I feel the same way about bronzer and tanning creams and such, but that's just because I love light skin.

I think people should be free to do what they want, whether it's darkening or lightening their color.

It's not because I personally like white skin the most (as in esthetically), that I think everybody should try and achieve it. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

I do have lots of people telling me I should tan some or that I'm 'ridiculously' white, and really I'm not that white at all, just regular white skin. But I don't let these comments get to me.

I feel like the standard is dark skin now, there's very few people who prefer light skin: every actress wants to be tanned for a premiere, people are extreme in sun bathing, tanorexia,...

However, I would never use photo shop on a pic of me to attract a guy. Making yourself look different than you really are is the last way to build a good relationship.

Originally Posted by gre8dane

Agree! It's more than wanting what you don't have. This is the result of colonialism and you see it everywhere Asia, South America and so on. It's got to be hard for those with no & little confidence to be comfortable in the skin you're in when the standard of beauty is warped.

Agreed, part of me doesn't want to air out dirty laundry but it's prevelant in my family. We are Nigerian and it's rampent, back home fair women are shown preference and so you have these women killing themselves to bleach their skin.

I don't see anything wrong with it. How is it any different than women going to tanning beds and people using self tanners?

wow

Originally Posted by couture2387

I don't see anything wrong with it. How is it any different than women going to tanning beds and people using self tanners?

This comparison always makes me chuckle. It's different because of the connotations attached to it, historical and otherwise I'm going to do my best to not be politically incorrect but I seriously doubt that white women who go tanning are doing so in an effort to not look white. flip the script to women of colour and that's exactly what the reason is a lot of the time. To achieve a more eurocentric look. Part of being african means you understand the nuances of that very quickly, which must be why my mother was so vigilante about it early on. I know people who started bleaching at 15 or so just from watching their mother do it.. despite the health hazards. There's a belief that being lighter is better in terms of attractiveness, marraige prosepects etc... this is not just back home since it exists throughout the african diaspora. I saw a documentary about skin bleaching in jamaica as well. It makes me worry about our daughters :(

Originally Posted by gre8dane

Agree! It's more than wanting what you don't have. This is the result of colonialism and you see it everywhere Asia, South America and so on. It's got to be hard for those with no & little confidence to be comfortable in the skin you're in when the standard of beauty is warped.

I can see your point

^ Agreed. The reasons behind skin lightening are so much deeper, often to the point where people don't even realize their own biases until they are pointed out. It is common for people to feel a person is "marrying up" or "down" because of skin color, even in communities of color. Colonialism and "passing" (historically in the US) has really done a number on how people view themselves, to the point where bleaching and plastic surgery are the norm in many communities. IMO, it cannot at all be compared to tanning or the use of bronzers. Whites commonly have no desire to "pass" as anything other than a tan version of themselves - their standards of beauty are usually dependent on how they present themselves or tend to themselves, and are not dependent on who and what they are.

Ahh. Everytime I go home to visit my aunts and uncles in Asia, they make comments about my skin tone. They make comments about how I look like a labor worker, how I belong to a different race.. I've heard it all. The comments tend to be from the older generations though. I think light skin is so appealing to people go back to the geisha times. Their faces where white, because if your face was dark it meant that you where a farmer, therefor to the people back then, made you less.

so sad this is going on today Feels like we haven't progressed at all sometimes.

I hate being light skinned. I spend so much on tanning, self-bronzers, and creams I guess we really are never happy with what we have.

Originally Posted by Swanky Mama Of Three

so sad this is going on today Feels like we haven't progressed at all sometimes.

I remember there was an episode of Tyra (I know, I know! But she she had some interesting shows. ) where she talked to women who were adamant about skin bleaching. One was my complexion, and she absolutely hated. She had even started the process on her child, it was insane!

And like meela said, it's a big thing in a lot of African countries, particularly in Nigeria. Ambi, for example, is one product that I know a cousin of mine from Nigeria used when he lived there (he stopped when he moved to this country, but now he's back there so who knows if he went back to using products for skin lightening).

I don't think lingering traces of colonialism have much to do with wanting lighter skin in Asian countries..it's more to do with the fact that the (native) upper class elite were traditionally/typically pale because they didn't have to labor under the sun like common working-class folk, etc, hence the association of darker skin with the lower classes.

It's sad though.

I do think African Americans using skin lightening products is deeper-rooted than the use of tanning beds and bronzer. I don't doubt that for a second. However, I just don't think we can disregard the dangers, consequences, and how sad it is that any race would want to change the color of their skin. Skin bleaching products can be very dangerous, and so can tanning beds with the deadly extents that some people go just to have tan skin and appear more "exotic" or whatever they are trying to achieve. It's just plain sad to me that anyone feels the need that their skin color is not good enough or beautiful on its own whatever the reason, whether it's to look more European, more exotic, or of an upper class as opposed to working class. It's not right that people should feel that pressure to be more appealing because of skin color.

I agree, exotikittenx. I have an English friend, and she'd be the first to tell you that she can't get any sun otherwise she'll burn. She's got great milky skin, and she looks younger than she is because she chooses to stay out of the sun. She and I both sort of "celebrate" our skin color by taking "ebony & ivory" pictures from time to time.

In India, skin color unfortunately plays a major role in prejudice.