MWP 3 Precis 5) Buying Racial Capital: Skin- Bleaching and Cosmetic Surgery in a Globalizes World

  In her article, "If You're Light You're Alright: Skin Color as Social Capital for Women of Color" Margret Hunter asserts consumers can now purchase "racial capital" through skin- bleaching creams or cosmetic surgeries. This article studies three competitive discourses: 1) the beauty makeover, Its centered on the mass-marketing of cosmetic whitening products, 2) the public health consequences, designed to discourage potential skin bleachers by revealing health risks and 3) the cosmetic makeover, marketing designed to market cosmetic procedures to the new "ethnic" and growing market. The analysis of advertising and public health campaigns  this research suggests the focus on individual attitudes in all three dimensions and supports the buying of racial capital.

Hunter, Margret L. “Buying Racial Capital: Skin Bleaching and Cosmetic Surgery in a Globalized World” The Journal of Pan African Studies, Vol. 4, June 2011