Theres has been a new ad advertising in Thailand on a beauty product that will lighten your skin. This a pretty common beauty product in Asia since their beauty standard is to have porcelain skin. The ad itself is very offensive hence the title 'just being white, you will win', the ad starts off with a women who then slowly starts turning black and is then showed as being shamed while the women next to her has really pale skin, they show her darker skin as something you should be ashamed of which was a problem in the antebellum age and is even a present issue in todays society. In America 'black face' is an offensive form and its what the ad is presenting, which takes root from Americas history. The company apologized for their reference to 'black face' and the negative impact it's caused.
I understand that cultures have different beauty standards and that their culture is different from americans and their history as well, but it also shouldn't be an excuse to support these racist ads, not knowing the history behind it and its negativity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/world/asia/skin-whiteners-and-their-ads-spark-criticism-in-asia.html?mabReward=A5
I totally get that selling involves making people want to improve their bodies in a certain way, yet there are limits. (Alejandra Hernandez 6th period)
ReplyDeleteYes, however this is no longer just "improving your body."This is changing your entire appearance and disregarding who you are, where you came from, your heritage, etc. It just goes to show how strong and controlling the racial hierarchy that white people have over absolutely everyone else, which has gone back to the beginning of time.
DeleteIt's so sad to think racial hierarchies are so apparent in today's society, that lightening skin products are so prominent in Asia. I think it's important to embrace the skin color you have and its heritage.
Delete(Bella Di Fazio pd:8)