Featurism
A term describing a prejudice toward individuals with specific features. It is the preferential treatment of people with features that have historically been praised by society, which are predominantly European features that uphold Eurocentric beauty standards. Correspondingly, featurism can affect any individual with physical characteristics that deviate from the traditional Eurocentric norms. Consider the categories of physical features praised for their attractiveness. This typically includes lighter skin, smaller noses, double-eyelids, and smoother hair textures. Seeing this, featurism ultimately stems from the longstanding institutions of colonialism and racism, which have set beauty standards to a European ideal worldwide.
Bear in mind the mass discrimination against Jewish people during WWII due to the uprising of Nazism and the concept of a “pure” Aryan race by Adolf Hitler. In 1940, the Nazis released a propaganda film entitled The Eternal Jew to showcase Jewish people's so-called “original state” before they masked themselves as “civilized Europeans.” The film heavily focused on stereotypical features historically assigned to Jewish populations – hooked noses, large ears, swarthy skin – to arouse responses of loathing and contempt amongst the German people. Though a large nose or a dark skin tone are not physical features solely assigned to Jewish people, it has long been used as a model for discrimination and other-ing.
Términos recomendados alternativos
Recomendación
Significantly, featurism is a concept; therefore, the word may be used in everyday vocabulary. The objective is to give a name to this normalized phenomenon of discrimination based on physical appearance seen throughout society.
Fuentes
Otros términos relacionados con su búsqueda, que también están presentes en el diccionario: