Indian men are frequently
becoming the targets of the skin lightening cream industry because of the
notion of colorism. A man’s worth is primarily
valued by his career; therefore, the idea that lighter complexions allow them to
have more privileges or opportunities is appealing, especially in a competitive
job market. Men may want to have an advantage over their co-workers because they
want to improve their employment positions and their social economic statuses, even
if it means being exposed to hazardous toxins. I believe that Indian men’s perception
of skin color is predominantly affected by hegemonic Western imagery and media.
In all reality, Western corporations do not want to adopt the beliefs of others
but merely want to sell them their products. Western corporations influence and
control consumer trends by inexplicitly stating that “light-skinned men are more
intelligent and martial as opposed to darker-skinned men who lack intelligence and
masculinity”. Thus, globalization does have a direct impact on Indian men by altering
their self-perceptions and making them believe that “white is better” or in this
case, “light is better”.
I think that both factors was true for the reason why Indian men are now so emerging as a market for skin lightening cream in the era of economic liberalization under globalization.
ReplyDeleteFirst, multinational corporations tried to pull more consumers for their products; just like Barbie doll, corporations understanding the differences in global economics and society so they used the advantage of technologies to exaggerate the result of Vaseline. But if Vaseline was not improve anything in the skin so how can the company can survive and success in their business? They can use manipulated strategies one time but they can’t manipulate them in second time if their products are not really affective. Most of business success because of the return customers, we already know about the 20/80 rules in business. Most of 80 %their profits come from 20 % return consumer and the money business spend to keep their old consumer more cheaper than money spend in advertising to pull new consumer. Each culture they has strong believed and you can’t use your objective to put in them. For example if Indian culture believes that the light skin will make men more confident and success in their society so they will spend the money on that products. It true or not depend on the person used product and that one of factor contribute for the success in that business. Indian men compare between the money they spend and the success they have in their life and they will choose the one bring more benefit for them. Just like women, they know that wear high heel shoes will not good for their feet and it is not make them comfortable when walking; however, they willing to spend more money and time everyday to put on that shoes for only purpose they feel good about that. They like to make themselves beautiful and they want to impress their friends, their co-worker. So we all agree that the aesthetic is one of importance factor that many businesses have used them as a tool to create the beautiful product for both men and women.
Even though racism is supposed to be completely removed from the world, being lighter skinned is still seen as being more desirable. In the Indian culture, lighter skin is seen as an advantage in the workforce and will lead to more opportunities for a good job. Having a lighter skinned complexion has always been seen as more attractable and looked up to far more than darker skin. Prior to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, people with dark skin were seen as inferior to white people and were treated as less that human. Even though we have moved past that level of segregation today, light skinned people still make up the majority of celebrities and “well-off” people. The Vaseline ad directly shows that all men should want to have lighter skin because it is far better than what you were naturally born with. Companies like these have strong influences on people because their ads are all over every form of media daily, and people begin to feel pressured into believing they must be right. People in other countries look up to American society and are very susceptible to our ideas and products that are supposed to improve their life. It is sad that Indian men think that they need to lighten their skin in order to be more happy or successful than they would be normally. There are always products out there that are supposed to benefit you by changing something about you, when people need to be happy with what they have and look to use that instead of altering themselves because somebody told them to. People have to take a stand against media’s portrayal of what is good and do what actually makes themselves feel good.
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