Bleaching For Beauty Among Women Of Color
I ran across an article on Jezebel.com that really caught my attention. It was a post about Asian women bleaching their skin because of the pressure to have milky white skin which is equated to status and better for marrying.
If you are like me, you’ve passed these products on grocery shelves or at the local bodegas owned (near me) primarily by Asian, African and Indian families. I’ve seen them before and never gave it a second thought until I saw the post.
After much investigating online, I’ve learned to realize that this isn’t an issue prevalent just in the Asian community, but it’s a cultural issue for most people of color. From Africa to Jamaica, India to China, women- as well as some men- search for a “purer” complexion in the hopes of a higher status.
In African American history, skin bleaching goes back to slavery where the slaves of a lighter shade, mostly products of the master having sex with the female slaves, gave birth to class status. Customarily, the children of a lighter shade of brown primarily worked in the house and were given certain privileges over those slaves who worked in the field in the hot sun picking cotton. This separation bred inter-race racism in African Americans, giving birth to skin color that equated to status.
Similarly, the same sort of “class and status” issues exist among other ethnic groups. The whiter the skin, the less you were considered a poor person, a farmer, laborer, etc. The pure smoothness of white skin meant that you were inside away from the sun and therefore, must have money to afford not to labor.
Any therapist will tell you that this is the root of self-hatred and one’s lack of self worth. But how do you conquer this issue when the women who grace the most notable magazines, television commercials, videos and more, are images of this very same type of woman? One can say that this is also the issue with women and weight. That will be the next issue we tackle.
There are campaigns like Proctor & Gamble’s “My Black Is Beautiful” and DOVE’s “Campaign For Real Women” that focus on the empowerment of women at every age, every skin color and every size. However, these are just two national campaigns compared to the several hundred images from various beauty and fashion products that tell a much different story.
So, my question raises the issue, when will skin color NOT be an issue globally? With the first African 
American President elected in the United States, the increase in interracial dating and marriages giving birth to multi-ethnic children, are we as a world, especially the United States, ready for the BROWNING of people?
Tell us what you think? FWO: Forwomenonline.com
Read below:
BLEACHING IN AFRICAN, AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES:
Senegal’s Fashion Victims- Skin Bleaching May Cause Cancer, Expert Says By BEN BARNIER DAKAR, Senegal, Jan. 12, 2009 Source: ABC NewsTo see the effects of racism based on skin color most clearly, one should go to the developing world.
In Senegal, bleaching your skin is seen as a way to get ahead.In richer countries people are increasingly comfortable, and successful, regardless of their natural skin color, but in many African countries like Senegal, trying to change one’s skin color is still seen as a way to get ahead.
“Some Senegalese women,” Emilie, a student at Dakar University, told ABC News, “are trying to look like the white girls they see on television.”
From ads on highway billboards, to little stands in marketplaces, skin bleaching products are almost everywhere.
They sell well, despite what public health officials say are grave risks of using them, including cancer.
The cheapest creams cost around $5 per tube, a small fortune in Senegal, and they are also among the most dangerous.
At a market in Dakar, a young hairdresser who was unwilling to reveal her name told ABC News she had used the creams. “It’s more beautiful to have lighter skin. A bit lighter, it’s a bit better,” she said.
ASIAN AND INDIAN CULTURE:
The Manager of UK Skin Lightening speaks about his own skin lightening experience & how you can do the same too
Hi, I’m Abdul Alim, I want to share with you my story of how I lightened my skin with remarkable results. As you can see from my pictures I’ve had a great result and I want to share it with you so that you too can achieve the same results.
I started…
I was not too dark dark to begin with and I grew darker over time as I went on holiday. My skin became darker and darker as you can see from the picture above.
I started first using the Nur76 Skin Lightening Original as that was the only thing available at the time, I nearly gave up after 2 weeks of trying it but decided to continue. After just 3 weeks I started to see a difference and I decided it would be best if I took a picture so that I can compare it.
