Style & Beauty >
Skin & Body (Other)
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedShould products that bleach skin be banned?
Results so far:
| Yes | 57% | 112 votes | Total: 198 votes | |
| No | 43% | 86 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesIn today's society, beauty is no longer skin-deep and people are definitely not comfortable in their own skin. The availability of numerous skin products makes it easier for individuals to mask their "true" appearances. Bleaching products should be banned because it encourages individuals to accept society's view of beauty. The long-term affects of bleaching could also be fatal.
Being dark-skin has always been a daily struggle for me. I was told as a child that I was ugly because of my complexion. Throughout school I would always befriend lighter-skin girls over girls my complexion because I often envied their skin color. I also wanted so badly to look more like them. I even questioned my mother as to why she did not mate with a lighter-skin man.
When I compare my skin color to the images of African American on television, I find few that are similar in complexion. I personally feel that seeing a lot of lighter-skin women in the media encourages people like me to go out and buy bleaching products. There have been times when I have felt that if I were to bleach my skin, I would be more popular and get more attention.
After trying different techniques to lighten-up my skin, I decided that there is nothing wrong with my skin color. I am perfectly fine the way I am. Even though television portrays a totally opposite image of myself, I have accepted my own personal beauty. Bleaching creams, and similar products, should be banned. It assists in destroying the natural beauty that lies within each individual. The usage of bleaching products sends out a negative image to me. It is saying to people like me that it is not okay to be dark-skin.
The outcome from using bleaching products can be more than what is expected. Bleaching removes dead skin cells while enhancing the skin tone. While removing dead skin cells is probably harmless, it is the method of bleaching that is possibly dangerous. The skin is exposed to numerous harmful agents, like the sun, on a daily basis. Adding a bleaching product could possibly increase the chances of skin cancer or other skin defects. In addition, different skin types may respond negatively to the ingredients in the bleaching products, causing irritation, peeling, and other problems.
In the end, bleaching is not going to solve the self-esteem issues, it only deepens the problem on the inside.
Learn more about this author, Latoya Golden.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Using products that bleach skin without harmful side effects is up to the individual, and no one has a right to get in the way. Many such products are used to even out discolorations, reduce the visibility of scars, and to help with disfiguring pigmentation in those who have skin disorders. It would make more sense to keep people from bleaching their hair blond as a strictly vanity measure.
When people are so dysfunctional as to attempt (with great futility and harm) to change the color of their entire integument, through the use of products that eliminate melanin, then nothing will stop them, except for mental health treatment and therapy, just as happens when individuals are anorexic, bulimic, or have other severe appearance disorders. No one is interested in banning environments that cause women to have too much plastic surgery, botulism injections, or other risky procedures in order to drastically change their appearance, so why is extreme skin lightening even an issue?
In America, dark skinned and light skinned Americans were pitted against each other, with such results as the "paper bag" test and other internal segregation based on who was lighter than the next person. In other countries, this is called the "colonial" effect, where lighter skinned people were favored in all aspects and opportunities of life. As recently as the 1980s, African American magazines advertised skin lightening products as a way to a better life and a more attractive appearance.
Currently, African Americans are fine with their skin, as long as it is not blotchy or disfigured by scarring or other dermatological problems. Anyone who wants to get lighter simply needs to stay out of the sun, just as Whites are getting tans. In other countries, such as Brazil, there is severe racial and social disparity that is based on skin color.
The overuse of skin bleaching products seems to be going on in Jamaica, which has a host of other social issues that contribute to the problem. Sammy Sosa recently underwent a skin lightening process and proceeded to wear green contact lenses, creating much controversy.
Of course, it should be unethical and illegal for physicians, pharmacists, and companies to manufacture, prescribe, or sell products or procedures which are known to be poisonous, toxic or harmful, just as with skin lightening. But when someone is determined to drastically change their appearance, they will persist until they get what they want, and will rationalize away the consequences.
The solution, then, is to deal with the social pressures to be something that we are not.
So, skin whitening products will never be banned, or tanning salons will be banned, also.
Learn more about this author, Elizabeth M. Young.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
