In "Yearning for Lightness: Transnational Circuits in the Marketing and Consumption of Skin Lighteners," Nakano Glenn argues that "colorism is just one of the negative inheritances of European colonialism. As we studied in lecture by looking at 19th-c. soap advertisements, "European colonists... associate[d] Blackness with primitiveness, lack of civilization, unrestrained sexuality, pollution, and dirt" (167). In the slave societies of the colonial Caribbean, colonialists used detailed gradations of skin color to divide and control populations of African and mixed-race slaves, free peoples, indentured servants, Creoles, and Europeans. The institutionalization of racialism into the everday life of colonial society, as a method of rule as well as the signposts of seemingly mundane social relations, had broad and deep implications. As the famous postcolonial thinker, Frantz Fanon argued (speaking of the experience of living under French rule on the island of Martinique), "cultural values are internalized, or 'epidermalized' into consciousness, creating a fundamental disjuncture between the black man's consciousness and his body" (Deepika Bahri).
Nakano Glenn discusses in detail the use of skin lighteners in contemporary Africa today. Some of the same dynamics are at play in the contemporary Caribbean. Watch the following video and then comment on the questions below:
1) Nakano Glenn argues that in the African contexts, the use of skin lighteners has been increasing among "modernized and cosmopolitan African women" (169). Which groups does this film argue are the primary consumers for skin lightening creams? Why do you think modern and cosmopolitan young people are emerging as the primary consumers for skin lightening creams in this globalized era? Reread p. 169 before offering your thoughts.
2) The comments from youtube users seems to emphasize the need for "self love" as a corrective to the "skin bleaching epidemic." Do you agree that teaching a discourse of self love is the answer or is this a more entrenched problematic that needs a more complicated solution on a number of fronts? What fronts would those be and would might some of these solutions look like?
The primary sources for skin lightening creams according to the film are the younger generation who have dark skin, commonly black, and both women and men. Young people are emerging as the primary consumers for these products because of what their culture is reflecting as what is attractive. The culture deems having “brown” or lighter skin as being more beautiful than having dark skin. This indefinitely impacts the younger generation and teaches that light skin is beauty. In the film a boy comments on how females find brown skin and lighter skin more attractive and a sign on wealth because they could afford bleaching. If you are a man of light skin females will find you much more attractive than a man with black skin. In today’s society, beauty is an area in which a lot of people become engrossed in. Everyone wants to be seen as beautiful and since lighter skin is supposedly deemed as beautiful in these societies, the younger generation is going to go to those lengths and consume those products.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a lack of self love does play a role in why people bleach their skin but other problems are present as well. Of course one should love the self enough to know that dying skin doesn’t make you beautiful and a lot of those people think that it does. Another problem I believe to be the cause is the media and the images that they represent as beautiful. Media is extremely influential and when there are people with lighter skin in the magazines and on television, of course people are going to believe that lighter skin is more appealing. I think people with darker skin are underrated in magazines and on television so its hard for people with dark skin to see themselves as beautiful. If they were more represented in the media I believe that people with dark skin would be more accepting and not feel the need to change the way they look.
-This film discussed the ways in which dark skinned individuals would use the bleach or gel to lighten their skin. Glenn directs the usage to younger people that happen to have dark skin. Dark or black individuals want to use the creams to try to make them lighter or brown. Some women in the video find that being dark is ugly and men don't want them because of their darker skin tone. The younger generation are the primary consumers because going through school and just living in a dark society, these children are judged by their skin tone early in life so they develop the want to be "normal" or light skin. The older generation knows about all of the possible chemicals these gels have and they have learned to love themselves as beautiful individuals so they are not a direct target for the skin lighteners. I do believe that children need to be taught to love themselves for who they are on the inside and outside, no matter what anyone else thinks about them, especially their skin color. Teaching self love is one solution but that might not fix the problem all together. The video stated that some of the gels are illegal so the government may need to step in to stop the product from entering in their territory. If that does not help, people need to spread awareness of the dangerous chemicals (Mercury) so maybe people will start to realize that their health is more important than their looks. Everyone is beautiful in their own ways. It is sad hearing some women talk about them being ugly so they use the bleach to make them pretty. It is really sad that this is even a topic we are discussing because this shouldn't be happening. Everyone is equal and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe younger generation, are the ones that look to get skin lightening because they believe that the darker people have a social disadvantage and brown skin is believed to be more beautiful and be a pathway to wealth. The culture now thinks that the more light skin you are the more beautiful you are. The more light skin you are, means you are more wealthy because you have money to bleach your skin. In the film the say, " the shortcut to success and the positive self image is to alter the color to the skin." To the African people, they think anything to black is not good, so people bleach to become beautiful and to have more social stability. Since the younger generation grew up thinking that light skin is beautiful, they are going to continuing thinking that.
