Experiments in Skin
Race and Beauty in the Shadows of Vietnam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19903704 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Pages | 238 |
| Publication date | 2021-03-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Experiments in Skin (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1515/9781478013136 |
| OpenAlex | W3135441876 |
| ISBN | 9781478013136 |
| Open Library | OL34130188M |
| Google Books | OfUeEAAAQBAJ |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
In Experiments in Skin Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu examines the ongoing influence of the Vietnam War on contemporary ideas about race and beauty. Framing skin as the site around which these ideas have been formed, Tu foregrounds the histories of militarism in the production of US biomedical knowledge and commercial cosmetics. She uncovers the efforts of wartime scientists in the US Military Dermatology Research Program to alleviate the environmental and chemical risks to soldiers' skin. These dermatologists sought relief for white soldiers while denying that African American soldiers and Vietnamese civilians were also vulnerable to harm. Their experiments led to the development of pharmaceutical cosmetics, now used by women in Ho Chi Minh City to tend to their skin, and to grapple with the damage caused by the war's lingering toxicity. In showing how the US military laid the foundations for contemporary Vietnamese consumption of cosmetics and practices of beauty, Tu shows how the intersecting histories of militarism, biomedicine, race, and aesthetics become materially and metaphorically visible on skin
Aesthetics · Art · Beauty · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Science Education and Perceptions · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · 1961-1975 · asia · Chemical Warfare · Diseases · Health aspects · History · Medical care · Preventive Medicine · Skin · Vietnam war
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2024 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |