Comments

1. Varun wrote:

   What if the chemicals aren’t dangerous?

   The argument weakens then don’t you think.There needs to be a more complete explanation,this chemical business is weak.

   P.S. I am on your side though.Its sick to be doing this.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 9:32 am ¶

2. Medusa wrote:

   Ugh. On the one hand um, yay that it’s not just women? On the other hand what the hell???? Now everyone should have to get rid of a natural characteristic that is often found in a member of a particular race?

   I have never, ever, ever understood why light is beautiful. I had the pleasure of being a West African growing up in East Asia where light skin is really, really valued, and I have to say I’ve never understood why. I mean, I’ve never seen a shade of skin that I thought wasn’t nice. I mean, as a kid, I always thought light skin’s cool. Dark skin is also cool. I managed to internalize all the other messages like my hair isn’t good enough, my body isn’t small enough, my nose is too broad, but for some reason the skin thing I never understood. I understand now from an intellectual point of view the whole “light skin means you’re not a farmer” meme that is rampant all over the place, but even that isn’t entirely logical, since skin-color variations can take place within ONE FAMILY. (Not to mention how classist it is.)

   It infuriates me too, and I once read an argument in which someone said how they don’t see how this is any different from girls deciding they don’t like short guys. But I think that’s a completely different can of worms, because it’s not like there are classist ideas about what it means to have dark skin, compounded by the legacy of colonialism that has left the world thinking that Euro is better/more beautiful, and the lighter you are the more attractive/intelligent/desirable you are. And I don’t think people are nearly as intelligent as they think they are. Their ideas about what’s attractive are completely, 100% formed by external factors. Unless it’s just a coincidence that any time the “ideal” body type promoted by the media suddenly becomes what the majority of men seem to think is hot. I don’t think the same happens to men in terms of what their body is supposed to look like in order to be attractive.

   Incidentally, I’m back in my home country now, and I’ve never been considered light (and in fact have had idiots in America as well as the East Asian countries I lived inmake jokes about how dark I am and laugh while Im the only black person in the room and have no idea how I’m supposed to respond…) although I’ve never seen my skin as being particularly dark anyway, because I always have known people who are much much darker.

   Anyway, apparently in my own country, I’m fair and I keep getting attention and comments about it, and have no idea how I’m supposed to respond to that either.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 10:06 am ¶

3. Sobia wrote:

   It’s exactly the same in Pakistan. In fact, in some I find it worse. In India you will still see some darker complexioned women in movies or on TV (Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra etc) as lead heroines and who are considered to be beautiful by most. However, I’ve noticed that this rarely the case in Pakistan. You’d be very hard pressed to find anyone of their complexion on Pakistani TV or movies.

   The pressure for girls especially to have light skin is immense. Very often the success of a woman is depicted/seen/assumed to be based on her skin colour. Of course, this is about beauty norms and the universal “belief” that a woman’s success is in her looks.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 10:43 am ¶

4. Karua wrote:

   I agree that it’s sad and people should embrace the skin color that they are born with without regrets but I also want to say that I *do* have a tube of Ambi Fade Cream on my dresser. I just want to point out that not *everyone* wants to be lighter by using products like this. I use it only to lighten dark hyperpigmation marks on my cheeks caused by acne.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 10:45 am ¶

5. maus wrote:

   “And I know this is highlighting India, but it’s happening across the globe.”

   I do mainly hear about this marketing and set of products coming out of India, what other cultures have lightening creams so enmeshed in their culture? Obviously every country has the products available, but where else are they promoted as heavily?

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 11:11 am ¶

6. Nadra wrote:

   I wrote about this here.

   I don’t think Ambi’s fade cream is objectionable because it aims to lighten up dark spots on the skin, not lighten skin all over. Women and men of color tend to suffer from hyperpigmentation and creams like Ambi are marketed to even out skin tones. Evening out one’s complexion isn’t the same as striving to make it a shade or three lighter.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 11:44 am ¶

7. Adrienne wrote:

   And you totally overlooked how the lighter you are in India, the higher your socio-economic status. And yes skin color has alot to do with who and what means your family is descended from in India.

