Double Standard: Its ok for Whites to Tan but not for Blacks to Lighten?

White people, especially women, tan ALL the time. It is encouraged. Its allowed and accepted for whites to be embarrased at how pale they are and to desire to be darker.

Yet when someone like Michael Jackson or Sammy Sosa lightens their skin, they are called names, made to feel like they hate themselves, people question their motives, and it is a big controversy. Tyra Banks had a show with dark skinned black women who went to extreme measure to lighten their skin. She persecuted these women like they were criminals. I agree that some of them went too far (one burned herself very badly) but the whole concept of wanting to look lighter should not be something to be ashamed of.

So why do you all think things are like this? Why is it ok for whites to wanna look darker and yet its not ok for someone who is dark to wanna look lighter? If science/cosmetics allow it...people should be able to fix whatever they want to about themselves in order to be happy (as long as they do it safely). No one tells pale pasty white redheads, "BE PROUD OF YOUR PALE SKIN, DONT SELF HATE". We didnt ask to be what we are, its what we were born as.

Why should we be proud of something we didnt choose to be. I CHOSE to be a Yankees/Lakers/Colts fan and I am proud of that. I chose to like rap music and rock music, and I am proud of it. If someone is born incredibly dark (like say Akon dark) but dont like it, they didnt choose that, so why should they be proud of it? You cant FORCE someone into a religous cult and tell them to be PROUD of what that religion teaches. Yet these "black pride" idiots say "you were born this way so you have to like it and be proud of it". Bull sheeet....

 

Do you see ghosts in the middle of the day too?

 

Take out the insults & this is good topic discuss. You can never really tell someone's motive for choices they make, which is why I usually with hold judgements or opinions about these subjects. For one.

Some tan for different reasons, not necessarily to be darker but to produce a glow, or marsian sort of look for the summer. On the opposite, there can be many reasons as to why others lighten their skin. I'd say
most of the trouble isn't tanning/lighting but the world of self acclaimed psychologists that are so confident they know the reason for you altering your skin shade.

Don't be bothered by other's perception, cause there are an infinite amount of double standards in a dualistic society. Just be comfortable with your motives for doing so. Not assuming you do, just an example. thx

 

I was thinking the same thing lol.
The sun is natural. Chemically altering your pigment is not a good look.

 

Whites are and have been on the top of the racial hierarchy the past 400+ years, therefore they can do for the most part what they want to without any backlash. Blacks on the hand, we've been on the bottom of the hierarchy for the past 400+ years, then you throw in slavery, colorism issues before the existence of skin lighteners, bad hair issues etc. Thats why blacks get shit when they do shit like lighten their skin, because it comes off as self loathing, and most cases it is. Sammy Sosa and Mj already had what most would call "self loathing behavior" before hand. Sammy with the relaxer, green contacts, skin lightener and on top of that he comes from a country which colorism issues makes the rest of the world look small in comparison. Most Dominicans would easily be labeled black in the US or Europe but due to the fluency of Latin American racial classfication the majority of them call themselves indio, canela, cafe con leche etc etc. Michael already had the relaxer going against him in terms of self loathing behavior.

Thats why blacks and other people with brown skin get ish when they decide to do shit like that. If you go anywhere Europeans colonized you will see this self loathing behavior in the non-white population, regardless of the fact that in alot of these countries non-whites are the majority. In Asia, Japan and Korea are on the top so to speak in terms of racial hierarchy due each having a huge pale skinned population. While South East Asian countries are held at the bottom of the hierarchy, the majority of the population has brown skin. Dark skin is associated with working in the fields and light skin is associated with working inside. To me anybody who thinks their better or worse than others because of skin color, nationality, religion etc etc are DISGUSTING and gets no love from me.

 

well said.

 

Good post

 

With our luck, this thread will find a way to turn itself into a bbw debate.

 

C'moooon.
Comparing tanning to permanently alter your skin??? Its not even comparable. It does not compute.

You can find true double standards all over the place..... it flagrant... but this??? C'mon.

Yes, there is white privilege, white people get away with way far more than black people - but that does not justify this comparison.. This is silly. Its a stretch of the immagination, if you look for something, you will find it. It doesnt mean its real. Most of the time, there is a justifyable cause.. This is not it...

If a white person would permanently alter their skin to look dark - THAT would be the correct comparison... tanning, child please. This is a reach.

The issue here is colorism... and why some people feel the need to be percieved as lighter. This IS caused by white standard. White people dont want to be percieved as darker - yet again due to wite standards.. so, it cant be compared as the underlying cause of these events are vastly different.

I think the real topic here is colorism and how to fight it.

 

Black has always been seen as a negative thing, and because of that, we are encouraged to be proud of our blackness by other blacks. There is no "be proud of your pale skin" movement because people with pale skin weren't treated like shit so they didn't develop a mentality of "fuck you. This is me, and I ain't gonna change for you and appeal to your standard of good looks". Black empowerment has given the message to blacks that our features should be looked at with pride.Whites and everybody else get the whole "be proud of who you are" thing, but race never becomes a part of the discussion. Whites don't need to be told "be proud that you are white". They didn't have a negative image of themselves put into their society. Blacks did, so we have to be told to be proud of our features.

