Skin bleaching a growing problem in Jamaica slums

[Infohawk]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110411/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_jamaica_skin_bleaching

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Mikeisha Simpson covers her body in greasy white cream and bundles up in a track suit to avoid the fierce sun of her native Jamaica, but she's not worried about skin cancer.
The 23-year-old resident of a Kingston ghetto hopes to transform her dark complexion to a cafe-au-lait-color common among Jamaica's elite and favored by many men in her neighborhood. She believes a fairer skin could be her ticket to a better life. So she spends her meager savings on cheap black-market concoctions that promise to lighten her pigment.

Weird world we live in. Whites try to get tanner and blacks try to get whiter.

And just a reminder that racism isn't a white-only thing. Seems like in a lot of third world countries minor racial differences are abused by the locals. For example you have hispanics with less indian blood acting like they're better than those with full indian blood. And here you have lighter mixed races not prefering darker mixed races.

 

[OCGuy]

And just a reminder that racism isn't a white-only thing.

Whoever thinks racism is a "whites only" thing is probably too dumb to read this thread.

 

[dabuddha]

It's the same sort of shit in India. People are obsessed with light skin and you see ads on tv selling all sorts of skin lightening cream all the time (from major companies too).

 

[blackangst1]

It's the same sort of shit in India. People are obsessed with light skin and you see ads on tv selling all sorts of skin lightening cream all the time (from major companies too).

Same in S. America and SE Asia. Ive seen it all over the place.

 

[QuantumPion]

Whoever thinks racism is a "whites only" thing is probably too dumb to read this thread.

It's really not polite to call our head of the justice department, Eric Holder, dumb. :sneaky:

 

[Axon]

Ironically, I love me a fine ass Indian girl.

 

[Fear No Evil]

It's really not polite to call our head of the justice department, Eric Holder, dumb. :sneaky:

Not polite, but accurate. :sneaky:

 

[wuliheron]

Women have been killing and mutilating themselves for millenia to make themselves more attractive in every bizarre way imaginable. For that matter poor people have been killing and mutilating themselves in every bizarre way imaginable including cutting off limbs to become better beggars. Racism is just the tip of that iceberg.

 

[Throckmorton]

Well America's first black president is really half black and the same color as me, so they're on to something.

Come to think of it, since I see all these white people tanning to look like us, maybe us brownies are the true master race.

 

[DesiPower]

It's the same sort of shit in India. People are obsessed with light skin and you see ads on tv selling all sorts of skin lightening cream all the time (from major companies too).

Not only that, its veyr popular amongst men. NPR did an article about it a few months back, all I could find was this

 

[Jaskalas]

Weird world we live in. Whites try to get tanner and blacks try to get whiter.

Maybe they're trying to meet somewhere in-between.

 

[Slew Foot]

This happens all over the world, darker people are always seen as stupider.

 

[wuliheron]

Come to think of it, since I see all these white people tanning to look like us, maybe us brownies are the true master race.

Only until the little green men reveal themselves.

 

[AnyMal]

Looking at her picture in the article makes me think that skin color should be the least of her worries. Just sayin'

 

[Schadenfroh]

Quite common for certain cultures to want to be lightly skinned. Certain Asian cultures prefer it over darker skin.

Our (European) ancestors used to favor lighter skin a long time ago, shows that you did not have to go outside and work, but then tan came into style and being pale never came back into fashion. At least, that is the story I was told as a child, not sure if it is true.

I find cosmetic surgery a sad thing if it is not correcting a deformity or disfigurement caused by an accident.

Looking at her picture in the article makes me think that skin color should be the least of her worries. Just sayin'

 

[Infohawk]

Well America's first black president is really half black and the same color as me, so they're on to something.

Come to think of it, since I see all these white people tanning to look like us, maybe us brownies are the true master race.

Yup, everyone's going to be mixed race in the future. May take 100 or 500 years, but it's going to happen. Nobody's going to care, but I bet blue eyes will always be prized.

 

[werepossum]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110411/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_jamaica_skin_bleaching



Weird world we live in. Whites try to get tanner and blacks try to get whiter.

And just a reminder that racism isn't a white-only thing. Seems like in a lot of third world countries minor racial differences are abused by the locals. For example you have hispanics with less indian blood acting like they're better than those with full indian blood. And here you have lighter mixed races not prefering darker mixed races.

Everybody wants to be mocha. And don't forget, it's now an official plank of liberalism that only whites can be racist. So brown people who think black people are automatically inferior aren't racist, they're victims of white racism. Somehow.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Yup, everyone's going to be mixed race in the future. May take 100 or 500 years, but it's going to happen. Nobody's going to care, but I bet blue eyes will always be prized.

Nice idea, but not sure about that. Perhaps true in countries with high immigration such as the US/Canada etc, but I can't imagine these inland Chinese and Indian cities really changing much.

Still, I'm doing my bit. My son is half-chinese.

 

[Infohawk]

Nice idea, but not sure about that. Perhaps true in countries with high immigration such as the US/Canada etc, but I can't imagine these inland Chinese and Indian cities really changing much.

Still, I'm doing my bit. My son is half-chinese.

They'll definitely be pure Chinese and Indians for a while to come given their size but I think eventually the trend will be towards mixing. I can see it even becoming fashionable to be mixed-race. Seems like there's an emerging group of half-asians half-whites for examples.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Yup, everyone's going to be mixed race in the future. May take 100 or 500 years, but it's going to happen. Nobody's going to care, but I bet blue eyes will always be prized.

Not going to happen in 100 years, developed countries (especially melting pots like America) will likely achieve mixed-race status long before the developing world, exception being Japan and Korea, save for some minor interbreeding between American military personnel and the native population.

Han Chinese and Indians will likely continue to be "pure" in their homeland, but Chinese and Indian communities abroad will likely interbreed with certain races. For example, most (native) Chinese women that I know say that they would be thought less of by their fellow Chinese if they married a black guy, but marrying a white guy is OK. Not sure if that mindset will go away in a few generations or not.

I am currently in an interracial relationship, but we are in America (melting pot), not in her native land. There are many difficulties to overcome in such a relationship, exponentially more if you are not born into similar cultures. I imagine many such relationships die due to those difficulties, we have come to the brink a few times.

 

[wuliheron]

Really white people burn too easily and are too easy to spot in the dark. Blacks have hair problems and are too difficult to spot in the dark. And it's hard to tell if an Asian is jaundiced.

Green really is the new white. You'll see.

 

[Zebo]

I read something once that you need a half hour of sun a day... This can't be good.

Biggest thing people could do is workout to improve their image. Hard bodies regardless of color look good. Not to mention that's another thing we need exercise to be healthy humans.

 

[dali71]

This happens all over the world, darker people are always seen as stupider.

Brings to mind this classic bit: Garrett Morris and Julian Bond on IQ tests :biggrin:

 

[Patranus]

Why is this a problem?

 

[Infohawk]

Why is this a problem?

An impoverished culture is spending resources on skin bleaching instead of better things. Personally, I'm not fan of people who want to transform their looks so drastically. If they think they're unattractive, they should get themselves sterilized and spare the rest of us.