Skin whitening pills for people of color

[Hostile Dialect]

Story here.

I simply can't believe this. I'm not going to write my own screed here because I'm too heated right now to keep this from being moved to the Pit. I'm just going to quote some of the comments I found the most incredible (there's not much writing in the blog post itself, it's mostly the image of an ad and a quick commentary):

I'm always astounded by the completely paradoxical demands that are made of women - white skin is highly valued, but not too white, because ewwwww pale legs, that's sooo gross, be sure to tan. On a beauty products review site I visit, a WOC was complaining on a review of a lip plumping lip gloss that conventional beauty standards are always telling her that her lips are TOO plump and aren't as pretty as white women's lips and yet white women have 500 lip plumping products being pushed at them with promises of bee stung Angelina Jolie lips.

Who the hell are we all trying to please, and can whoever that is just go away and leave us alone?

products like this are a dime-a-dozen in Asia. You can see on this ad, that they are available at any popular pharmacy. And it’s not only for women – the men’s beauty centre that I go to has skin whitening products and treatments for men as well, and it is pretty much standard fare at any beauty centre. You will see many women (and quite a few men) carrying umbrellas out during lunch hour just to cover themselves from the sun.

However, there are many other procedures Asian women (and men) do to look more white, and that may be more related to racism. Ie. Having eye surgery to “open” the eyes and having nose surgery to have that “sculpted Western nose” are two of the most popular surgeries. Another non-surgical cosmetic change that has become popular is to wear colour contact lens, with blue being the most popular.

In Singapore, which has pretty good plastic surgeons who deal in this surgeries, there is a blogger who had surgery to make herself “look white” (her pictures of a few years ago look almost nothing like what she looks today), and after the surgery, she came to be known as the “Hottest Blogger”. Which goes to show you how strong the desire to have certain “white features” is.

What say you, Domers?

[Cluricaun]

As long as there aren't white people telling them they need to do this and this is something that they want for themselves, then whatever floats your boat. It can't be nearly as hideous as that lizard guy or the cat man.

http://www.thekamikaze.com/images/lizardman.jpg
http://www.wedoourownstunts.com/blog/wp ... at-man.jpg

People do all sorts of odd and potentially disfiguring things according to their own standard of beauty. If you feel you need some modding to be your best you, and I don't have to pay for it, go nuts.

[RedFury]

Not sure why you say you're so angry, Hostile Dialect. Men, and particularly women, have been doing all sorts of things to their bodies in order to look/feel better about themselves since the beginning of time. I mean I'll go even further than Cluricaun and say that even if it's some sort of pressure from "white culture*" I don't find it shocking -- surely it comes as no surprise to anyone here that we're currently living in the most materialistic phase of mankind if in numbers alone. So if there's a buck to be made, surely someone is looking for the angle to make it. I mean, have you seen some of the insane shit people are doing to themselves (forget cost and danger) in order to "look better"?

Do I like it? Hell no. I actually despise it. IIRC, I believe you speak and/or understand Spanish and there's an old saying that's becoming frightfully true: "Tanto tienes, tanto vales." Meanwhile the last thing I care about when meeting a person is the size of their bank account.

So I'd rather ask you back, what can (and should) we be doing about all this rampant Capitalism/consumerism? How about we start valuing education and intelligence over sheer looks? Why does practically everyone know who Paris Hilton is and most wouldn't have a clue as to who Martti Ahtisaari might be?

*What is it anyway? I may be white, but fuck if I know.

[sinjin]

Is this any worse than when women wore bustle's and men wore corsets? Is it worse then women and men who get lipo-suction? Worse than breast implants, orthodontia for cosmetic reasons, perms, tanning salons, shaving of leg hair, steroids for muscles, tats in foreign languages you don't understand?

[Baldwin]

As long as there aren't white people telling them they need to do this and this is something that they want for themselves, then whatever floats your boat. It can't be nearly as hideous as that lizard guy or the cat man.

http://www.thekamikaze.com/images/lizardman.jpg
http://www.wedoourownstunts.com/blog/wp ... at-man.jpg

People do all sorts of odd and potentially disfiguring things according to their own standard of beauty. If you feel you need some modding to be your best you, and I don't have to pay for it, go nuts.

I once kissed a girl whose tongue was split like that lizard dude's. Strange feeling.

