this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Skin whitening is not unlike tanning in the west, an indication of status/wealth. In India lighter skin shows you don't need to work outside. In the west tan skin shows you can take vacations.
And in both cases people fake it with creams and tanning salons. And it becomes so entrenched people don't realize why they are actually doing it. Just like makeup and clothing choices.
Yes, there are problematic racial undertones...and in general is definitely fucked up...but I think it's more complicated than just a race thing. I mean, people in the West are literally exposing themselves to cancer causing UV to fake the look of having recently taken a trip to Hawaii or whatever, which is also kinda fucked up.
Pretty sure lighter complexion in non-white countries is status symbol in the same way tanning is among white Westerners. You don't need to work outside means you are affluent enough not to do so. Getting tanned means you are also affluent enough to go on holidays abroad to somewhere exotic.
Before the European colonisation in non-white majority countries, light skin has always been seen as status symbol. The racial aspect came later upon Western colonialism.
Yes, that's exactly what I said.
What? I see a dude with a tan in the middle of winter and I automatically think "he spends way to much time in tanning booths" and "that's a lot of skin damage". I never once thought "that guy can afford vacations". If that's the effect they're going for they need better PR.
Your take away from what I wrote was that I think people should never expose themselves to the sun/UV? The benefits of moderate UV exposure are completely irrelevant to the point I was making.
I just explained how they are comparable and really don't know what else to tell you. Maybe someone else can give it a go.
I'm not in any way shape or form doing that. This is abundantly clear from what I wrote.
I was only comparing cosmetic skin whitening to cosmetic skin darkening, since they are completely comparable and I have already explained how.
My asian "whitening creams" are called "brightening creams" in the West. They remove redness. They don't chemically alter your ethnicity.
You sound like an a-hole. How does it feel to be bluntly communicated with?
I think you're missing the point.
Some cultures find tanned skin to be beautiful, others find light skin to be beautiful.
In either case, wealthier people can achieve either darker or lighter skin by spending more or less time in the sun.
Poorer people who's length of exposure to the sun is a function of their work, can emulate lighter or darker skin with various lotions and potions.
You sound like a real idiot.
People will perceive beauty according to societal and cultural norms established over millennia.
You can't tell someone what they ought to find beautiful.
It's not racist, given that we're taking about variations within a single race, not comparisons between races.
Imposing your own ideas on what other cultures ought to feel is the height of arrogance.
Similarly, it's incredibly arrogant to presume that your own "enlightened" attitudes will be more prevalent in the future.
Nonsense. You're just parroting catch phrases. Perceptions of beauty are not "intolerance".
I sincerely hope that future generations are less judgemental and ready to label those people they don't really understand.
Honestly, just observe other cultures without trying to assess whether they're good or bad. They just are the way they are.
There there pet. This discussion really hasn't made me happy.
I'm not surprised you feel that way, but surprised you admit it. You doing ok bud?
On the flipside the assumption that your culture is the correct way is pretty xenophobic and racist in its own way.