selected Years, by Southern state………………………………………………………………………………………10 viii General Introduction General Introduction Despite the equality and integration achieved for African-Americans in the second half of the 20th century, racial discrimination persists. The negative stereotypes about colourism evolved to become more subtle and indirect formal expressions, meaning old-fashioned racism in another guise. One of these new forms of racism is present in the beauty industry. From its rise to recognition, the industry defined beauty on Eurocentric basis, built the business organizations needed to market it and globalized its ideal throughout the world. Therefore, in the light of what has been said and in order to better understand these new forms of racism and particularly in the industry of beauty, light should be cast on various questions: • Are African-American women racially segregated in the beauty industry? • If indeed they are: ➢ What are the characteristics of this racial beauty industry segregation? And more importantly, how do African-American women respond to it? As possible answers to the aforementioned questions, the following hypotheses are suggested: • Maybe there is no such a behaviour in the industry To answer these questions, this work has been divided into three chapters. The first one entitled "The American History of Racial Discrimination" is dedicated to the history of race- based segregation on the American soil starting from the first arrival of Africans to the U.S.A up to the Civil Rights Movement. Definitions are provided and more details are added about what happened between these two major events in the American history. Then, in the second chapter, entitled "The History of Cosmetic Use in Relation to White Skin Colour ", the work is conducted to explore the historical precedents underlying the creation and the use of cosmetics in relation to the white skin colour starting from ancient periods to the modern times. Finally, the last chapter entitled "Main Acts of Racism in Beauty Industry" is dedicated to give examples about this new 1 General Introduction form of racism such as misrepresentations and offensive ads in addition to its impact on the African-American women health. 2 Chapter One: The American History of Racial Discrimination Chapter One: The American History of Racial Discrimination Humans are very diverse and although they share many similarities, they also have many differences. Throughout the history, these differences have always led to the prevalent of prejudice and discrimination. At first, the discriminations were based on socioeconomic status but with time, it evolved to include other aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity,