Osuri, Goldie (2008) Ash‐coloured whiteness : the transfiguration of Aishwarya Rai. South Asian Popular Culture, Volume 6 (Number 2). pp. 109-123. doi:10.1080/14746680802365212

Research output not available from this repository, contact author.

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This paper seeks to discuss the matrix of elements that enable the transnational circulation of Aishwarya Rai, Bollywood actress and former Miss World, in the context of embodied notions of gendered beauty and skin‐colour. Reading beauty contests, advertising campaigns and blog sites, this paper explores how representations of Rai's beauty and skin‐colour appear to resonate with investments in an aesthetics of whiteness, which govern gendered notions of beauty especially in Western locations. This paper addresses the following questions: How is an Indian cosmopolitan femininity as represented by Aishwarya Rai circulated and transfigured in a transnational context? How do racialised ideals of white beauty shift as well as entrench, include and exclude ‘multicultural’ ‘cosmopolitan’ femininities? How do transnational discussions of the privileging of light skin in the Indian context transfigure the politics of race, skin‐colour and whiteness?

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Journal or Publication Title:	South Asian Popular Culture
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1474-6689
Official Date:	31 October 2008
Dates:	Date Event 31 October 2008 Published
Volume:	Volume 6
Number:	Number 2
Page Range:	pp. 109-123
DOI:	10.1080/14746680802365212
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item