ReplyDeleteI believe that "self love" does a part in bleaching skin because, if one did love one self then they would need to bleach their skin to become or look like something they don't look like. Throughout history, the person with the lighter skin has always been wealthy and successful and the people who weren't light skin were stuck doing hard labor. This is the same as when the people in the south wanted to have straight hair and not curly nappy hair because they thought straight hair meant your wealthy and belonged to a group that mattered. Back then whites were the ones with these features, they had the straight hair the money, and lived the life so everyone else wanted that. Everyone is beautiful in their own ways and what society makes beauty out to be isn't always correct. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder so, everyone is beautiful in their own way.
This film argues that the primary consumers of this film are not only men and women and those who have darker skin, but those who are part of the younger generation. I believe that they are emerging as the primary consumer because they are more impressionable and they are more likely to buy into what their culture,and the media says is attractive. In Jamaica lighter skin is seen as more attractive and a boy in the film even talks about how boys will say that a girl is not hot if she does not lighten her skin. Lighter skin is also associated with wealth, as a boy said that if a boy is lighter the girls will most likely want to be with him because it means that he is rich enough to afford skin bleaching. The media also tells them that in order to be considered beautiful they have to be lighter, and as mentioned before they are more impressionable and not yet sure of their identity which is why they are more likely to buy into it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely believe that self love is a weapon that holds a lot of power for combatting against the problem. In a society that is engrossed in physical beauty but also unattainable beauty, self love is one of the most powerful tools. So I do believe that a discourse on self love can be used, but we can also teach them about the media, and how even those light skinned artist like Beyonce are sometimes airbrushed to appear lighter than they are. We can show them that the kind of beauty shown in magazines and ads is unrealistic even for those who appear in the ads. Showing them a video like the Dove ad "The Evolution of beauty" might give them a new perspective on that. Here is a link to the Dove ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omBfg3UwkYM
The film argues that the primary consumers of skin lightning products are black women.Based on the video clip it is clear to see that young women aspire to be the next Beyonce or Rihanna just based on the color of their skin. Analyzing the video it is easy to assume that if those women attain lighter colors they too will be beautiful. As the video stated, there are already powerful men AND women who are in power who are of color, but there needs to be more in order for their to be a decrease in skin bleaching etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is far more problematic than it seems. Teaching a discourse of self love is a good idea, but if the media does not follow in the footsteps of progress then there is no great use of such discourses. The media and us as a nation has to also want to move forward in embracing darker skin. If there is a more accepting audience to colored people world wide then there is no need for skin bleaching. Culturally speaking, there is always a new trend that people want to try out for example a new haircut, tattoos, or piercings, I think that it is time for people to want to to try out the trend "Love yourself"
They film targets those who are in the younger generations. They are the growing market because the media all around the world is projecting this image that to be lighter you will be more successful. People who are impoverished countries try to do all they can do in order to escape the poverty, even if that mean to put a harsh chemical on your face to make you skin color more appeal and acceptable. this thinking of colorism is the main trouble in many countries that are dealing with this skin lightening problem.
ReplyDeleteI feel that teaching the "self love" is important but id just scratching the surface in helping change the mind set of those who think that they need to lighten their skin to be successful. I feel that it needs to start with the media and in changing the way that they perceive people. they need to encourage the use of many shades of skins in ads and print. There needs to be more symbolic capital in the world and people need to be in the mind set that if you are confident in who you are and what you are capable of doing then no factor should stand in your way. Some may have a hard time achieving this but it is not limited to them. I feel that some people find the easy way out of problems. I feel that in order to solve this epidemic of skin lightening i think that people need to change the way that they see themselves and start believing in what they can do. people need to embrace on another because we as a globalized world have come to far to take steps backwards and start belittling one skin shade. No matter if your one shade of black or brown we need to accept all.
