An examination of black women's health information understanding and negotiation of engagement in skin whitening

Abstract

Taking a domestic approach to understanding a global phenomenon, the purpose of this project is to illuminate how black women receive health information concerning skin whitening and how such information impacts black women's negotiation and engagement in skin whitening as a health, racial, cultural, and social practice situated in an African American and Caribbean immigrant community. Triangulating semi-structured in-depth interviews, autoethnography, field and participant observations, I completed a close look at skin whitening over four weeks of intensive observation and self-introspection. Findings reveal a complicated understanding of health and racial hazard engulfed in familial exchanges and non-knowledgeable representatives of products that vie for skin whitening products use without proper representation of health information and impacts.