The ‘fair sex’: Skin colour, gender and narratives of embodied identity in eighteenth-century British non-fiction

Abstract

During the eighteenth century the phrase ‘fair sex’ was a pervasive feature of contemporary writing intended for female consumption and texts that discussed issues concerning women. Even today, scholars still employ this expression to characterise experiences of femininity during this period. This article extrapolates the embodied meanings of ‘fair sex’ from a range of popular non-fictional printed discourses, including medical advice books, conduct literature, advice guides and cosmetic manuals. Specifically, it examines how, why and in what ways ‘fairness’ was conceptualised as a mutually reinforcing moral, physiological, aesthetic and social ideal for elite British women during the eighteenth century.