   In certain countries you make more money to support yourself and your family if you are fair.

   Its not as simple as ‘get over yourselves and embrace the beauty of all colors’, so to speak.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 11:46 am ¶

8. Logan wrote:

   As far as I know, at least in China, there is a sort-of stigma that the darker your skin is, the more likely you’re a farmer or of a lower class, thus there is a subtle amount of judgement that goes into darker skinned people. I’m not sure if the same values would apply in India, but I do know that China had a ton of whitening cream products in their health care sections because of it. At least to explain the desire of doing so.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 1:02 pm ¶

9. Tonya wrote:

   I’ve heard it’s also popular in Egypt.

   As a dark-skinned black woman, I’ve *ALWAYS* heard the comments and “jokes” about me being dark. I (thankfully) was raised in a household with parents that always taught me that such colour ideals are ignorant and stupid and learned later on from my own readings how colonial they were, so it’s never lowered my self-esteem. However, even though it doesn’t harm my self-esteem, it still annoys the hell out of me.

   I’ve called many people out on the “jokes” they make about dark skin by talking about the history of slavery, colonialism and how “white was always right” and then I get the “oh, I was just joking, why do you have to take it there” People want to make the jokes and when you remind them of their own prejudices and how it’s really European colonizers who made these ideas prevalent, they don’t want to be a part of “that”.

   People who identify themselves as non-racist don’t want to be a part of the people that view whiteness as better than blackness, but deep down, they believe it on some level.

   I find it quite sad that what is considered beautiful has to be lighter. I even had a guy acquaintance tell me that he would rather have a semi-attractive light skinned girl than a stunningly gorgeous dark-skinned woman. (Everyone of course is beautiful in their own way of course, but the logic when talking about attractiveness is scary when it comes that to statement)

   I agree with Medusa in that skin colour preference is COMPLETELY different than height preference. To my knowledge, no one has been discriminated against on a systemic level for being too short or too tall.

   Again, the idea that attractiveness is judged by lightness of the skin is racist and ridiculous. IMHO, making it acceptable under the guise of “preference” is even more disgusting.

   Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 1:38 pm ¶

10. Urban Suburbinite wrote:

    “who’d dare actually bring a box of Ambi Fade Cream to the counter? ”

    I would. I used to use it for a dark scar on my chin, and for my knees. It didn’t work. I never knew people tried to lighten their whole faces and body with this stuff, until the Tyra show and reading about it here. I thought it was just for scar lightening.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 1:51 pm ¶

11. Indira wrote:

    “It’s exactly the same in Pakistan. In fact, in some I find it worse. In India you will still see some darker complexioned women in movies or on TV (Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra etc) as lead heroines and who are considered to be beautiful by most. However, I’ve noticed that this rarely the case in Pakistan. You’d be very hard pressed to find anyone of their complexion on Pakistani TV or movies.”

    See, this is also a problem. Priyanka and Bispha might be dark compared to Aishwarya and they be may be dark compared to white persons. But if Priyanka and Bipasha are dark, then what do we call the hundreds of millions of South Asian women with skin the color of mahogany? I feel that lauding Bollywood for making a star of “dark Bipsha” is disingenuous, and allows people to continue to ignore the existence of the majority of Indian women who have much, much darker skin than that.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 2:03 pm ¶

12. jen* wrote:

    As far as where the creams are popular go, a friend of mine from the Philippines says that she faced discrimination when she moved to the city because she is “dark” [what a relative term]. She said that some of her friends used these kinds of products, for the same reasons as they are being marketed for in this article.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 3:32 pm ¶

13. Louise wrote:

    a sorry state of affairs!!!!

