Chinese women constructing and negotiating an ‘ideal’ beauty in Lisbon, or how women and aesthetical medical practitioners materialise ‘race’

In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the notion of ‘race’, despite its unequivocal lack of biological or scientific validity, continues to shape contemporary discourse and practices. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Chinese women in Lisbon and white Portuguese doctors, this article examines beauty contexts to explore the tangible manifestations of the supposed biological basis of ‘race’. This article argues that both groups, albeit with different degrees of agency and perspectives, contribute to the persistence of the concept of ‘race’ in aesthetic norms. Medical professionals often invoke ‘race’ to reinforce hegemonic standards of white beauty – pathologising non-white features and aligning treatments with normative ideals rooted in whiteness. Conversely, Chinese women draw on the concept of ‘race’ to assert their uniqueness, navigating these ideas by advocating for treatments tailored to their specific characteristics and needs, thereby negotiating non-hegemonic beauty ideals. However, both groups extend the concept of ‘race’ beyond physical attributes, drawing on perceived moral characteristics – such as behaviour and taste – to further justify their approaches. In this sense, ‘race’ operates not only as a marker of bodily difference but as a flexible category strategically manipulated to support diverse and sometimes opposing agendas. These contrasting uses of ‘race’ underscore its enduring influence, revealing how it continues to be accepted, reproduced and naturalised within rationalised discourses in aesthetic and medical contexts.