Shades of cultural capital

After spending Christmas in Belize, I returned home to Tactic last week with quite a tan (in Puerto Barrios a Guatemalan asked me if I had been in Belize visiting my parents). Varying only in delivery and tactfulness (or more appropriately lack thereof), the across the board reaction I received from my host family, women in my association, and friends in town was, “Wow! You are dark. You looked better when you were whiter.”

Guatemalans are very blunt when it comes to commenting on a person’s physical features, and I didn’t (don’t) take offense to these statements. But what disheartens me is their root. In Guatemala being brown signifies being indigenous. Being indigenous is associated with being uneducated and poor. Being brown (although the majority of the population is) is a bad thing.

While my skin tone was the envy of many in the states and the enigma of many in Africa (I was taken for Ethiopian, Rwandan [Tutsi], Egyptian, Moroccan, and Brazilian among other nationalities), here in Guatemala it just produces bewilderment. Why is an American that dark and why would she want to be darker? No one here wants to be darker.

As the average American woman is working on her tan, the average Guatemalan woman is working just as hard to avoid the sun. While in the states, bronzed skin is something usually coveted (that is as long as the bearer of that skin doesn’t speak Spanish—we have our fair share of racism too), here it is the whiter the skin the better. Being white (or fairer skinned) signifies being Ladino. Being Ladino is associated with being more educated and economically better off. Being white is a good thing.

While these stereotypes categorically don’t always hold true—there are educated, successful indigenous people and there are definitely a lot of poor Ladinos—they drive Guatemalans’ preferences (whether conscious or unconscious) for lighter skin tones. I suppose if I were Guatemalan, and my perceived self worth was heavily based on the lightness of my skin, I would take measures to remain whiter too. But as an American I am not subject to be looked down upon for being brown, so I will continue to confound Guatemalans by soaking up the sun every opportunity I get.