I feel that the film was targeting the younger generation of dark skinned women, however many men did comment on how lighter skin is more desirable and older women seem to have deep rooted feelings on skin lightening, years of longing for lighter skin but knowing the dangers of the chemicals seem to be less eager to use it. But younger dark skinned women think that lighter skin is more beautiful, and will help them personally as well as professionally. I think that self love definitely needs to increase in order to stop the amount of skin lightening, but I feel that this is not the only answer. Media needs to help change social attitudes on darker skin, and like the young woman in the film said "black is beautiful and its what on the inside that makes you beautiful." Once the societal norm changes regarding dark skin, I feel that skin lightening will fade out. But as long as advertising, like the Beyonce ad, is lightening darker skin, and influential women in the media are wanting lighter skin, skin lightening will still be rampant. Also the dangers of skin lightening needs to be more obvious and people need to be made aware of them in order to stop people from skin lightening.
ReplyDeleteThe film argues the majority of people bleaching their skin are young adults in their 20's and 30's. I believe these men and women are the market for these illegal products because of a lot of what the film argued, social inequality where lighter skins are seen as better than darker skins. It is easier to get jobs, easier to get a romantic partner, and easier to be seen as upper class if one has lighter skin.Another main reason that applies to that age is it is a prohibited act. These people are getting as much of the substances as possible all at once since it might be difficult to attain them next time. This is a common trend seen in many an illegal product.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem goes much deeper than just "self love." You can love yourself as much as you want but it still might not get you a job, or respect from other people because of everyone that has lighter skin naturally or people who still bleach. What needs to be changed is something that the film touched on as well, the stereotyping of social status. The culture shown here for example has a stereotype of darker skin representing the labor class, and lighter skins as the service class. If media maybe starts emphasizing successful darker-skinned individuals as well as lighter-skinned, employers stop discriminating in the hiring process encouraging shifted labor markets, and more protests on the danger of the skinning substances, then maybe this extension of social classes can be removed.
The film features a younger generation as the main consumers of skin bleaching products. They have been socially constructed to believe that the lighter the skin they have, the more attractive they will be. This goes for both men and women. The people interviewed in the film were mostly young, and their reasoning for bleaching their skin was due to the fact that they would be seen as more attractive by others, would benefit in society more due to the fact that lighter skin represents a sign of wealth, and also better job opportunities are available to those with lighter skin. They said that people with darker skin looked "rusty" and could be found working in fields. I think the younger generation is falling for the idea of beauty in light skin because they media and advertisements are targeting them with products to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of self love is a good message, but it does come with issues. Self love doesn't necessarily impose a solution. Self love can come from loving yourself physically. Loving yourself by lightening your skin can be extremely problematic for this young generation because the chemicals used in the bleaching products are very harmful. They said that many people had to stay out of the sun because their skin would burn, and it would lead to sickness. I think that the government should regulate the products, and make sure that people are not using harmful products on their body. Another solution should be with the media. They should promote loving yourself for who you are, not what you look like. They should use real women, with their natural skin to promote beauty.
The primary consumers for skin lightening creams as according to the film are dark skin people mainly the younger generations. They feel that being dark doesn’t make them feel pretty. It makes them feel dirty and rusty. What they believe is the lighter skin you are the prettier and beautiful you are. People notice them and won’t judge them by the darker skin tone. Moreover, not just girls in general, men’s in the video mention girls like boys who are brown and have lighter skin rather then a black skin tone. Furthermore, many of these dark skin tone people would use bleaching cream to try to make them lighter or brown. Therefore, many people in the younger generations have grown into the society that with lighter or brown skin tone you are consider beautiful and wealthy.
ReplyDeleteI believe “self love” does play a role in bleaching their skin because if one were to love themselves they would not do something that can harm them. Everyone should be taught about self-love. Learning to love you self inside and out is accepting yourself to be who you are. I understand through many generations in the society people always view lighter skin tone people as wealthier people. Moreover, the media always use light skin tones girls and men’s for advertisement and products that makes people feel that being light skin you are consider wealthy and pretty. I believe that no matter what color skin tone you are, everyone is beautiful in their own ways.
The video suggests that the main consumers of skin bleaching products are the younger generations of men and women which supports the text's conclusion of modernized and cosmopolitan women, it just takes it a bit further. The younger generations have to have the means to be able to buy the skin bleaching products which makes them appear to be wealthier and most-likely successful because they can afford such extravagances. People who tend to use bleaching products associate lighter skin with successfulness which the video claims do be a direct result of the colonial ideology of white supremacy, however the text believes otherwise. Glenn writes, "This recent rise in the use of skin lighteners cannot be seen as simply a legacy of colonialism but rather as a consequence of the penetration of multinational capital and Western consumer culture."(169) While it may be simpler to base the reasons for people literally poisoning their own skin, which is the largest organ in the human body, on the history of white supremacy and racism, there are other factors that must be taken into account. I would also like to ask how any of these products, that for example caused a woman in the lecture video to have her skin not go back together after her Cesarian section, could be legal at all?
