Article Subject is :
Skin care: the dangers of skin lightening
a post colonial obsession
by kapil posted on 18 Mar 2008 14:57 hrs
Yes, I think people have always had a weakness for fair skin, starting from the era of colonization. This probably came from the fact that at one point, the white man was considered to be superior in all ways. Races with darker skin shades probably equated light skin with supremacy and so was born the desire to be like them i.e. the white-skinned races. Colonization and the white mans supremacy may have died out...or has it really? I believe that the obsession with fair skin on which marketers are now cashing in is just the aftermath of the colonial legacy. I could be wrong of course, but I doubt I am! Also, did you know that in many native African races, the darker you are, the more beautiful you are considered? Even many ancient Indian poets have penned verses extolling dark skinned beauties. That just goes to prove that fairness is a post-colonial obsession.