I think this is different than just "I wanna tan for summer". Plus, being pale is a sign of not getting enough sun and when you are extremely pale, the sun can be very damaging. Being pale is also not always healthy. There aren't really any negative health risks that come with being dark.


And with other parts of the world trying to look "whiter" or "more western", it's really no surprise that people catch shit for trying to look whiter. Plastic surgery is huge in Japan and other parts of Asia, especially with celebrities. A lot of them get their cheeks done, foreheads worked on, nose jobs and eyes made to look less Asian, etc. The before and after pics of these Asian celebrities are ridiculous. They're completely different people and lost a lot of their Asian features.


Lightening the skin is different from tanning to me given the history of society's standards.

 

Kushton, BA and Geeky - great posts with a lot of good points. This is an interesting topic Playboy, glad you brought it up.

I agree with Geeky that tanning and chemical/permanent lightening are a bit far apart on the spectrum to actually be comparable and Geeky's point about this being more an issue of colourism is right on.

My partner is quite dark, in fact the darkest member of his family, and he was treated the worst growing up. Some members of his family are so light that I thought they were white when I saw their pictures. Now why would his own family treat him poorly because of his skin tone? Fascinating subject.

 

There is nothing fascinating about this thread. Please stop acting like this is the first time you guys have heard about this. None of us will argue the other side of this. We're all in agreement this colorism shit is ridiculous. Light vs Dark white vs black, we all know this is horseshit. The conclusion we will eventually come to after dozens of posts with personal accounts and internet articles is none of this shit really matters. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and like Nas said the darker you are the realer your problems.
Thread closed.

 

You nailed it.

 

Yeah. I think when most white people tan, most white people don't say like "Oh, she/he has a self hating mentality". But I think a lot more often (but not necessarily) when a black women lightens her skin, her black friends may say she has a self hating mentality. I think it's because white people aren't really as concerned with racial issues since this is a predominantly white society and the white people make the standard of beauty etc. whereas black women or men may be accused to of self hate a lot more since being black, especially dark skinned, is not the standard of beauty in NA. It's too bad we have these dumb standards...

 

First of all, this is not a double standard. You give two examples of two races not being happy of being lighter. It is also allowed and accepted of blacks to be embarrassed at how pale they are. Hence the comments about M.J. and Sammy Sosa.



I disagree. Whatever you are born with, you should stick to. The white people getting tans are exposing themselves to radiation that can and does cause cancer. The black people who use skin lightening creams do damage to their skin. They are doing this for superficial reasons in most cases. Lastly, A lot of pale white people haven't had a problem with their paleness. They live in a mostly white society. Why would they? Black people in the usa, however, live in a majority white society so that gets to some of them. I have heard of black people making fun of other black people for(get this) being too black or dark. You may have saw an example of this when reily first meets cindy on the boondocks. They proceeded to make a your momma is so black joke but quickly realized she is really white. Why no your momma is so white joke? You got to be proud and happy about yourself and not let the majority influence affect how wonderful you are. The one thing I can respect about Japan(among many things) is how the little girls did not like Barbie! The little japanese girls complained that barbie was blond and they were not. They complained about the height. You know what happened. The little girls got their way. They knew what they were and were happy with it.
The same has to be done with black people in the usa. This kind of moving to appease people will lead to nothing but trouble because most black people are not any where close to being white. We should acknowledge that and be happy about it instead of trying to change ourselves to fit the majority. The same can be said about white people too because last I checked Barbie is still a blond and selling(along with hair dye) when most white people I know are not.

disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with being a real blond. There is, however, a problem with giving children dolls or action figures that mostly don't look like them. It presents a problem in the future of them coming to terms with their own self image. My objective was not to offend anyone.

 

You are right. It is like this because we all naturally get darker as time goes by. The sun and genetics do that to people. It is common. That is why it is not seen like self hating. It is not common for us to get lighter. I don't know any where on earth that I could stay that would get me lighter day by day. To lighten your skin, you make a conscious decision most of the time. I can't avoid the sun for the rest of my life to avoid getting darker despite that getting sun burned has given me more incentives to avoid it. very very painful incentive.

 

Lol, interesting point. I can see where you are coming from. The only difference I can see is that tanning is temporary, while lightening is usually permanent. The problem is that people associate that since being black is usually view as a negative appearance, that you should be proud of how you look to combat what others say. But at the same time, that places you in a box, because unlike other "races" who get to explore trying different things out, you can't because you are suppose to be proud of what you are initially.
So in essence, that limits your creativity.

In the end, I do whatever the crap I want. I'm not going to let anyone put me in a box. I''ve wore hazel, green, blue, and freakin purple contacts. I had short hair, long hair (currently long) mini dreads, curls, and cornrolls. I'll wear echo red shirt one day, a polo shirt the next, and a superman shirt on the weekend.

The point I'm getting at is that true, you will deal with double standards, but as long as you are around people who accept your creativity, than it shouldn't matter what some dude you don't even know say. Cause those around you will accept that you like to do new things. All my friends say I'm very different, but that's what they like about me so much.