Oops they did it again. What color do you think graces the bottle and packaging for Rihanna’s new fragrance, named “Nude”? You guessed it.
The deep and abiding centrality of whiteness is made especially clear when words like “nude” are used to describe light tan even in the context of a darker-skinned woman. It happened to Michelle Obama too. Thanks to @GenderPolitics on Twitter for sending us the tip!
We’ve many examples of this phenomenon. All can be found on our Pinterest page, titled “What Color is Flesh?“
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 49
Ellie — October 22, 2012
Poor beige, everyone shuns it. It's like Pluto, except Pluto didn't get replaced by some grammatically and physically incorrect thing that describes a state of being instead of a colour.
YourName — October 22, 2012
I like very light beige lipsticks, close to my skin, but sadly I always find ones, which are brownish and much darker than my skin. Very often their name is "nude" and I though that this is the name of that particular colour, because I didn't know what "nude" means.
I believe that all of my Avon lipsticks are like that. For me this is an example that nude is used to describe different colours, and in my case even darker ones.
YourName — October 22, 2012
though should be thought, I ate "t", sorry.
Cheryl — October 22, 2012
Just looked up Revlon foundation colors. They go from light skin shades of 'ivory, nude and beige' to darker skin colors like 'toast, caramel and cappuccino'. Never thought about this before, but it's really bizarre that darker shades are named after food!
Anon — October 22, 2012
Does Rianna look lighter-than-normal in that photo? I realize that the bright studio lights contribute to this, but I question wether or not some photoshop was used to make her look more "nude"...
myblackfriendsays — October 22, 2012
this is taking it a little too far. If those underwear don't match her bare skin, how can they be nude?
Dumb.
Beige would be totally appropriate, and wouldn't marginalize anyone.
"You smell good, what are you wearing?"
"Beige."
Problem solved :p
Denisemt71 — October 22, 2012
So let me get this straight?? Rihanna didn't have the balls or the common sense to tell these stupid ad execs that she wants her true skins one and hair to be represented; because after all young, impressionable girls; particularly girls of COLOR will see this and they need to know WHO YOU ARE IS GOOD ENOUGH....NO GREAT ENOUGH!!! Way to get it wrong Rihanna!! Either you're stupid or just plain clueless! Either way...SAD!!
Brittany — October 23, 2012
Seriously, always find something to complain about. Nude is a color, just like tan is, everyone is a different color when they are tan, but tan itself is a color. Rhianna always has blonde hair. They also airbrushed off her tattoos, is that offensive too?
Snuhfoo — October 23, 2012
Why not just keep the theme and name nude, but have the color actually match her skin tone? Personally I think that color looks hideous on her anyway. It would look a lot sexier to have it actually match her skin tone and then you get to keep all the sexy connotations of "nude"
asiacont — October 24, 2012
What if they kept the name "nude" (thus invoking the notion of wearing nothing but the perfume), but used a different, non-skin-signaling color for the packaging...perhaps royal blue?
This might then disassociate the term "nude" from the never-quite-right skin tone references called forth by the "beige" packaging. In that case "nude" could apply to anyone, connoting a state of undress, as nobody has royal blue skin.
On the (Rest of the) Net. « The Early Bird Catches the Worm — October 25, 2012
[...] Why is the “colour” of Rihanna’s fragrance—called Nude—so white? [Sociological Images] [...]
Koldpurple — October 27, 2012
Why the hell is she wearing that ugly blonde wig? She looks like Courtney Stodden.
Rihanna’s Nude Perfume Meant To Recall “Glistening” Skin - EyeOnCelebs — November 17, 2012
[...] doesn't seem likely to quiet this debate with her latest statements about the scent. According to WWD, the fragrance is “is meant to [...]
Aadila — December 26, 2017
For men i will always suggest them with chanel bleu buy Perfume. Its the best perfume for men.
Thanks for sharing
vstoro — September 15, 2021
It was a beautiful article for me, honestly I enjoy this article, thank you for bringing up this topic
عطور نسائية — November 16, 2021
thank you