Phia and I just got really worked up about something that has been bothering us for a while: the widespread use of skin whitening creams in Cambodia, and the large companies that endorse-- no, encourage it.
Olay has a huge "love the skin you're in" campaign in the states... Here, "lay" (as in Olay without the O) is how you say lotion, and lotion is how you say skin bleach. Seriously, the very first thing that Phia (and quite a few other women who have spent extended time in Southeast Asia) told me was, "BRING YOUR OWN MOISTURIZER!!! All of theirs have bleaching agents in them". What was that about the skin I'm in?
Dove is on a very serious "mission", a "movement for self esteem". We've all seen those Boticelli-esque women in granny panties lookin all stoked that they're half naked on a bus stop. Unfortunately that love yourself, "Campaign for Real Beauty" has not reached srok Khmer (that's how you say "Cambodia" in Cambodian). In fact, Dove is one of the biggest perpetrators of the skin bleaching fad that is fairly new here. Deceiver has a pretty good article about Unilever (Dove's parent company who actually got so offensive with its wildly popular Fair and Lovely skin lightening cream commercials that they got banned in India... but that hasn't made the cream any less popular). At least in India, Unilever had the decency to pretend to be another company. Here, RealCampaignForBeautyDove is the exact same as MakeYourUglyDarkSkinLighterSoYouCanBePrettyDove. Same font in the same blue color with the same white background. Same occasional swooshy light blue accents. Khmer people in the past have "preferred" lighter skin, and there was a lightening or preventative (read: SPF 8 billion and long sleeve shirts and pants AND socks AND a hat WITH a scarf AND gloves in heat that literally sometimes just makes me angry for no reason other than its freaking HOT) culture has been around for a while, but it wasn't quite as widespread until....
K-Pop.
(cue villian "dun dun DUN" here)
Which brings me (us) to my next point. Korean pop music and pop culture have become very big here. Very big. A little fact about the general Korean population is that they have a tendency to be somewhat lighter complected than the average Khmer person. This fact has not escaped Khmer youth. With commercials on a television channel watched by most Khmer youth that literally say:
Korean stars, don't you just love them?
Porcelain skin, countoured body lines. Irresistible features. Unbelievably perfect.
Catch a 360 degree look at Korean Perfection. From all directions, all angles, and all dimensions...
(Field Notes Productions has a good post on SEA's obsession with K-pop)
it's no wonder that there's such an issue. Seriously? Seeeeeeriously? I'm not saying that Korean people aren't awesome, but this is going a bit far. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned with my nationalism and ethnocentrism, but shouldn't everybody kind of just think that their country is the best, and their people are pretty much better than other people? It's how countries roll, how they stay nations and how they engage in wars*. It hurts my ego when the photo place lightens my skin with photoshop before printing my picture (for my school ID, pictures to come when I work that out), but it hurts my soul when the future of a country** lightens its skin with toxic chemicals so it can be more like someone else. Below, enjoy a comparison of pictures that almost made me punch the computer screen.
Caption for the website: "Do you see skin the way we do? Your skin is amazing"
what the picture says:The Vaseline Skin Fund works to improve the lives of those affected by skin conditions by providing them with better access to the specialist knowledge, advice and support they need. Our aim is to benefit at least three million people worldwide by 2012.
The VSF works in partnership with non-profit and charity organisations to provide vital information and advice on skin health to people suffering from skin conditions. We also fund projects that offer support to people who are dealing with the daily challenges a skin condition can bring.
In this way we aim to help make life better for millions of people with clinical skin conditions around the world.
Uhhh really Vaseline? Cuz I heard (in the local Khmer shi-shi grocery store) that you want to help bleach the shit outta my "amazing" skin, sometimes with chemicals that have been outlawed in western nations. I wonder if their products ever cause some of the skin problems that their foundation is setting out to help. Funny how it's in Khmer, but I do understand "85%" and that color wheel in front of the woman whose arms turn from brown to bleached by the time they turn into shoulder.Wait, that's not funny at all...
Okay I would rant some more, but the first day of class is tomorrow so I should go rest up! It's gonna be a 15-hour day...
*This does not mean that I support (or oppose) war in any way. Just sayin' that they've happened.
**And possibly the entire region of Southeast Asia
OH yeah I forgot to give a shoutout to Jenni T. (who visited Phia and got that pic) for unknowingly letting me use her picture, and for risking a very stern lecturing by taking it. I know how much the grocery stores HATE it when you take pictures of ANYTHING inside the store.
ReplyDeleteSkin lighteners have been a fad in the Philippines/with Filipinos since I could remember. I would always hear people talking about getting that stuff from the Philippines or from Filipino stores. Just goes to show the identity crises that countries in Southeast Asia are having right now, with the influence of Korea and America and whatnot... I have even been told by family members I look better when my skin is lighter (I, of course, disagree). Sad/annoying/frustrating
ReplyDeleteALSO, they were people who lived in Hawaii who wanted those creams. Talk about identity crisis...
ReplyDelete