Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished that your skin tone was a shade or two lighter? Compared your arm to a friend's, envious of their pale, glowing skin? Or hid in the shade to protect yourself from a possible tan? Well, a lot of us have, and if we haven't, chances are we know someone who has.
I recently found a video on that topic, and how fairer skin is often seen as more beautiful, and it's completely accurate. If you haven't noticed it, I'm sure you will now that it's brought up. As summer approaches, pay close attention to the comments around you. I've had so many of my friends worry that going to the beach or the amusement park would only darken their skin - something that they couldn't have happen. And who can blame them, when beauty is so often depicted as being white?
I have a lot of friends who especially deal with this issue. It's hard when the make-up in the cosmetic isle are all lighter than your skin colour, and when skin colour band-aids aren't your skin colour in the slightest. And there's still not enough representation of people with darker skin in movies, television shows and ads. With this in mind, no wonder that people are wanting their skin to be lighter.
I think that a lot of it has to do with the marketing industry. Like many products, their advertisements strive to make people feel bad about themselves for the purpose of making money. I constantly find myself envious of the smooth skin only attainable from CoverGirl or a Loreal model's luscious hair. In reality, their seemingly perfect appearances are results of Photoshop and great editing tools that create a person that does not actually exist.
Of course, people with lighter skin colours do exist, however in this case, the industry creates ads that make it seem like attaining lighter skin should be a goal. Many of us have seen the videos of little girls pointing to the most beautiful Barbie, each time pointing to the one white doll rather than the black one. Both girls and boys often grow up with these images in mind, simply wishing that they weren't so dark.
I can't identify with this at the same level as many others can, but what I do know is that lighter isn't more beautiful, but a concept created by the media. Well, who put the media in charge of what is considered better? Shouldn't it be us who shape our own definitions of beauty? After all, it is us who this affects on a personal, intimate level, and not the media. And it saddens me that people feel that they have to lighten their skin in order to achieve what is perceived as a desirable colour.
Sadly, I can't take down those ads. I can't make every boy and girl in the would grow up thinking that the colour of their skin is good enough. But I can challenge those around me, the readers of my blog, my friends, my family and others I may encounter to question why it's so bad to have a darker skin tone. Is it really bad, or are we just brainwashed into thinking it is. Asking questions is important. Without doing so, each of us become robots controlled by an industry of condescending lies.
I personally think that the diversity in each person's skin colour should be deemed as perfection. I hope that people share this video with others so that this topic can be talked about more in a critical way, rather than a way that only promotes self-hatred.
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