Almost every culture has had some way for people to modify their appearances. It is kind of disturbing to see people trying so hard to look like a different ethnic group, though; sounds like some kind of self-hatred.

[Exy]

Okay, so I don't feel outraged either, but there's SOMETHING worth noticing in the fact that in Asia, a lot of people seem to be interested in modifying their bodies to look European. My understanding is that skin-whitening products are extremely common in India and Thailand, and "Asian blepharoplasty" (surgery to modify the eyelids to look more like white eyelids, with "double creases") is a big industry in some places. Then there's the whole michigas in this country surrounding black women and what their hair texture signifies (to the point where I've heard lots of stories in which black women are told that well-groomed "natural", non-straightened hair is "unprofessional".)

I'm not angry about this like Hostile Dialect seems to be, but it does signify something. It makes sense to me that people would want to modify their bodies to look attractive, but it's interesting that "attractive" in so many places seems to mean "European".

[Zuul]

There are two aspects to this.

On the one hand, I don't believe that skin lightening is necessarily a racist activity in Asian countries. If black women in America were being encouraged to do it until they had Caucasian skin tones, then I might say that, yes, that's got some racist undertones to it. However, most cultures have prized lighter skin throughout history. If you have lighter skin than the majority, that shows you haven't been out working in the sun. It gives an impression of refinement and social status. While tans on European women might be prized, they are tans born of leisure and pampering, not the natural skin darkening of working in a field. The dark leathery skin and white upper arms of a farmer are unlikely to be held up as the pinnacle of sex appeal.

On the other hand, there are the unquestionable influences of European beauty standards, such as the surgeries that have been mentioned here. I'm loathe to blame Hollywood, since that seems to be the default whipping boy on this sort of topic, but it probably is at least partially to blame here. Entertainment that emphasizes white standards of beauty is exported to the world at large, after all.

[Batman]

It's quite popular here (Mexico). People here are very self conscious about their skin tone and the TV networks here don't help matters with their glorifying of people of European descent.
I know a few people that take these products and some of the damn things seem to actually work. One of my closer friends takes them and her skin seems grayer somehow.

[Hatshepsut]

Skin-whitening products are so prevalent in Indonesia that I don't pay much attention to them anymore; they don't inherently offend me any more than does the tube of skin cream on my dresser that's supposed to help me look like I've got a tan (if I ever remembered to use it).

Efficacy and safety issues are more worrisome to me than the racism angle. I have not seen it lately, but in past years it was not uncommon to see Indonesian women in the village with white paste smeared on their face that was intended to whiten their skin. I'm told this paste contained mercury and that these women were unknowingly poisoning themselves. I don't know if that's true, but it is not hard to believe that anything that could actually lighten skin tone could be hazardous to health.

[Tinker]

Bottom line people can't stand themselves, this is just an industry capitalizing off of that discontent. Whenever I see Scarlett Johannsen with collagen in her lips I want to vomit or cry, I can't decide which. In a world where even Scarlett Johanssen isn't pretty enough, who the hell is? I prefer natural beauty and have generally discouraged women I date from wearing make-up at all.

Do you know what the most beautiful characteristic in the world is? Walking and talking like you are comfortable in your own skin.

[evensven]

Here in China, I have trouble finding face products that are not whitening. I'm a little uncomfortable with it. I'm also troubled by the fact that nearly 100% of Korean women get eyelid surgery. Adorning yourself can be fun and is a part of the human experience. But it stops being cool when it crosses the line into self-loathing and becomes a chore rather than a joy.

[Revtim]

Are we sure that ad is for a product that whitens skin? Looking at the website for the product at http://www.imedeen.us/ it says

Please Note: We have received several e-mails regarding an advertisement that ran for a short period in Singapore in 2006. These appear to generate from a blogsite that incorrectly states it promotes a product for skin whitening. IMEDEEN does not manufacture skin whitening products. IMEDEEN is an anti-aging skincare tablet that is ingested and not an externally applied cream.

[williamjone]

Yes,
But use a branded Skin Whitening Pills for your body.
It is good and I'm using for 6 months.

[williamjone]

The most popular Skin Whitening Pills is Glutathione. It helps to prevent the skin from darkening and protects the cells from destruction brought about by free radicals. It helps to reduce pigmentation. It is an anti-oxidant and and anti-aging pill which makes us healthy and stress free.