Shaping the Skin: Conveying Identities Through Skincare and Cosmetics Sabrina Smofsky A Thesis in The Department of Sociology and Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Anthropology) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 2017 © Sabrina Smofsky, 2017 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Sabrina Smofsky Entitled: Shaping the Skin: Conveying Identities Through Skincare and Cosmetics and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final Examining Committee: ____________________ Chair Dr. Vered Amit ____________________ Examiner Dr. Marc Lafrance ____________________ Examiner Dr. Valérie De Courville Nicol ____________________ Supervisor Dr. David Howes Approved by ______________________________________________Chair of Department Danielle Gauvreau Date __________________________________________________ ii ABSTRACT Shaping the Skin: Conveying Identities Through Skincare and Cosmetics Sabrina Smofsky Due to the skin’s external location, it has been endowed various social meanings. Depending on the condition and adornment of one’s skin, social messages are accorded. A smooth, clear complexion communicates good physical and mental health, as internal wellness is perceived as discernible through the skin. When internal wellness is not always possible, or fails to affect the skin, skincare and cosmetics are imagined to offer a user democratic control over not only their skins, but the messages their skins transmit as well. Furthermore, gaining control over one’s skin, and therefore identity, is imagined to empower a user, and foster better internal wellness. As these epidermal aides became legitimized and disassociated with abhorrent behaviours in the 20th century, it assumed a critical role in a woman’s expression of a healthy adherence to her feminine identity. Once cosmetics in particular became synonymous with women’s appearances, it became held as evidence of women’s oppression. While this is true, this is only half the story of cosmetics. The troubling reality is that cosmetics are both oppressive and empowering. However, an added dimension of oppression exists among cosmetic users who have a darker complexion, as supposedly democratic beauty aides are predominantly created for those with light complexions. iii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1. Knowing Through the Skin: Perceiving and Being Perceived .......................................................... 2 2. What is “Good Skin” and How is It Determined? .................................................................................. 4 3. Why is “Good Skin” Desirable? ..................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. Indicative of Health ................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Indicative of Character and Moral Inclinations ............................................................................................. 7 3.3. Attractive Prospects .................................................................................................................................................. 8 4. Putting the Sin in Skin: A Historical Account of Skin Aides ........................................................... 10 5. Why Women? .................................................................................................................................................. 18 6. Methodology and Field Sites ...................................................................................................................... 28 7. Beauty as a Woman’s Right: Cosmetics and Skincare as Democratic Leveling Tools ......... 30 7.1. Political Messages ................................................................................................................................................... 30 7.2. Democratic Beauty .................................................................................................................................................. 31 7.3. Democratic Perceptions of Health .................................................................................................................... 32 7.3.1. Diet ....................................................................................................................................................................... 35 7.3.2. Emotions ............................................................................................................................................................ 44 7.3.3. Sleep ..................................................................................................................................................................... 46 7.4. A Yogi’s Guide to Skincare: To Know is To Control ................................................................................... 51 7.5. The Messages Written on The Skin ................................................................................................................... 57 8. Skin Aides as Weapons ................................................................................................................................ 59 8.1. Powerful Products, Powerful Mindsets ......................................................................................................... 59 8.2. Weaponized Marketing ......................................................................................................................................... 61 8.3. Weapons for What Purpose? .............................................................................................................................. 64 8.3.1. The Environment ............................................................................................................................................ 64 8.3.2. Self-Doubt ......................................................................................................................................................... 66 8.3.3. Censure of Others ........................................................................................................................................... 69 8.3.4. Women’s Oppression .................................................................................................................................... 70 8.3.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................... 71 9. Beauty a Duty ................................................................................................................................................. 73 9.1. The Sin of Ugliness: Female Virtues and Mental Health .......................................................................... 73 9.2. The Cosmetic Prerequisite .................................................................................................................................. 81 10. Makeup Performance as an Extension of the Self ........................................................................... 87 10.1. A Natural Artifice .................................................................................................................................................. 87 10.2. The Persisting Artificiality of Cosmetics ..................................................................................................... 88 10.3. Putting The Art in Artifice ................................................................................................................................. 89 10.4. Makeup as Revealing ............................................................................................................................................ 91 11. Cosmetics as Especially Oppressive For Some: Colourism of Cosmetics .............................. 97 11.1. Roth’s Ultimate Norm ......................................................................................................................................... 97 11.2. Token Shades as Symbolically Ethnic ........................................................................................................ 101 11.3. The Partiality of Light Skin .............................................................................................................................. 107 iv 11.4. Trying My Hand at Colour Matching: Shopping for Foundations with Kim ................................ 113 11.5. Colour Struggles with Products Besides Foundations ......................................................................... 118 11.6. Concluding Remarks on Shade Limitations .............................................................................................. 123 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................................