High Albedo
The "preference" for light skin seems to be "universal". At least two explanations have been advanced: First, that light skin is a class or status signifyer, where lighter means higher class; and second, that the preference is an internalization of European oppression.
The class explanation is elaborated by suggesting that lower classes worked in the fields, thus being exposed to the sun and therefore becoming tanned; whereas people who worked with their minds or were aristocrats could spend their time indoors and therefore would not tan.
The dominance explanation is that through European exploration and colonization, the "darker races" came to associate people with lighter skin tones as being dominant in a relationship -- those with more lethal weapons, the enslavers, believers in inherent superiority. Since even within groups there is skin tone variability, that variability became incorporated into visual hierarchy which placed some people in a group "above" or in a "superior" position to a darker complexioned person in the same group.
But, both explanations require that people are able to make fine distinctions, to abstract or generalize those distinctions, and codify or symbolize those abstractions. The ability to make a distinction requires that a person is able to perceive that distinction. One aspect of perception is the ability to distinguish a "figure" from the "ground". One way that a figure distinguishes itself from the ground is by its brightness as opposed to the rest of the world -- the stars, the moon and the sun distinguish themselves from the rest of the sky by their constrained brightness, points of light.
A measure of a planet's "brightness" is that of albedo, which is a measure of the proportion of light that a planet reflects. A planet that reflects no light has an albedo of 0, while a perfect mirror has an albedo of 1. People can also be said to have albedos, and those with albedos closer to 1 "stand out" more, are "brighter" than people with albedo closer to 0. Possibly, people with higher albedos claim a greater mind space, are more salient than darker people, and are given more consideration.
The class explanation is elaborated by suggesting that lower classes worked in the fields, thus being exposed to the sun and therefore becoming tanned; whereas people who worked with their minds or were aristocrats could spend their time indoors and therefore would not tan.
The dominance explanation is that through European exploration and colonization, the "darker races" came to associate people with lighter skin tones as being dominant in a relationship -- those with more lethal weapons, the enslavers, believers in inherent superiority. Since even within groups there is skin tone variability, that variability became incorporated into visual hierarchy which placed some people in a group "above" or in a "superior" position to a darker complexioned person in the same group.
But, both explanations require that people are able to make fine distinctions, to abstract or generalize those distinctions, and codify or symbolize those abstractions. The ability to make a distinction requires that a person is able to perceive that distinction. One aspect of perception is the ability to distinguish a "figure" from the "ground". One way that a figure distinguishes itself from the ground is by its brightness as opposed to the rest of the world -- the stars, the moon and the sun distinguish themselves from the rest of the sky by their constrained brightness, points of light.
A measure of a planet's "brightness" is that of albedo, which is a measure of the proportion of light that a planet reflects. A planet that reflects no light has an albedo of 0, while a perfect mirror has an albedo of 1. People can also be said to have albedos, and those with albedos closer to 1 "stand out" more, are "brighter" than people with albedo closer to 0. Possibly, people with higher albedos claim a greater mind space, are more salient than darker people, and are given more consideration.
posted by Godel at 7:48 AM
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