Review: Thomas, Lynn M. Beneath the Surface: A Transnational History of Skin Lighteners.

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:

Lynn M. Thomas’s new book, Beneath the Surface: A Transnational History of Skin Lighteners presents a history of lightening products centered in South Africa that is attentive to transnational ties. Her book asks a series of questions about why people have chosen to use skin lighteners throughout history and what these choices tell us about the politics of beauty, personal desires, social and economic transformations, and race. By tracing the history of lightening in South Africa, she demonstrates how a long history of this practice existed among Africans in South Africa. In doing so, she shows that skin lightening cannot just be explained by racism, but by an amalgamation of factors including gender, class, and sexuality (Thomas 2).