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 4:11 pm ¶

14. Sobia wrote:

    @Indira:

    Thanks for pointing that out, though I was not saying that they have the darkest complexions among South Asian people. However, they are darker than what has been the beauty standard in South Asia for ages now. I know they are considerably lighter than those with complexions on the darker end. I am not lauding Bollywood for it, but standards are changing. And again, in Pakistani media, you would rarely see women even of their complexion, let alone those with darker complexions.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 5:28 pm ¶

15. Liz wrote:

    Ambi is on the market to simply even out the skin tone that one already has. I use it for acne scars, for instance. It is not the same as a bleaching cream!!!! I feel like this article needed more in depth research rather than simple observations.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 5:37 pm ¶

16. April217 wrote:

    @ Tonya – I agree with your comment 100%. As a dark-skinned black female I too am fortunate enough to have a family who does not put emphasis (or favor) on color.
    I also have heard the argument of “preference” as well. I find it stupid and insulting.

    I was introduced to these commercials a few years back via YouTube. I don’t know if I was more shocked at how absurd they were or the knowledge of how many cultures had an issue with color (as opposed to race). As an “ignorant” American, I was under the assumption that the color classification (again not race) was predominately an African-American phenomenon. The fact that this problem is so pervasive is not only sad but sickening. Yet, with the concept of color is so bogged down in class (value), race and (in some cases) religious propaganda that an end to this way of thinking seems light-years away.

    IMHO, what we considered valuable is such a personal thing that creating categories seems wasteful. Determining value based on appearance is about as easy as spotting a serial killer. You never know someone until they reveal themselves to you.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 5:50 pm ¶

17. Kaonashi wrote:

    Nivea and Garnier aren’t the only companies that do this. The Unilever “Fair and Lovely” commercials are nightmarish.

    Personally, I think that having healthy, clear skin is beautiful no matter what shade you are.

    Anyway, apparently in my own country, I’m fair and I keep getting attention and comments about it, and have no idea how I’m supposed to respond to that either.

    Yup. The grass definitely isn’t greener over here; it comes with its own set of problems.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 7:15 pm ¶

18. Joy wrote:

    Dark skin men = YUM! [Ok, light and white men are yum too; I'm pretty equal opportunity.]

    Sometimes people do have preferences when it comes to the opposite sex and skin color/shade is just one of many. Nothing to bleach yourself over.

    @Urban Suburbinite – have you tried Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Scar Serum or Mederma? I have a semi-deep scar on my face from a surgical cut and the Palmer’s has made a *huge* difference.

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 9:02 pm ¶

19. DigitalCoyote wrote:

    I made peace with the fact that I wasn’t “light” like my mother a long time ago.

    That said, I’ve used Ambi. I had never had acne until I turned 21 and have fairly nasty outbreaks once a month in time with my cycle: even the pimples that never come to a head at the surface of my skin leave very dark marks behind.

    The spots make me feel very self-conscious. I do not care for makeup and do not want to be caked in heavy foundation or concealer because they make things worse. Ambi and facial peels are my friends, although I am careful to use Q-tips to apply Ambi only to the spots and not the rest of my face.

    I love the fact that my brown skin shimmers and glows naturally. I couldn’t wrap my brain around destroying something already lovely for the sake of being “fair.”

    Posted 21 Sep 2009 at 10:50 pm ¶

20. Asas wrote:

    This is really sad.

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 12:51 am ¶

21. ashlynn wrote:

    I just want to chime in as well that Ambi is DEFINITELY not even in the same ballpark as Fair and Lovely. Ambi celebrates brown skin, as clearly evidenced by the GAWJUHSS chocolate woman flecked with diamonds that they use in their promotional stuff. Fair and Lovely does sickening commercials where the father takes a stereotypical Asian martial-arts infused journey to find his daughter some bleaching cream so that she can get a job.

