Skin-whitening studies from Ottawa raise racism concerns
Tue, 2007-10-30 03:42
#1
Skin-whitening studies from Ottawa raise racism concerns
Tue, 2007-10-30 03:42
#2
Hmmm .. The cyclical nature of Racism/Whitesupremacy rears its ugly head again.
In the 50's & 60's in America, these sort of things were advertised in African american publications like Ebony, but after the renosance of Afrocentric movements and the emergence of statements liek "Black is beautiful" and James Browns song "Black and proud" .. those adds were stoped.
I remember in teh 70's and early 80's in west-Africa those same companies, were peddling the same/similar adds in West-African media. Including adds for Nasal reconstruction surgery, to "cure" people, by giving them a more "European" looking nose. (i'm not kidding this were things i saw in the media as a kid ). Which prompted the great philosopher, activist & proud Afrocentric Musician Fela Kuti to write a song titled "Yellow Fever" - which he described as the mental disease that causes our brothers and sisters to bleach their skins.
Recently in south-Africa I have heard reports of the same sort of marketing, and now we are seeing the same partern repeat itself in Asia. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
"Critics have accused the industry of racism and imperialism. Ranni Moorthy, a U.K.-based actress from India, told CBC News the products are touted as cures, as if dark skin is "some kind of disease, to be put right."
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/ottawa/2007/10/acclaimed_skinwhitening_s...
What is most troubling to me, is that the judging panel saw it fit to award them a top price for researching how to "cure" dark skinned people, of their so-called pigmentation problem. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Tue, 2007-10-30 03:50
#3
I think they were probably making the awards on the basis of the commercial potential - and like it or not, making dark people whiter is a huge market. Probably even bigger than the market to make white peole dark, come to think of it.
Tue, 2007-10-30 03:54
#4
Basedon that logic. lets award prices for the more efficeint delivery of cociane, herione and crack.
These are considered evil in this society, so is Racism.
But somehow its acceptable to research better ways to support whitesupremacy?
Tue, 2007-10-30 04:00
#5
Maybe she could work for Unilever, the people who make Dove products. You know, the Real Beauty campaign? Except, in India, "real beauty" = white, according to Dove's parent company.
They have a bunch of commercials like this one:
[ 30 October 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]
Tue, 2007-10-30 04:03
#6
Maysie
AfroHealer, this is a very disturbing story, on so many levels.
The desire for skin-lightening is one effect of living in a racist world, and it's very disheartening to read about this current research.
It seems that any way to make a buck (or a billion of them) off racism is okay.
And I would like to object to the use of Canadian universities being used to help people conduct experiments that will lead to them making private profit in the business sector. Just kidding, I know this crap goes on all the time, but it still ticks me off.
Tue, 2007-10-30 04:09
#7
quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
[b]I think they were probably making the awards on the basis of the commercial potential - and like it or not, making dark people whiter is a huge market. Probably even bigger than the market to make white peolpe dark, come to think of it.[/b]
Maybe you should ask yourself why that is such a huge market?
Phrases like "internalised racism" come to mind. Its the white supremacist thinking, that leads to sucha larg market for skin lightening products.
Then thier are also issues of health implications, Melanine helps to protect the skin from Cancer, so why the need to research ways to increase Cancer.
How about researching ways to help Albino kids, in tropical climates .. but oh . That would just be to beneficial ..
We all know there are lots of Lighter skinned people who are trying to Tan, can we honestly say that there is a bigger market for Skin whitening? Even if there was, the buying power of the lighter pigmented peoples in Europe and the Americas would make that a very profitable market. The pharmacy industry, ignores tropical diseases cuz the dark pigmented peoples who live in the tropics are poor.
SO it all comes down to White supremacy in my not so humble, opinion.
Tue, 2007-10-30 19:40
#8
Perhaps this article falls into the same category. It is reminiscent of foot-binding but I'm not sure why procedures such as eyelid surgery are popular.
[url=http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/1101020805/story.html]Plastic Surgery in Asia[/url]
[ 30 October 2007: Message edited by: Liang Jiajie ]
[ 30 October 2007: Message edited by: Liang Jiajie ]
Tue, 2007-10-30 20:06
#9
RevolutionPlease
[thread drift]
I thought about defending the fact that this research would also help a pasty ghost like me get some colour but knew Id overstepped my bounds.
[/thread drift]
Im embarassed to be part of this world.
Tue, 2007-10-30 20:27
#10
quote:
Originally posted by RevolutionPlease:
[b][thread drift]I thought about defending the fact that this research would also help a pasty ghost like me get some colour but knew Id overstepped my bounds.
