Black Skin and the Ideal of Beauty


VOL. 108 . NO . M AY t 9Y7 

Table I. Microsatellite Instability in Neurofibromas of 
Two Related NF-l Patients" 

Marke rs T1 T2 T3 T4 

D2S 1 23 + 
0 9S 1 26 + + + 
0 9S1 96 + + 
D9S 2 87 + 
09S176 + + 
D9S 12 7 + 

a Thre e nc urofi bro m Bs oC th e fat h e r (T I. T 2 . T 3) and onc of th e d aug hte r (T4) were 
anal y z e d at 23 1l1i cros<1 cclli tc lo c i . Altered mi c ro satc llitc l1l;lrkc rs are shown . 

sug g ests that this ge n e tic ev ent m ay b e ch ara cte ri sti c o f tb e late 
stages of tumor d evelo pm ent. On th e other hand , th e in cr eas ed 
susceptibility to e n vironm ental facto rs, pro ba bl y inv o lve d in n e u-
rofi broma tumOli ge n es is, ma y al so ex pl ain di fie re n ces b e tw ee n 
individuals . 

M ultipl e ge n es r esp o nsibl e fo r se ve ral ge n o de rma toses ha ve be en 
recentl y m appe d on chromo so m e 9 (Pe ri cak-Van ce ef ai , 1995 ). 
Ou r findin g o f multiple alterations o n chro m oso m e 9 indi cates that 
" m o difying ge n es" (Easton et ai, 199 3) , unlinked to th e NF- 1 loc u s 
an d loca ted in th e r egio n s w e anal yze d , mi ght ha ve a r ole it) th e 
path ogen esis of n e uro fibr o ma s in NF-l pati e nts. F urth e r in ves ti ga-

LETTERS T O T HE ED ITOR 813 

tio n s o n a large r numb er of N F-l p atients ar e n ee d ed to claJ.i fy th e 
p rec is e rol e o f chro m oso m e 9 in th e d eve lo pm en t of th ese tumors . 

M ali a Con cett a Farg n oli , Sergio C himen ti , Ke t ty Pelis 
D ep artm ent of Derm ato logy 

Unive rsity of L' Aq uil a, L' A quil a, Ital y 

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Easto n DF, Po de r MA . Hu so n SM , Po n de r HAJ: An alla lys is ofv;lriauon in exp ress io n 
of n c u fo fibro m :tcosis (N F) ryp e 1. (NF l ): ev idence fo r m od ifyi n g gcn es . .4 111 J 
HUIII Cm et 53:305- 31 3, t 993 

H on chel R . Hallin g KC , Pitte lkow M. Sch aid OJ, T hi bod eau SN : M icrosa telli rc 
in s t ~lbiljry in M uir-Torre syndro m e . Gnll re,. Res 5 -1: l t 59 -1 '163 . J 99-t 

H Oll c hc1 It . H all ing K C . Thi bo d eau SN : Gen o m ic in sti1b ility in I1 co pla sin. Scmill Cel l 
Bioi 6:45-52 . 1995 

Ottini L. Espo siro D L, R.ic he l ta A. Cn rl csil1l o M. P" llll.iro tra R. Veri M C. Bat ti sfa P. 
f rad L. Ca rami a fG. C alv ic ri S, C,lm a A, Mariani- C o stan tin i It: Al te rn tion s o f 
m ic rosatc lli ces in ne u roftb ro m as o f VOlI R cc kJin g<1 u sc ll 's d ise ase . C allce,. Res 
55:5677- 5680. 1995 

Pe ricak - Va nc e MA . Ba le AE, H aine s JL, Kwiarko w ski D.I . Pil z A , Slau gc nh au pt S , 
W hite j A. Edward s jH . Ma rc hu k O. Olopa de 0 1. Attwoo d .l , Povey S: R.epo rt 
o n the fo urth w o rksho p a ll c hro m o so m c 9 . A IIII H I/III G elll'l 59:3 -1- 7- 36 5 , 1995 

Pc ris K. Ke ll e r G , C him c n ti S. A m <l Il R',a A , Kc d H . Ho Acr H : Mi c ro sare lli re insrabilitv 
<1n d lo ss of h e re ro zygos ity in m c l:111 0Il1a . J I t/ ll es t De"' '' (ff o! 105:62 5- 628. 1995 . 