    Priyanka and Kareena and Ash bug me because their presence as stars in India and Asian in general sends horrible messages. It’s bad enough that Priyanka is terribly thin and often unhealthy-looking, and women fawn over her stunning figure, but in photos you can clearly see that she wears a ton of body makeup. I’m on a few blogs and the women will ALWAYS comment negatively on dark knees and elbows, or any sign of darkness. And you definitely can see the difference between the older male Indian celebs and younger ones in terms of skin color(and even fashion; it’s really gross to see some of these 40-somethings in tight leather shirts and ugly washed jeans running around like they’re Abhishek, and even HE can’t pull it off half the time, at least Amitabh doesn’t try that hard, though his penchant for velvet is ghastly- OK END SIDERANT HERE lol).

    Also, like someone commented earlier, I find that Indian women have such gorgeous skin, and when properly taken care of and celebrated, all brown people do.

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 2:49 am ¶

22. Medusa wrote:

    @ Joy:

    Sometimes people do have preferences when it comes to the opposite sex and skin color/shade is just one of many. Nothing to bleach yourself over.

    Right, but the preference is overwhelmingly for lighter-skinned people, because of centuries of indoctrination into the idea that it’s more attractive, higher class, more feminine, etc.

    @ Adrian- completely agreed.

    I recently watched the abominable movie The Other End of the Line, and I couldn’t help but notice how EVERY SINGLE Indian character was so so so so so light.

    Tonya, what do you say to the people who make jokes about being dark?

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 3:44 am ¶

23. Emmeaki wrote:

    Ambi is definitely NOT for lightening your skin tone completely. I’ve used it for years to fade acne scars and scars on other parts of my body. It’s not fair to put it in the same category as these products.

    Also, commenting on the issue of skin color, a coworker of mine once told me about her cousin’s preference for light-skinned women over dark-skinned women. He stated that the fact that a woman was light-skinned could make up for the fact that she was kind of “funny-looking”. WTF?????

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 11:11 am ¶

24. knockoutchick wrote:

    Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra are both lovely. In looking at red carpet photos of Ms. Chopra she certainly seems darker than in promotional photos. It appears to me she is being blasted with light on photo shoots or her pics are being lightened, which is often the case with many black American female celebrities.

    So eventhough these slightly darker women are given a few opportunities, even they are not presented in their true skin.

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 12:40 pm ¶

25. knockoutchick wrote:

    I would say Sarita Choudhury is darker than both these young women.

    I wonder if she would have been considered for lead roles in Bollywood 10-20 years ago?

    Posted 22 Sep 2009 at 12:48 pm ¶

26. RCHOUDH wrote:

    “Preference” for light skin is too ingrained around the world for it to be something personal. Years of social conditioning have caused many people to view light skin as being more beautiful and desirable than dark. I’ve started boycotting Dove products because of their association with Unilever and the disgusting Fair and Lovely Brand.

    Posted 23 Sep 2009 at 1:07 am ¶

27. Mena wrote:

    There is a “Dark is Beautiful” campaign in India that I strongly suggest everyone check out. http://www.darkisbeautiful.in/ I think it’s good that Indians themselves are talking about this rather than us outsiders.

    Posted 23 Sep 2009 at 2:50 am ¶

28. Jen wrote:

    Medusa, I’m with you. I have internalized all the messages about how I’m not “good” enough but this one – what’s wrong with brown skin? In spite of what the media keeps telling me, I LIKE my caramel-coloured skin. I don’t have to attempt to tan and it ages better, is more resilient. I may be too fat, with too large an ass and thighs, with nostrils that are not narrow enough and a jaw that is too big, with hair that is the “wrong” texture and length, but goddamit, I’m glad my skin doesn’t have pink undertones.

    Posted 29 Sep 2009 at 1:56 am ¶

29. TheVoiceOfReason wrote:

    @ Sobia

    Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha aren’t even that dark at all .There are women waay darker than them who will never see the spotlight.

    Posted 07 Oct 2009 at 12:11 am ¶