by Melanie Treinen

Created on: November 12, 2009   Last Updated: November 15, 2009

Bleaching skin may not be the safest thing to do to one's body, but the beauty about how free our country is... is that we are allowed to make these decisions for ourselves. Saying skin bleaching should be illegal is just like saying that tanning should be illegal. They are both personal choices, and should be made by the individual who is freely allowed to do what they please with their appearance.

Laws are created to keep life civil, not to tell us how to look. Trying to justify a law to make skin bleaching illegal is trying to take away part of our freedom. This decision is not for the government to make for us. A human is completley responsible for their own well being when they become an adult. Plus, there are much worse things than skin bleaching that are completely legal, such as alchohol and cigarettes. Why are these things legal? Not only does the government make tax off of it, but also because it is up to a human to decide for themselves weither or not they are going to put themselves at risk. When getting ones skin bleached, a doctor will also inform you of the dangers that could occur along with side effects and how to take care of your skin after the procedure.

To make skin bleaching illegal would also be taking people out of work. Not only would the doctors who perform the skin bleaching lose their job, but also the secretaries that keep the office running. We are already at a hard economical time as it is, we should not be trying to remove jobs that are helping to keep the economy thriving.

Skin bleaching is used to lighten scars and stretch marks, remove birthmarks, and even to lighten up ones entire body if desired. Take Michael Jackson for example, a wonderful person that anyone can admire. Michael Jackson felt like he was meant to have lighter skin. If a human has the choice to change sexes because they feel that's who they were meant to be, why shouldn't you be able to lighten your skin? Skin bleaching has helped woman achieve a look they once had a few babies earlier, and has worked for taking away birthmarks that one has been dying to get rid of. This decision is a personal choice, not up to laws to tell us what we can and cannot do with our own bodies. If laws start taking away reasonable personal choices, that is contradicting our freedom.

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