Many unknowing people wrongly assume that skin bleaching for dark skin is used to help those individuals become “more white.” This is most definitely not the case for many of African American, Latino, Asian, and East Asian descent. In terms of skin bleaching for dark skin, these cultures do not use such products in an effort to blend into Anglo-Saxon societies. Rather, these cultures view the beauty in their own ethnic or racial identities. Skin bleaching for dark skin in these cultures is about achieving what that culture imagines as the perfect skin tone or ideal color.
For example, many East Asian cultures use skin bleaching for dark skin to achieve a more olive toned complexion. They do not wish to look more like Anglo-Saxons, nor do they feel there is anything wrong with their appearance. Skin bleaching for dark skin, rather, is an effort to enhance the natural beauty of the underlying skin tones inherent to such cultures. It would be simply impossible for a dark skin person to achieve what others consider ‘white’ skin. This is because of the melanin in their skin cells. Melanin has two forms, one that produces yellow to bluish tones, the other produces brown to olive tones.
Different cultures have differing levels of the two types of melanin. As such, skin bleaching for dark skin will have a completely different effect than skin bleaching for lighter skin tones. Skin bleaching for dark skin or light skin does not discriminate against which melanin form it inhibits. Instead, these products inhibit the production of all forms of melanin. In dark skin cultures where a fairer complexion is favored, skin bleaching for dark skin is all about creating what that culture views as the ideal color for their culture’s skin.
For these cultures, there are naturally going to be the odd few who due use skin bleaching for dark skin in an effort to conform to a predominantly Anglo-Saxon society. However, for most cultures this is more the exception than the norm. For these people, skin bleaching for dark skin is not about changing their identity or distancing themselves from their heritage. Instead, skin bleaching for dark skin is viewed as a celebration of heritage, a method to become the ideal image of that person’s race, ethnicity, or cultural background. Only in heavily populated Anglo-Saxon countries and cultures is skin bleaching for dark skin mistaken for conformity.
