Are they not proud of their colour?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.guardian.c...th.healthandwellbeing

Why do these black men and women take a risk to their health by bleaching their skin to become whiter?

/// According to Sherry Dixon, editor of Pride - the lifestyle magazine for the British black community - the scale of the problem is alarming. She believes that in part it is propelled by the success of a new generation of black celebrities who have lighter skin, such as Beyoncé or Lil' Kim. ///

[Davethedog]

Tanning Beds - Plastic Surgery - Dieting even Tattoos all concrted attempts to change or enhance the way you look. Accepted by all so you may ask are all these people not proud of the way they look?

What a lovely "man" you must be in real life.

[emmie]

i didn't say there was a dearth, i said that many have changed their skin tone, as they were deemed by their peers, record company, so called advisers to do so. I didn't say it was right.

One of the greatest black entertainers of all time, Nat King Cole was very dark skinned, but in photo's you wouldn't think so. So they were air brushed, on television much the same situation arose, so he used make up to lighten his skin, a perverse form of racism, too dark to appeal to the white audience.

[sp1814]

em10

Off the top of my head, I can't think if any black entertainer who uses lightening to adjust their skin tone to appeal to a wider audience.

[emmie]

sp, they are hardly going to say so are they. That would smack of pandering, and that wouldn't go down well at all. Most of the male artists these days seem to have enough clout of their own not to go down that route, but i bet some of the females have. seeing as how it was common place once upon a time, not just poor michael jackson, then i don't see how much has really changed. People in films particularly want to hold on to their looks as long as possible. it's not so much how great an actor you are but how good looking, photogenic, so why would this be any different.

[sp1814]

em10

Hang on - you can't say, "I bet some female black stars have had their skins whitened" without proffering any supporting evidence.

I am thinking of all the black actresses currently working in the US and America, and cannot think of one who is a significantly different colour from when they first found prominence.

Sorry - but it's a fairly wacky suggestion, because if any black star DID alter the colour of their skin, it would immediately be picked up on - like Michael Jackson.

Without further corroborative evidence, I think we should assume that it doesn't happen.

[joko]

i have heard it said that its generally considered more atractive to be lighter skinned...i am sure there are all sorts of deep seated reasons for this...

but just to add another point - i wonder if for some it could simply be down to something as shallow and basic and superficial as make up options...?
its harder to find darker skin tones of foundation, and other colours of eyehsadow, blush and lipstick maybe dont work so well on very very dark skin... many of the thousands of shades available just dont show up.

many girls utterly love makeup and maybe they wish to have more 'options'

i have seen some black skin that can appear almost featureless at distance, because it is just so dark... beautiful, but a 'blank canvas' - if you get me...

[Kromovaracun]

"But isn't the attractiveness down more to the influx of the White gene than the Black gene?"

"From an anthropology point of view it is an unfortunate fact but of the three races European, Asian, and Negroid.

Negroid facial characteristics are the least attractive. "