The chromatic norm image: skin color as mathematically significant somatic trait

Abstract

In consideration of race and other somatic traits Hoetink coined the terms "somatic norm image." As per somatic norm image the dominant race and its associated features are the standard ideal. Notwithstanding difficulty, the racial classification of human populations is ascertained by the assessment of somatic attributes: primarily skin color. In a Hispanic context, dark-skinned, non-Caucasian people have been no less susceptible to the idealization of light skin than light-skinned Caucasians. More germane to the dynamics of human social interaction and its corresponding behavior is the heretofore non-existing reference to the chromatic norm image defined by skin color. The prevailing challenge for the academy is then to construct a mechanism to process the dynamics of a new era.