[/thread drift]
Im embarassed to be part of this world.[/b]
Perhaps your defense could help explain why some persons want darker skin and, vice versa, why others want lighter skin.
Tue, 2007-10-30 20:55
#11
RevolutionPlease
I also think the media is to blame for making their research seem racist. They printed one sentence here, if you clicked on "Full Story"
quote:
Ahmed-Muhsin defended the technology, which she says could also be used by pale people to darken their skin.
This is media sensationalism picking up on real genetic research for their own gain.
ETA: This is the anti-racism forum and the media reporting is racist but I'm not sure the research is?
[ 30 October 2007: Message edited by: RevolutionPlease ]
Tue, 2007-10-30 22:04
#12
That application certainly isn't going to represent the greater part of the value of any deal they make with L'Oreal or whoever. Not when there's a 200 million strong Indian middle class that wants to be (or has been convinced to want to be) [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWls3U7ZZ1E]Fair n' Lovely[/url] and is prepared to pay for that privilege.
Tue, 2007-10-30 22:10
#13
RevolutionPlease
Great point Doug and why I chose to reply, this is really what you call an unexplored idea. At least for me. Our world is screwed. I know I'm late with the news.
Wed, 2007-10-31 08:07
#14
quote:
Originally posted by RevolutionPlease:
[b]
This is media sensationalism picking up on real genetic research for their own gain.[ 30 October 2007: Message edited by: RevolutionPlease ][/b]
Ok .. So the logic is blame the media?
Heck i think the media could be blamed for not making the link to history of Colonial mentality and whitesupremacist brainwashing, which has lead them to profit from trying to make dark skninned people white.
The media hardly sensationalised this story.
Of course the persons doing the research is going to justify thier research. I believe one of them was quoted as saying "we are just serving an exiting need"
Which is the crux of the issues, it is being uncritically accepted that people would want to "cure" themselves of being "curse" with dark skin.
Can you not see the overwhelmingly RAcist and Whitepremacist nature of this?
I have no interest in being anything but what the creator made me.
Please don't give us the lame excuse that White people try to tan & the research could help with that, cuz regardless of how much a white person may Tan, they still don't loose their white privileged because they are tanned.
A more beneficial thing , would be to address the global situation, that treats Darker skin as a disease, by working towards creating a more equitable world.
Wed, 2007-10-31 08:23
#15
Maysie
Excellent points, AfroHealer.
Studies and studies have been done about internalized oppression that darker skinned people have, due to the white supremacist culture here in North America/Canada/US.
And of course, lighter-skinned people of colour are subject to ongoing systemic racism and oppression.
Comparing such racist systems to "white people wanting a tan" is ridiculous. In fact, it proves the racist point which is that if you are born with dark skin you are targetted for racism, unattractive, less than, even have a "disease" but if you pay to have your white skin darkened by the rays of the sun (flying south in the winter for tropical vacations), or a tan machine or those hideous spray-on tans, that's okay, because if we scrubbed you down, or kept you out of the sun for a bit, you'd become white again. Phew, you're okay! [img]rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]
Pathologizing dark skin colour is part of how racism works. Nowhere is light skin pathologized in this part of the world, and, because of imperialism, anywhere in the world at this point. I say all this as a light-skinned mixed race person who is often assumed to be white.
[ 31 October 2007: Message edited by: bigcitygal ]
Wed, 2007-10-31 22:06
#16
RevolutionPlease
My apologies, I was just including the media like the marketing companies involved here.
Back on topic, I need to listen more although I wish I could do more.
I'm glad racism is talked about here.
Mon, 2008-02-04 05:52
#17
quote:
"Critics have accused the industry of racism and imperialism. Ranni Moorthy, a U.K.-based actress from India, told CBC News the products are touted as cures, as if dark skin is "some kind of disease, to be put right."
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR200801... India's Huge Marketplace, Advertisers Find Fair Skin Sells[/url]
quote:
The TV ad shows an Indian movie star walking on a beach, flaunting his brand-name sunglasses and his six-pack abs. A white woman in a black bikini drops on the sand from nowhere, and then another woman drops down. Soon, a bevy of white models literally falls from the skies, and the movie star runs for cover.A green-eyed model from Iceland puts her arms around him and whispers seductively, "The fall collection . . . baby."
The ad is for a sunglasses company, but its approach is hardly unique in the world of Indian advertising. These days, the faces of white women and men, mostly from Eastern Europe, stare out from billboards, from the facades of glitzy, glass-fronted malls and from fashion magazines. At an international automobile show this month in New Delhi, most of the models were white.