ReplyDeleteI do believe that self-love is an extremely important factor in solving this crisis, however it is not all that is needed. My main reason for saying so is that if people are only hiring or dating light skinned people as this video seems to suggest, then no matter how much you love yourself you will still be unemployed and alone. I think there is a need to "Love One Another As You Would Love Yourself". Self-love is definitely the starting off point but after all the years of racism, judgement, enslavement, and oppression that has been inflicted on black people all over the world, they need to realize that by not loving themselves and one another they are creating a different type of racism altogether that cannot be blamed on the colonial legacy anymore. They are now oppressing themselves. Only one person correctly defined beauty in the video, she simply stated that beauty was what was on the inside, not what you see on the outside.
Dark Girls and this youtube video show that the consumers are young men and women, who are black. Why would the trend be with the younger generation? The culture that was affected by colonization, and was continued through globalization, influenced generation, who then influenced the next generation. In the video Dark Girls, there were multiple stories of women who did not want their child to be dark skinned like they were. Globalization has helped promote light skin due to the influence of the super powers, which are mainly European. Europeans, though not all, are lighter skinned and therefore the products created by makeup companies, and the models that talent agents want, are those that are geared toward those with the most money, the super powers, or the lighter skinned folks. The younger black generations, that are middle class, are underrepresented in media and in consumer products like makeup. Women, in particular, want to be established like a lighter skinned woman so she is not differentiated against in the work force or in relationships. They want to become more like the "norm" that media reflects, whether it's light skinned black actors like Vivica A. Fox, or models like Tyra Banks. Globalization brings media to all areas of the world reflecting the image that lighter is better.
ReplyDeleteSelf love would not be enough to stop the problem. I think it would increase the problem of discrimination. Instead of addressing the issue of an individual versus skin tone, it separates blacks from the rest of the skin color spectrum. The idea behind self love is that blacks do not have a coherent community of recognition, and if they did, and they did not identify themselves as Caribbean or African, then there would be no distinction in color. I feel what needs to be addressed is the promotion of the individual based on skills and personality, not black versus the world. What needs to change is the underrepresented Black and Indian cultures within the media. The beauty of all colors, within every race, should be presented with adoration and enthusiasm.
This film argues that primary consumers of these skin lightening gels are the younger generation with darker skin, both women as well as men. I believe that the modern and cosmopolitan young people are emerging as the primary consumers for skin lightening creams in this globalized era is due to the fact beauty and appearance have become a key element in many people’s lives. Today’s world has created this idea that beauty is power. The big question here though is, who decides what is beauty. In this clip, these young dark men and women alike believe that light skin is more beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWomen believe that not only will men not find them beautiful with the dark skin, but believe jobs will be given to someone with a lighter skin tone over the darker complexion. The men in this clip believe that others will find the lighter skin tone as a symbol of wealth, that those with the lighter skin have more money and are able to afford the expensive skin lightening gels. Younger generation are easily pursued into believing that there is a set image that characterize beauty, and they want to fit into it. Growing up hearing that light skin is more beautiful, and being judged by the color of their skin, will give them a drive to put themselves through these dangerous measures in order to have lighter skin.
As seen in the comments from the youtube users concerning this video, emphasizing “self love” to these young consumers of the skin bleaching will help with the “skin bleaching epidemic”, but will surely not completely demolish this problem. One way to start a solution and creating a big step in the right direction to stopping this skin bleaching is enforcing a law, making it illegal. In this video, we learn that some of the chemicals used are illegal, but still used. In the United States we were having the problem of opposite effect, tanning to create a darker skin tone. Just recently this year a law was passed that no one under the age of eighteen, no matter with parent consent or not, may not be allowed to tan in the tanning beds. If a similar law was passed, that no one under the age of eighteen was allowed to bleach their skin, then the younger and primary consumers of these products would decrease dramatically. Also, if starting at a younger age they were unable to use these products and taught to know how bad and dangerous they were, the likelihood of them using them later on in life would be much less likely.
