Considering that "multicultural" is better than buying into a flawed terminology like "race," I'm going to have to say it is a win for the crayons.

I'm horrified to think what sort of subconscious message this sends out to people of minority racial groups who are surrounded with this all their lives. Personally, although I am caucasian I've always found so-called 'flesh' tones far too dark for me; even makeup is difficult - plenty of ranges have colours called 'porcelain' or 'ivory' or even 'extra pale' yet somehow they still end up looking like browny-pinky-orange on my skin, and it's amazing how even that can affect the way a person thinks about themselves. Magazine articles I read growing up about makeup/clothes/whatever for 'your colouring' only admitted the existence of very pale skin if it was pink toned 'peaches-and-cream' (to my pink-less yellowy white) and topped with with blonde hair (to my deep dark brown) and I grew up feeling like some ugly abnormality for failing to be the 'right' type of white: either a rosy-cheeked blonde or a brown-eyed tanned brunette. I can only imagine what it must be like to be made to feel that you not only have the 'wrong' shade like me but the 'wrong' colour and the 'wrong' race entirely.

@Squoo -- are we related? I have that same super-pale-but-yellowish-not-pinkish skin and brown hair thing going on. Realized today that I am the same color as my off-white carpet ...

I've always been surprised that ALL bandaids aren't the clear kind. Love those.

people colors. lol i like that. it sounds like something a little kid would say (a little kid who doesnt know how to be racist yet)

I would argue that the Breathe Right strips use the term "normal" in regards to the sensitivity of skin, rather than color. They also offer a version for sensitive skin: http://www.breatheright.com/products/clear.aspx

The "clear" version of nasal strips are apparently formulated for dry/sensitive skin, so I think by "normal" skin they mean it's not dry or oily. Not sure why they make the dry skin version as clear, though.

I love the people colors pencils, but EW about the homeschooling sites: "Okay, first of all: Don’t worry. I am not on a diversity kick, despite what you might think." uh, what?

Using "multicultural" is still a far cry from not being racist. People can be completely different in appearance and still be from the same culture. God made us and to claim that humans are anything less than equal is a slap in His face.

Regarding the breathe Right strips - I believe the term 'Normal' was not a color reference, but a skin-oil-content reference.  "Normal" skin in cosmetics and health products means your skin is not excessively dry OR oily.  Just look at any bottles of make up foundation and regardless of the color of the product, you will find the words, "Normal", "Oily", and "Dry", and even "Combination" on the labels. 

Also, it could denote soemthing about the adhesive ebing fine for people who don't react to dyes, and that have "Sensitive" skin, therefore the company has a nother line for  people with that needed another adhesive formula, but didn't feel they needed to re-do all their products, just a small portion of them.  This is similar to many detergents. 

The word 'tan' already referenced a color option, so there would be no need on the packaging for the product's color.  It would be redundant and a waste of text on the packaging. 

I was shopping for artist's markers in various skin tones the other day, and was startled to discover that one brand labeled its colors things like "peach" and "sand" and "mahogany"- except for that one color, which was called "skin white". 

The 'normal' on the Breathe Right box refers to skin that is not 'sensitive.'

This website is actually ridiculous. Who gives a damn about crayons, plasters and clown wigs? There are bigger issues out there than whether or not Crayola makes a range of "flesh" coloured crayons from light to dark. Get some perspective please!

"Tan strips for normal skin"

Just....wow.....

Won't someone please think of the clowns of color? :(

Oh, so someone else did see the 'normal' thing on the Breathe Right as 'normal skin'. It took me like five minutes to figure out that they meant 'sensitive'. I think its just shoddy wording. Course, tan is just as bad anyways.

Marginally related: Starbucks Skin Scale (warning: TVTropes will eat your life).

It's only recently that Crayola renamed that collection "multicultural crayons." When I was little (i.e. 90s) and in school, they were called "my world," which I think they should have stayed with, because it's an unoffensive, accurate term for the collection, which had various shades of brown and tan as well as peaches, blues, reds, etc for mixing and for coloring hair, eyes, etc in addition to skin.

and this is why the muppets are blue, red, green, etc. lordy. they've had some issues dealing with hair though, but they're working on it.

Normal isn't a reference to the color of the skin, but rather the oiliness (for similar examples, look at lotion, or CoverGirl products that will have "normal" on the packaging of every color of makeup).

It's interesting to see the fact that crayola's "flesh" crayons actually changed color at some point, though.

what's wrong with multicultural crayons? Multiracial crayons wouldn't have worked, since you could use the crayons for some colors for more than one racial grouping.

If they'd used 'race' in the name, someone would have probably objected about the social construction of race in any case.

