Making Skin Visible

Abstract

Human skin, photography, and consumer culture combine to produce striking images designed to promote visions of the good life. Branding and marketing imagery mobilize skin to resonate and communicate with consumers, which influences the meaning-making possibilities of skin more broadly. Representations of skin in consumer culture, including marketing communications, are anything but ‘blank’ backgrounds or ‘neutral’ meaning spaces. We analyse how skin ‘appears’ to work, and how its appearance in consumer culture imagery reveals ideological and pedagogical aspects of skin. Building upon psychodynamic and interdisciplinary understandings of skin, we discuss dimensions of the body that feed marketing communications and branding. We highlight representational fetishization and the epidermal schema as conceptual tools to interrogate the commodification of skin and as constitutive elements in processes of skin commodification. We provide theoretical insights to address the ways in which skin is implicated in new and emerging concerns of digital representational practices.

It's the colour of my skin: race and beauty discourse with Fenty beauty captions and user comments on Instagram

“…Stryker and Burke (2000) note that this process of categorization connects the self with social structures and hierarchies and results in consequences, like ethnocentrism and stereotyping (p. 287). In connection with identity, Borgerson and Schroeder (2018) reference the epidermal schema which refers to "a process that works to reduce human being and identity to skin, to focus attention on differences in skin colour, to emphasize ontological distinctions signalled by differences in skin colour, and to valorize whiteness" (p. 105).…”

“…Differences in appearance, such as skin colour, can influence how one is perceived by oneself and by others (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2018). In the context of racial identity, Rockquemore et al (2009) compare race-based identity construction with Stryker's concept of identity theory in that individuals explore, experiment, and eventually commit to various aspects of the self over time (p. 17).…”

“…Identifying common attributes with other people is vital for selfdefinition (El Jurdi and Smith, 2018, p. 45). Borgerson and Schroeder (2018) explore the significance of skin in consumer culture imagery and argue that it has the power to create meaning and construct identity and personal narratives through its representations in branding and marketing communications. This contributes to the commodification of skin in consumer culture.…”

“…This contributes to the commodification of skin in consumer culture. In consumer culture imagery, skin is coded with race-based ontological and epistemological assumptions that tell the world who they are and what they are about (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2018). It is recognized as a communicative visual element featured with "consumption objects and experiences that help shape consumers' imaginations about what consuming these products signifies, and how consumers can construct, express and maintain identities via their consumption choices" (Borgerson and Schroeder, 2018, p. 104).…”

“…Some scholars contend that consumer markets should be varied enough to give consumers the motivation to either assimilate with a social group or differentiate oneself to be voluntarily distinctive (Bartikowski and Cleveland, 2016, p. 196). If skin colour is fundamental to identity as Borgerson and Schroeder (2018) remark, considering the needs and demands of various ethnic populations when designing products is crucial, especially for cosmetic products (Caisey et al, 2006). Likewise, understanding the emotions and attitudes consumers carry to inform their purchasing habits is a necessary step for brands to comprehensively cater their products (Talavera et al, 2019, p. 1).…”