« The Wacky Ways of Doing Things | HomePage | Beautiful Bugs »
03/07/2006
Miscellaneous Billboard
This is a billboard ad for some medicated herbal soap. I can not read the Tamil portion of course but the message is clear without any words. This soap will clear up and lighten one's skin. It's just one of many advertisements that provide evidence of racism and self-loathing. It's one of the unfortunate global themes in our lives. Anybody not white wants to be lighter than one is. There was a letter to a beauty editor in a local newspaper about a month or so ago written by a girl of about 11 years. She wrote requesting a "remedy" for her dark skin. Dark skin seems to be an ailment that needs to be cured. This is why products with lightening "properties" are pushed as I experienced when looking for moisturizer. I had to repeat myself many times to the saleswomen that I just wanted moisturizer and was not interested in lightening my skin. I am curious however if skin does actually lighten a bit or not or if it does lighten, is one harming one's skin in the process? Any dermatologists in the blog audience?
06:35 Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this
Comments
lol well said!
:o)
REY!
Posted by: REY | 03/07/2006
The caption says: 'Medimix: Freedom from skin problems'
Your observations are right. Many Indians are obsessed about skin colour - god knows why. For years these products (fair&lovely, fairever etc) were targetted at women. Now there are 'fairness creams' (fair&handsome) for men too.
Posted by: Ramnath | 03/07/2006
Hi,
This is my first comment on your blog. This is a very interesting issue you raised here. I live in chicago now (6.5yrs). Before that I was raised in chennai, I always beleived this "lightening the skin color" is very typically indian.
However, I have changed my notions after being in the U.S for so long.
Here is my take on this. I thinkpeople in general are not comfortable with who they are. It could be their skin color, hair, height, weight et, etc... We all think there is something more could be done. Here in the US, every single street has a dozen tanning places, to "darken" your skin. Isn't it just the opposite of lightening your skin? There are tonnes of tanning solutions, U.V light , what have you?
Last but not least, has anyone paid any attention to Oprah's make up? She has a very different skin tone in the early years compared to now. She has certainly lightened her skin. She is a demi goddess for american woman, of all the people why would she lighten her skin?
I would like to see an entry on that as well.
You have a intewresting blog.
Vignesh
Posted by: vignesh | 03/07/2006
Vignesh,
Thanks for your comments. I agree with you. People all over have a "grass is always greener on the other side" approach to life and in this case beauty. I did not notice, as non-Oprah watcher, that her skin has noticeably lightened over the years. Is it more pancake make-up or is she doing something medically, I don't know. Curious though. I have to ask a dermatologist about this. Is it medically possible to do lighten skin? Safely?
As for the tanning salon business in the U.S. it is amazing to me that the business still thrives in spite of the warnings of skin cancer and the more often experiencing premature skin ageing that takes places, in the form of freckles, moles, wrinkling, things people don't like and are evidence of the opposite traits in the U.S.'s youth-obsessed culture. (Botox, liposuction, no one wants to age gracefully.)
Growing up in the U.S. people would often say to me, and I paraphrase, "You are lucky, you are already tan". I would reply that I am not tan, my color would be a tan for you as you are white, but this is my non-tan skin color, not a tan. When I am tan I am darker. Many people did not understand this "complicated" response. Ultimately in any case, white culture wants white skin that is tan, not skin that looks tan that isn't because that means one is not white and white is what is preferred in the end, as per advertisements worldwide that equate beauty with light skin and white facial features. That's my take.
Again, thanks for your comment and hope you are keeping warm in your Chicago winter.
Posted by: esmerelda | 03/08/2006
glad to see the blog has come alive again!
the reason, in my opinion, that the "grass is greener on the other side" is commercial. try to sell a blond hair coloring solution in sweden, or tanning solution in africa... the cosmetics industry has an interest in making us insecure about how we look in order to sell us things that will make us look "better".
adam
Posted by: max | 03/09/2006
The comments are closed.