Qu inll AG . He aly E. R e hll HlIl 1. ikki n k S. ,R c cs J L: Mi c ro sare iJ ire in stabi li ty in hU l11:1 n 
nOIl - lllc l:ln o m 3 an d m c ian o lll ll skill can ce r. J I I/ ll esr D e/'/lIl1( ol 10 4 :3 0 9 - 3 12 . 19 95 

Black Skin and the Ideal of Beauty 
To t h e Editor : 

Oh laplI'illg E ast! T o Sa ba hell ce [ selin rh ee ... 
(Hn.fi z , - 1325-1 389) 

Blac k skin h as unjustifiabl y b ee n equ ale d with n egati ve va lu es o f 
the b e ar e r since at le ast th e tim e of An cient Rom e two thou sand 
ye a r s ago (Ha b erm e hl 1992 ) . Pro verbial and indiscriminate u se o f 
black as a sy n o n ym for b ad, mali cious , r e pu g nant, wa s p erp e tu ate d . 
The id eal of b ea u ty, femal e b eauty at th at, was pale or white 
throu g h o ut th e Old W o rld fr o m the coast o fIr eland to th e Sea of 
Japan (Holuba r and Schmidt, 1994) . C hri stian m yth o logy, r oo ted 
in cl ass ica.l R o m an fundam ental s, carri ed th ese tr adi tio n s into 
prese nt day . Libe ration m o ve m ents in th e seco nd hal f of this 
centu ry le d to th e slo gan black is beollriji" , coin ed to b oos t t he sel f 
confid e n ce and prid e o f m o re h eav il y pig m ented clines (Ho lub ar 
an d Schmidt , 1994 ) of man . 

W hat sh o uld b e prove n in th e fo ll o win g is th at bl ac k did n o t 
necess arily constitute a d erogat ive desig nati o n in ea rl.i e r times, but 
rat h e r se r ve d to depict an excepti o n fro m th e pa le- compl e xi o n e d 
people s in va ri o u s Old World societi es over th e ce n t uri es . 

T h e arg um e nt sh all be ex e mplifi ed with th e aid o f a bl ac k b eau ty 
of the Hig h Middl e Ages , th e Quee n o f She b a o f B ibli cal fam e , a 
descend ant o f Ku sh and H am , w h o is pres um ed to ha ve be e n bla ck. 
She i s a well kn o wn fi g ure in J ewish, C hr isti an , and Islami c lo r e and 
has b een dep ic te d tim e and aga in . Accordin g to th e Bibl e (1 Kin gs 
X :1-13 and 2 C hronicl es IX:1-1 2) th e qu ee n v isited So l0 111 0 n to 
present him with ri ch es and to qu es ti o n him . Accordin g to K orani c 
tra di tion (Sura XXVII) , So lomon sent a bird to d eli ver a lette r and 
to summon h er to J eru sa lem. T hi s bird , in H ebrew, is call e d 
dukhipat ("!),:,,.,,) ; in Arabi c, hudhud (.10\.10\) ; in E n gli sh , h oo p oe ; in 
Biblica l tr aditi o n (Leviti c u s X I:1 9) it is an uncl e an bird, but o n e t hat 
guard s treas ures and ca rri e s th e shamir (Hebre w, "~IlJ) , th e 

wo ndro u s wor m t ha t split t h e sto n es fo r th e Te mpl e b eca u se iro n 
to ol s we re fo rbidd en . 

O n e of th e m ost el ab o rate and co mpre h ensi ve illu strati o n s of th e 
S to r y o f Sa lva ti o n is th e ro m anesqu e en am e l alte r of N icho las of 
V e rdun , Fran ce, fllli sh ed be fore A.D. 11 81 in th e m o n as tery o f 
KJ o ste rn e ubur g in th e suburb s of V ienn a and p reserve d o n site sin ce 
(Ro hri g , 1994) . In thi s alta r t he Q uee n of Sh e b a is b ea uti full y 
d e p ic te d with a bl ack face and bla ck h and s (Fig 1 ). Sh e is e legantl y 
p o siti o ne d be twee n Kin g So lo m o n sittin g o n his t hron e and o n e of 
h er ser van ts k n e eli ng b e fore th e m o n arch-sh e is a cla ss ical idea l of 
femal e b ea u ty, at th e sa m e tim e a la ce ech o of th e b ea u ties of 
antiqui ty and a h arbin ge r o f the gothi c m ad onn as soon to fo ll o w . 

