”Maybe the British didn’t really leave” : En undersökning om hur sex kvinnor upplever vithet på Sri Lanka

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to describe the perception of whiteness among Sri Lankan women. An article published by the Sunday Leader show that there is a long tradition among women in Sri Lanka to use beauty products, such as bleaching creams to enhance facial lightening. Over 33 000 bleaching products are sold per year in Sri Lanka.  Parameswaran and Cardoza conclude that Sri Lankan women with lighter skin tone are regarded as more beautiful and attractive than those with dark skin. Furthermore, fair skin is associated with power, authority and high privilege.   This study is based on individual; face-to-face interviews with six women between ages 19-30 living in Sri Lanka. The results from the interview have been compared with Dyer’s theory of whiteness and Ahmed’s theory about lived experience of whiteness. The results of this study showed that the interviewed women have been introduced to the whiteness norm during childhood by their parents and relatives. Today, these women are still affected by the whiteness norm and it has shown to be unavoidable to live in the Sri Lankan society without relating to it.