This clip suggests that the new primary target for skin lightening creams is the younger generation of dark skinned individauls- both men and women. The reading from "Globalization" mentioned that specifically upwardly mobile women particularly in North Africa have been a large source of the skin lightening market recently. I believe that since the world is becoming more globalized, countries with darker skinned natives have more access than ever before to the success of countries. Throughout history European and now Western cultures of light skinned people have dominated economically and socially. Now that technology has further linked the world, it is clear that the fair skinned countries are well developed and "successful". I think that this makes darker skinned populations feel inferior and linking success with skin color seems like an easy fix. As unfortunate as it is, the reality of the situation shows that in a lot of cases having light skin actually does help individuals progress in the work field. Many of the people in the clip also discussed that they choose to lighten their skin to attract potential relationships. This is just a testament that not only does color impact work, but skin color inequlaities can warp the ideas of beauty. Even if an individual believes that darker skin is beautiful, he/ she maybe brought up to act otherwise. This material also made me think about skin color in America. As ironic as it seems, some Americans follow this "trend" in tanning booths. Shows like Jersey Shore even promote a well tanned physique. I think the fact that Americans have tanning booths and spray tans for purely cosmetic reasons, while darker skinned people feel like they must undergo illegal chemical creams to become lighter skinned in order to find love or work, just further shows how polar the world can be.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, self love teaching would not be nearly enough to fight this problem. The youtube comments seem to come from a number of concerned individuals, but I think that voicing an opinion is a lot less affective, than acting on one. I think that it is easy to say that you support more love for oneself, but when it comes to solving this problem, I think it would be difficult to find people that truly wish to fight for it, especially if the issue doesn't particularly affect them. To me, teaching self love would only temporarily disguise the problem at a handful of people at a time. Self love should be promoted regardless of the presence of a problem, but I think that most people are going to feel how they feel whether or not they think they are supposed to. I also feel like that could be probelmatic, because in extreme cases, the self love could be misconstrued as promoting the darker skin and therefore create a superiority complex in which case the desirable skin color could just switch from light to dark in a sort of reverse racism. As global as this problem is, I think that as long as the world's cultures are interconnected, there are going to be races and cultures that are more successful and therefore deemed more desirable. I think in order to solve it, this global problem honestly needs to be solved on an individaul bases. Each person has to make the choice themselves to resist the pressures to conform and to genuinely accept who they are. There seems to be no way to just switch the emotional feelings of large masses of people, so people must do it for themselves.
The film argues that the younger generations are the primary consumers for skin lightening creams. Society portrays lighter skin as ideal and more beautiful. Before, darker skin meant that you were part of the lower class working in the sun, and lighter skin meant you were wealthy and stayed inside more often. They have made skin color a factor to determine wealth, status, and beauty. I think younger people are emerging as the primary consumers for skin lightening products because of the pressure they feel. They believe that if they do not have light skin then they will not be successful in life and be looked down upon. Now there is even more pressure than before because there are all these products out there that ‘guarantee’ lighter skin. With all these new products, people are starting to think that they have to use it, that it is the new thing to do. Just because there are products out there, doesn’t mean that it has to be used. They can be harmful and cause many problems.
ReplyDeleteI think people should learn self love. Everyone is born a certain way whether we like it or not. The only thing to do is accept it and embrace what we were given. There are so many products out there and surgeries you can do to alter your look, but it only lasts a certain amount of time. After a while, you’ll have to keep using more products or getting more surgeries because we are constantly aging. Our bodies are constantly changing. The faster we learn to accept it, the happier we will be with ourselves. We shouldn’t constantly be worrying about our looks and let that run our lives. We should just focus on and enjoy the things that make us happy, not what makes other people happy.
1.I think that young people are emerging as the primary consumers for skin lightening creams in this globalized era because they are the generation that is right smack in the middle of the era where we are also experiencing the backlash of globalization. This interconective world has led us again to communicate the norms that colonized places fought to free themselves from. Almost everywhere there has been a history of colonialism, everyone has fought away a tyrant but what do you do when you are your own tyrant? Young people are absorbing their environment and the interaction between “black” and “brown” Africans in their environments. The choice to use lightening creams although they are dangerous to the health of someone still are used because of the “benefits” of being brown vs. darker skinned.
ReplyDelete2. The youtube comments about self love are superficial and do not get to the point. You cannot love the “self” if you do not know who the “self” is. It has been destroy and replaced with idealizations of beauty and power. And knowing when and how to differentiate that which is the true “self” and the “self” (socialized) is hard and even impossible. So what do we do? One of the solutions or beginning of a solution could be using a bottom-up discourse of power relationships in Africa. Allowing for the unprivileged to be heard by those who attain privilege of some sort in order to even out the field and allow for a different type of environment to emerge. Discourse is not enough to create concrete change true. But it is a good starting point; translating discourse into actions is possible such as policy making- in some cases.