According to consumers of skin bleaching products, women use it to achieve “fair skin. Those women most often get their perception of beauty from media advertisements within their society.
Nakano argues that skin whitening work in more social, economical, and human capital spectrums ways to make dark skinned women use it to establish themselves in society as entities. They try to validate themselves by changing who they are because of society’s view of their skin as negative, rather positive. Glen says, “Light skin operates as a form of symbolic capital, one that is especially critical for women because of the connection between skin tone attractiveness and desirability.” There are three forms of capitals:
1. Symbolic Capital – Woman who did skin bleaching to obtain opportunity based on their visual appearance. For her, having light skin gives her an honor, recognition and “white privilege” (in some cases) to hold valuable position within her society. In different ways, the controlling image leads her consumerism of white bleaching products to pursue status she needs in order to be considered “valuable.” (Forrest, Anne, “Race, Culture and Social Justice”, University of Windsor, Nov. 5, 2013)
2. Capital – Skin-whitening product are transformed into prize, where woman can use it, to win the attention of opposite sex. Even though it is a physical object, the skin-whitening product works as an asset for woman who wishes to use it, even though such product might transmit to her serious health consequences.
3. Human Capital – When it comes to light skin it showcases woman’s economic view of her acting within her financial sphere, where she is a consumer of skin bleaching products. She tries her hardest to look “white” in order to be considered the best. Such human capital might work as both exterior and personal views of herself – what other people think she should be and how she internally thinks she should stay. (Forrest, Anne, “Race, Culture and Social Justice”, University of Windsor, Nov. 5, 2013)
Most often intelligent, wealthy women who are in good economical status purchase such skin whitening products in order to re-establish their status and show to society that they deserve everything what they have because they are now light skinned women with help of such products.
Glen argues skin bleaching products discriminate black women who are perceived as “defected”, and according to advertisement need to change the way the look to be alleged as “superior.” In contrast, other women try to separate themselves from “dark skin” image. The cosmetic companies are enriching themselves, by making African, Indian and dark skinned Asian women insecure about themselves. In reason, the privilege of white skin, pressures those women to bleach their skins that concludes adding hierarchy/superiority to Caucasian race that brings racism with it. The thinking, “White is right” (Glenn, 2006) if looking deeply is evidence of racism context in itself. Why does white have to be perceived as perfect, and black as negative? Who made/establish such discourses in the society? Those are important questions, woman who uses skin- bleaching product have to ask herself. Glen says, “Sociologist and anthropologists have documented discrimination against darker-skinned persons and correlations between skin tone and socio-economic status and achievement in Brazil and the United States (Hunter 2005, Sheriff 2001; Telles 2004).” Those two countries have very negative views of African American beauty if looking deeply into their societies discourses. Most often in those countries, dark skin people are regarded as less intelligent, trustworthy and unattractive, thus putting the rest of white people into pedestal of “ideal” perfection.
In conclusion, Nakano Glenn makes readers think twice about the background context of skin bleaching products that in the end of day only enrich/empower large Western corporations. If knowing those corporations such as Dove, who in one way are promoting “every woman is beautiful within herself” and in another way are selling skin bleaching deodorant that makes the same woman to think, there is something wrong with her, so she needs to get the latest product from Dove. So, the company boosts self esteem of woman, and questions/removes her self-esteem from her, in order to profit and again more money from the same person.
References
Glen, Evely Nakano , “Yearning for Lightness: Transnational Circuits in the Marketing and Consumption of Skin Lighteners” in Inequality in Canada. A reader on the International of Gender, Race, and Class. Edited by Valerie Zawilski pp. 231-247 @2007. Oxford University Press.