Ema+D’s+OpEd+Article

“Your skin is soooo light.”

If you get that comment in any non Caucasian country, well then take that as a //huge // compliment. Every non-white race is obsessed with fair skin and women will go lengths to whiten their complexions.

This isn’t because of the influence of white Hollywood taking over the world. It seems like all non-caucasian races, from the beginning of their creation, have yearned for lighter skin. Obviously, this whole “I wanna have white skin” business is not just limited to Asians. Many African American, Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Middle Easterner women want to look lighter. I’m not saying that they want to look European (though many do), but the majority of them just want lighter skin.

I don't understand this at all.. and it always makes me wonder- are they right? Is dark/ tan/yellow skin really unattractive? Obviously no! There are a ton of dark/tan/yellow skinned people who are very good looking. Or is it because European groups have always held more power than other groups? (like colonialism, etc.) Or is it because there have even been cases when non-white but lighter skinned people had power over darker skinned people of the same race? Or is because of the stinging underlying belief of all non-white women that white is a “pure” skin color and their dark/yellow/tan skin is either the color of earth or not “clean looking” or “elegant."

One of my friends explained to me, “Dark skin is not good in my country because TRADITIONALLY, having dark skin means that you work in the fields and don’t have the money and leisure to maintain light skin.”

So you see, dark skin is associated with farming in some cultures and this is part of why it has such a bad rep. But aren’t we past traditions and stereotypes like that now? Sadly, nope. I don't really think that White people have had so much influence- it's like we've always been that way and it will forever be ingrained in the majority of our minds that lighter skin is better.

You know what's really ridiculous? Poor people in Jamaican //slums // are even clamoring for risky skin bleaching products that are illegal in most countries. People are dying there because they're using toxic creams with high amounts of mercury in them (mercury blocks the sun rays and decreases melanin production = lighter skin).

So to all of my fellow non-white people- please embrace your skin color! If you're attractive it doesn't matter what kind of skin color you have. Besides, skin that isn't white tends to age better.