In li g ht-co mpl exio n ed soc ieties . th e id ea ls of m ale and fe m ale 
b ea uty u su all y w er e white. E ur o pe . Nea r and Middl e East, C hin a, 
and Japan m ay be viewe d as th e hi sto ri ca l h a bitat of li g h t-
co mpl exi o n ed peo pl e s. Li ter ar y so ur ces in cl udin g h oly sc riptu re s. 
p rove rb s, and miniatures illu strate tlli s p o in t . Kin g Da vid , a re dh ead 
in Bibli cal t radi tio n and a central fIg ure of th e O ld Testam ent. 
se rv es as a goo d exa mpl e (I Samu e l XV I:12; r ead in g in H e bre w . 
hu adm o ni , ')'~'I'( 'l'1) . T h e m ost fa m o u s C hin es e p oetes s. L i 
C hin g C ha o * mlltl ( 1084 - 1 1. 5 1), wro te ren silk gall ze so shcer II' ), 
//I hir e skill sllill es throllg h. (Wa tso n . 1984) . iitJllj. llJ~JIIl.§ . (ph o-
n e ti c all y tr an slatin g in to: ji an g xi ao lo u b ao bin g j I yi n g ) . T h e 
J a p a n es e pr ove rb h as it th a t '!'ili ff skill //l ak es lip for sell ell def ects 
f!:.) 8 -(1\ tMiliA , O a pan ese ph o n e tica ll y tr an l at es in to 
iroll o shiro ill'" sc/,irhillall kn kIlSll ). H isto ri ca ll y. b oth C h ine se a n d 
Jap an ese see th e ms e lves as lI ,hir e, cau casian s o f E ur o p ea n an ce s-
try as troll sillrellf. T hi s is a ve r y goo d o b se r vatio n ind ee d if o n e 
lo o k s at th e skin o f p h oto t yp e I p e rso n s, in w h o m blu e ve in s. r e d 
capill ari es, and ye ll o w e lastos is shin e t hro u g h. Wo m e n ar e l ess 
str o n g ly pi g m e n te d b e c a u se in m a n y so cieties wo m e n a re m o r e 
lik e ly to st ay ind oo r s and ar e less ex p osed to e n v ir o nm e n ta l 
ultra v io le t li g ht. T h e ab ove Jap an e se pr ov e rb u ses sh iro, 
B . ,!'Ilire, pro n o lln ce d " ai in C hin e se. as a ch ar acte r. T h e C h i-
n ese ve rse is les s t ri vial , lltili z in g t h e c h ara c te r , )lillg, ~ shill )' . 



814 LETTERS TO THE ED ITOI1.. 

Figure 1. Depi ction of th e Q u cen of Sh eba, K in g Solomon and two 
se rvants. (En ame l a ltar of Ni ch o la s ofVerdlln, before A.D. 1181 , Mona stery 
of K.!osrcrnllcburg. Austria ) 

tm llsl llCC III , w hi c h in corpo rates t h e c h aracter )'11, jade, .3i, to 
indi cate th e lu stro us quality of pale skill . 

Over the 2- l/2 'Tullennia of which we have a w ritten tradition 

1'\-1£ JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY 

of Western and Eastern soc ieties. persons of dark complex. 
io n always co n stituted exceptio ns fr o m the rul e, a nd the 
fact of darker skin in a par ticu lar individual merited special 
m e ntio n . Sapp h o, the great poetess of a bo ut 600 B.C., was 
dark. IltKpa KU\. !-If,,utvu, sIIIall alld black sh e is ca ll ed 
by Ma x imu s of Tyru s. Ovid ha s he r say, calldida si 11 0 11 SII III , (bi/C 
'I'iJif c [ all' II of) (Wissow a el ai, 1968) . Sunburn is co nsid. 
ere d cosm etica ll y undes irabl e, both in the Song of Song 
1: 6, don'f look of !li e, I all' (allll ed, rea din g in Hebrew, al limlti 
sll coni sl, cNilnrkllOrcf, n,n,n'tl t)N'tI tlN,n ~N an d in the play 
Dyskolos by Menandros (34211-29110 B.C.) w he re Knemo n 
says, H e is sIIIIburned, is I, e n [an il e,.? (act IV , verse 754) 
, I J , :. • 

Em KEK(llycal !-lEV. "(£WP)'OC; EOU j 
W h at can be concluded from tlus literary exclu'sion ? Black as a 

color is as n eutra l in its va lu e as is w hite or any oth er. Ideals of 
beauty are white in w hite societies, black in black ones. Due to 
m e dia domination (script, printi n g, libr ari es, etc.) by pale- complex. 
io ne d peo pl es as mu ch as by the spread of reli gions, C hristianity 
primarily, prevai lin g white views became conunon-place. C ircuu,. 
stances fac ili tated su ch a sta n ce; beca us e ni g ht is dark and to sense 
fear in th e dark ni ght is easier than in bright d ay li gh t, to compare 
dark to frightening is n ot unnatural. It is imm ora l though, if su ch 
epithets are applied to fellow man . T his notwithstanding, bl ack 
historica ll y was n o t syn o nymo us with ug ly; o n the contrary, it 
co uld , in w lute societies as well as dark ones, be a f., cec of beauty 
and attra ction (fi'o l11 th e Queen of Sh e ba to J osep hine Baker. 
Whitney Houston and Naomi C ampb ell), of admiratio n (Gra ce 
Bumbry or Leo ntyne Pri ce) , or of veneration (th e b lack mad onna 
of J aSl1a Gora, Sa intes-Ma ries-d e-l a-M er (Sara) , and elsewh ere) . 

Karl Holubar 
Departments of th e History of M ed icin e and of Dermatology 

Univ ersity of Viett113 
Vienna, Austria 

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