29 Nov The unbearable whiteness of flesh

If the largest news service in the United States still feels the need to run musty sidebars about the distaff side of state functions, then we can’t be too surprised when it makes a boo-boo this cringe-inducing:

First lady wears Naeem Khan gown to state dinner

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL (AP) – 4 days ago

First lady Michelle Obama chose to wear a gleaming silver-sequined, flesh-colored gown Tuesday night to the first state dinner held by her husband’s administration. She was tending to her hostess duties in a strapless silhouette with the beads forming an abstract floral pattern that was custom-made by Naeem Khan.

Er, what color was that again?

As The American Prospect pointed out, Crayola got with the program in 1962, when it “voluntarily changed ‘flesh colored’ to ‘peach’ …partially as a result of the U. S. Civil Rights Movement.”

Sociological Images collected a gallery of images rooted in the same assumption. The website’s Lisa Wade of Occidental College wrote:

Part of the privilege of being white is having a society that considers you the norm and is, therefore, organized around you.  A really nice example of this is “flesh” color.  What is flesh color?

Contrarian confesses to feeling some sympathy for poor Samantha Critchell, who will wear this for a long, long time.