The band-aid thing really gets me. I used to work at a pre-school where most of the children were black. And yet, the school had only "flesh" colored band-aids. And little kids are ALWAYS asking for band-aids. I always thought about it when I put these band-aids on their little fingers that were clearly constructed to match someone else´s skin.

 A simple solution would have been to purchase thematic band-aids - like animals or neon colors - little kids love that kind of thing. A more complex solution would be to get companies to make different colored band-aids to match a wider spectrum of skin tones.

http://heatherleila3.blogspot.com/2010/06/system-will-be-racist-on-my-behalf.html

The bias originated on both supply and demand side. That is, early modern consumer goods were invented by white people for white people. Now black people want essentially the same stuff, but evidently it's all still made by white people. So now it's a supply side thing.

Is incredible how blind you get when you're neck deep in privilege. Just that color on bandage and bandaids - why? It's not like there's a stated purpose to it, they just automatically pick a color to match a certain brand of white skin when it could have any color or pattern there is.

Recently in New Zealand we had a general election. The official colour for voting papers for people enrolled on the Maori electoral roll was "buff". They were basically a pale flesh colour. It is pretty funny that noone else sees how inappropriate it is to call Maori voting papers "buff" (when most Maori have darker skin).

OMG, I can't believe Pioneer Woman actually had to include this disclaimer in her post "Okay, first of all: Don’t worry. I am not on a diversity kick, despite what you might think."
WHAAA?!

I certainly still have a lot to learn about race and my own white privilege, but I do remember even as a young child the flesh-colored (as Caucasian skin only) band-aids bothered me.  I figured racism couldn't be over if black people couldn't buy band-aids in their own skin tone.  It bums me out that I've never heard a white person mention this before, as it seems like a fairly obvious that there is systemic racism going on here.

When I was young, I did not even realize that the "flesh" colored band-aids were supposed to indicate skin color, I just thought they were tan-colored! This idea of "nude" or "flesh" being equivalent to shades found in mostly white people bothers me the most in fashion. There are dresses or blouses with sheer areas with tan fabric underneath to give the appearance of skin. If your skin isn't close to this color, these items just look wrong on you. Of course, what is most problematic is referring to this color as "nude" as if those who aren't this color do not exist. Even with the economic argument made about availability of different skin colored products, there is no reason to call these tones nude or flesh.

Given the fact that most people in the world are not white and growing economic markets in Asia and Latin America, I think there is enough economic incentive to provide more options, especially when it comes to cosmetics. Band-aids certainly are not a luxury item, they can expand their offerings too.

I think that this article is very interesting, revealing the fact that color preference can be observed even in toys for kids - crayons. I never paid attention to the meaning of "flesh" but now I discover how people favor light peach color than brown color in "flesh". However, the author also depicts that US society is attaining higher equality in various areas. In other words, the development of human society is stepping towards a fairer and more righteous world.

that's a very interesting collection...
it reminded me of my time in the kindergarten in Berlin of the mid-80s. we actually called every tone from pink to light brown "hautfarbe" (skin color).

back then the black community was rather small and not "visible", so it wasn't part of our everyday life. I had a lot of classmates from turkey and arabian countries, but very few black girls and boys.

Jumbo Pencils has it right by calling it "people colors." I prefer skin colors though. Multicultural is inaccurate as people within a culture an have different skin tones. 

Wow, never thought about bandages being "racist". I remember the 'Flesh' crayon outrage when I was in kindergarten.

You don't automatically see the bias in these products unless you're non-white, so calling the outrage "petty" or whatever is not your call as a white person. Imagine if the tables were turned. Eventually these small things add up to make you feel alien or abnormal. It's a gradual mind-fuck for non-white people, and I can't imagine how awful it feels. (As a woman, I can spot subtle sexism everywhere. If I were a woman of color, I'd be pissed off ALL the time).

Flesh was and is still a relevant color. It was never intended to be the skin pigmentation color, it was intended to be the color of one's palms. If you look at the palms of every human race on the planet, they are essentially the same color...flesh! People misinterpreted the crayon color to mean skin color and that's where all the problems stem from...misinterpretation. As for the Crayola crayon, it actually started out as "Flesh Tint", got shortened to "Flesh", renamed to "Pink Beige", renamed back to "Flesh" and then finally renamed to "Peach".

Someone at my work was looking for a white leotard for his daughter, but accidentally phrased the request "white girl's leotard". It caused a lot of joking around at his expense. (He described having a sinking feeling just after he hit "send".)
But I also noticed that if you do a search for "nude leotard", I'm sure you can guess what color they mostly are.

WOW thank you for this post! Someone cares about the little things that add up very fast.

Since youth everytime I see "nude" or "flesh tone".. A piece of me shrinks in purpose and importance.

Flesh coloured not skin colour. We are all the same colour below the skin.