I continued…
I continued to use it for another month and compared the results with the photo that I took and that’s when it really sunk in. I saw a clear result that made me want it more. I then became a part of the manufacturing process with Nur76 and began to do my own research into natural skin lightening. Click here to continue reading.
Documentary casting: Skin lightening documentary wants to hear your stories
BBC1 researchers are keen to talk to women who have used skin lighteneing treatments for a new documnetary, ‘Make me White.’
Presenter Anita Rani (The One Show, Desi DNA) will be investigating why many people from Britiain’s Asian and black communities equate paler skin with beauty by placing the skin lightening industry “under the microscope”.
The programme will also look at over the counter creams and clinical treatments available to lighten skin and whether they live up to their claims.
It will also explore the dangers of using illegal creams.
Journalists, models and industry experts will all be spoken to along the way to build up a balanced picture of the world of skin lightening treatments and why they exist in the first place.
Said development researcher, Ayesha tariq: “We are very keen to talk to anyone with personal experience of lightening treatments.
“Maybe you’ve used illegal creams in the past and now have cautionary words of advice for those thinking of doing the same.
“Or perhaps you’ve been using over-the-counter creams for years and feel they have boosted your confidence and improved your life.
“Or maybe you’ve never touched skin lightening products, but your strong desire for a paler complexion is leading you to consider the treatments currently available.
“Whatever your story, we would love to hear from you. At this stage, there is absolutely no commitment to participate in the programme itself.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about this project contact Ayesha on 0121 567 6588 or email ayesha.tariq@bbc.co.uk
Ads Pressure Hong Kong Women to Whiten UpBy Katherine Reedy- WeNews correspondent Source:www.womensenews.org
Hong Kong’s public transit is plastered with cosmetics ads promoting a beauty ideal influenced by Western women. Skin-bleaching creams are top sellers in cosmetics shops and media ads promote such things as laser treatments to melt the fat away. 
HONG KONG (WOMENSENEWS)–Each day, an estimated 3.5 million people ride on Hong Kong’s rapid transit lines, a captive audience for the advertisers who pack stations and train cars with flat-screens and multimedia billboards with their ad campaigns.
One video you might easily find yourself staring at promotes lingerie and is made by the Japanese company Wacoal.
In the lingerie ad, a serious young man first runs his hands over the bosom and buttocks of a thin woman with dark hair. He is then shown working in a futuristic laboratory crafting undergarments from his observations. In the final scene, an Asian woman with long blond hair and light skin wears a diaphanous gown to highlight her newly sculpted hourglass figure and turns to smile seductively at viewers: She has taken on Caucasian features.
Although the idea of women as commodities is nothing new, the outrage expressed by groups such as the Women’s Media Center in the United States is nowhere to be found in Hong Kong, where the sculpting and paling of the model comes as no surprise.
“I think it’s a conscious effort that they are featuring Caucasian models,” Royce Yuen, chair of both the Ogilvy Group in Hong Kong and of Hong Kong’s Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies, said in a phone interview.
Caucasian models, he said, are used to sell everything from real estate to cheap clothing. The advertisers are not doing it because they “might as well” use the same ad in Hong Kong as elsewhere, Yuen said. They do it because “it gives people the impression that they’re more international and more premium.”
In Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, most clothing stores–ranging from high-end retailers like Prada and Burberry to the mid-range Zara–use the same non-Asian models they feature in campaigns in Europe and North America. Click here to read more.
Widely Held Ideal of Whiter Skin
Pale skin is a widespread cosmetic ideal in Hong Kong. But while many women follow sun-deflecting trends like carrying parasols, others try more drastic measures.
Skin-bleaching is common, according to Synovate, a global market research company with offices in Hong Kong. In 2004 the firm conducted a survey of 2,500 women in Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan and found 38 percent used skin-whitening chemicals.
The treatments–creams and soaps–fill the shelves of Hong Kong cosmetic stores. In Taiwan, whitening products accounted for as much as 35 percent of cosmetic store sales, according to a 2004 International Market Research Report conducted by Industry Canada.
How I Lightened My Skin Using Nur76 Skin Lightening
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