It's a care package for my mom
back home in Los Angeles.
It's always filled with everyday items and a bunch of Filipino goodies.
Instant noodles in here, sinigang soup packet,
fruit from my mom's backyard, toothpaste
But then there's this
skin whitening products
Skin whiteners are a big business.
More than four hundred million dollars worth of
skin whitening products is sold each year in India alone
Eight out of ten women in Nigeria use skin lightening products,
the world's highest percentage
Skin lightening market in Asia-Pacific alone is valued at over 13 billion US dollars
In 2015, the skin whitening industry
was worth about $10 billion worldwide
And by 2024 it is expected to
more than triple to $31.2 billion
These products have been around for a long time
and have proven to be damaging
physically and emotionally
So what accounts for the growing popularity?
For starters skin whitening products rely on advertisements like these
"Wow, you have the most beautiful, glowing skin"
"Now, I have visibly fairer skin"
Skin color forms part of what gives us
access and prestige in society
All these negative associations that society has already
imposed on dark skin
You can't be happy. You can't find a man.
You don't fit into society beauty ideals
So the advertising is only reinforcing
and exacerbating a sustained message
Thanks to globalization, it's a message that's
reaching more people every year
The worldwide cosmetics market
was worth about $293.5 billion last year
and it is expected to grow
That growth is fueled by a rising middle class
especially in the Asia-Pacific region
which has the biggest share of the cosmetics market
But these products and the messages of these ads are destructive because they
rely on a concept called "colorism"
which sociologist Margaret Hunter defines as
the process of discrimination that privileges light-skinned people of color
over their dark-skinned counterparts.
One study showed that lighter skinned black women in North Carolina
received shorter prison sentences than their darker peers
Another study found that white interviewers deemed light-skinned blacks
and Hispanics more intelligent than dark-skinned people
who had identical educational achievements.
They also reinforce centuries-old ideas about
race and hygiene.
Check out these old soap ads.
This was part of a larger project
of presenting white civilization,
European civilization
as superior
and here, the association is that
blackness is a form of
uncleanliness
that can be wiped away
But it's also, in many ways,
simply a very blatantly racist ad.
During the civil rights era, the Black Power movement
sought to counter this idea with messages like "Black is beautiful"
but that message
hasn't undone the damage wrought by centuries of colorism
Cause this looks a lot like that one
Cause the way brown looks
These products are also
dangerous because they can physically damage the skin
I've seen very intense cystic acne
I've seen irreversible skin thinning
From using high-strength hydroquinone
I've seen ochronosis,
which is a paradoxical darkening of the skin.
Aside from creams and soaps,
there's a wide variety of ways
people are lightening their skin
like getting chemical peels
using glutathione injections or pills
or even applying cleaning bleach to their face and body
Hydroquinone is a highly toxic chemical used in photo processing,
rubber manufacturing and hair dyes
but it is also one of the most commonly used ingredients for skin whitening
It's regulated in the U.S.
and banned in certain countries abroad
but consumers get their hands
on high concentrations of it
through under-the-table sources
In the U.S. light-skinned beauty standards still exists
in more subtle messages like
who is considered the most beautiful
and some celebrities of color
appearing to have lighter skin over time
You are looking to be white. What do you say to that?
I would say that as an adult you decide to do things
It's like, do you guys condemn people who tan their skin?
Do they do it because they hate themselves?
No, it's a choice as an adult
While wanting lighter skin is not a crime nor is it necessarily bad
it's important to be conscious of this choice
and why it's different from skin tanning
or putting on lipstick
Because ultimately, from applying creams
and getting regular treatments
to avoiding skin tanning all together
skin whitening is a way of life
Attitudes are starting to change
with inclusive makeup lines
and emojis,
media campaigns celebrating dark skin beauty
and more celebrities talking about the issue
"I still feel like that's what we're fighting,
healing from the past"
But many people are still unaware
of their preferences for light skin
because it's so deeply ingrained in society
and despite the criticism and safety issues of these products
the projected growth in sales
means the world still has a long way to go
until the practice of skin whitening becomes obsolete