This sensitivity to skin color is the reason that I refuse to use the word "black" when referring to a person's ethnicity, because I have never seen a "black" person. They are all darker or lighter shades of brown/tan!

Jesus. People really need to get over themselves. If you think you’re oppressed because bandages, crayons, etc refer to “flesh color” as being approximately the color of Caucasian skin, then your life must be so awesome that you have to make shit up to get mad at. What is ironically referred to as a “white person problem.”

And incidentally, that comment by Bluemich about being so sensitive about people’s skin color that you never use the word “black” to describe someone, because you’ve never seen a person who is black ... what a crock of shit. When have you seen a white person, who is actually white? I myself am a fleshy-pinkish color. I’ve never seen an actual “white” person, except maybe an albino. It’s just I e never complained about it, because I have better shit to do than get my panties in a bunch about how someone whom I’ve never met refers to my skin color.

I was taught in business school that if you identify a gap in the market, then this is an opportunity to pounce on it, exploit the opportunity and make money.

Except if you're a person 'of colour', it seems. Then you sit around and bemoan the racist state of the world and complain about the fact that companies with (one would assume) white CEOs and white product developers have not developed band-aids, ballet shoes, etc specifically and especially for you.

Why do we even tolerate such a victim mentality in our day and age?!

The aim of businesses is to make money, not to pander to anyone's likes and dislikes. Where are the black CEOs building factories and business that sell band-aids designed for black people?! Or better yet, for everyone!

While everyone is bemoaning those racist band-aid companies, consider this: if a white CEO were found making money from band-aids designed for people of colour, I'm sure that will be an example of exploitation or cultural appropriation or some other evil concept I can't even conceive of yet - and it will cause yet another outrage. Seriously, nobody is ever going to win here.

The western society is a white society, we made it -better or worse, with many or not too many defects, that's another debate-, almost everything around us was invented by white people, our cities, buildings, machines, legal systems, political institutions, etc, etc, were created by our white ancestors because they were the majority of the people until capitalism forced people from other countries and races to migration.
So yeah, the "normal" thing in the "white" world is to be white, from a wide variety, sure, from the tanned and brown haired and eyed people from southern Greece to the pale naturally blonde people from Iceland, but certainly most euro-descendants are in the middle of those extremes and most of us share a rater similar skin color with slightly different tonalities. So, yeah, there's a "skin" color for crayons, and in not neurotic white societies, like many in Europe, people use such term without feeling like a criminal. Our protestant anglosaxon mentality of guilt and self-reprehension is a real masochistic perversion that catholic cultures don't suffer that much -I'm talking about cultural heritage, not about practicing any religion; like it or not, we are children of the 16th century-.

So, let's stop flagellating ourselves. If you don't feel comfortable in the western societies, move to somewhere else. I am not going to tell black Africans how they have to name things in THEIR society. If I move there it's me who has to respect their way to see and interpret the world, not the opposite; and of course they must have a black privilege in the land of the black people, it's their land not Euro Americans', Europeans', Asians', Brown Africans', nor anybody else's.

BTW, I can't agree more about how "interesting" is that substitution of "race" for "culture". Anything more racist that assuming that if your race is "X" then your culture is "X" too and that every racial group belongs to the same culture? If you are black then you surely wear basketball outfit, afro hairstyle, listen hip-hop or jazz, and speak "nigga"; if you are Asian you are the sh*t at math, speak fluent Chinese and hold a black belt in karate at least, if you are white, Hispanic American, Arab, etc, put here the cultural stereotypes you like better...

I had a black professor who was a specialist in Spanish Golden Age literature and drama, he also sang in an amateur Renaissance music choir centered in Andalusian School of Polyphony; I wonder how he'd feel... Or what about white chess players like Bobby Fischerm playing an Indian/Arab game... Or all those non euro-descendants scientists that use the scientific method, created in Greek and Latin Europe. They all are totally out of their "cultural" space since according to Crayola they should be tied forever to their race's original culture, it seems...
Unbelievable!

Painting developed in Europe, where people tend to be white, it was practically non-existent anywhere else, therefore the term flesh color was logically associated with the tones of European skin. This is one of the unfortunately many samples today of trying to find wrong where there wasn't. Ok, we live in a different world today, the term has been eliminated practically everywhere, so why don't we move on? Or is it to easy a bait for naive onlookers

What a ridiculous load of shit this post is. You're searching for things to be offended about. So much so, that you're reaching back to products and ads from the early 1950s. And it would have taken a fraction of a second to realize that Breathe Right strips "normal" descriptor is a reference to skin sensitivity, not color. If it were a measure of feelings, I'd highly suggest the sensitive ones for the "author" of this post. Get a life, daffodil.