Posted on 01/01/2013 4:59:34 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Nomasonto Mnisi says her skin colour is "a self-esteem issue"
South Africa is marketed to the world as Mandela's rainbow nation, where everyone is proud of their race and heritage. But for some black South Africans there is such a thing as being too black.
A recent study by the University of Cape Town suggests that one woman in three in South Africa bleaches her skin. The reasons for this are as varied as the cultures in this country but most people say they use skin-lighteners because they want "white skin".
Local musician Nomasonto "Mshoza" Mnisi, now several shades lighter, says her new skin makes her feel more beautiful and confident.
She has been widely criticised in the local media and social networking sites for her appearance but the 30-year-old says skin-bleaching is a personal choice, no different from breast implants or a having nose job.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Well, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, but this is really quite sad.
OH.. and, mine would NOT be ANYWHERE that obvious.....
In the grand dichotomy, dark skins want to lighten their skin, pale skins want to get a sun tan, straight hairs want to curl their hair, curly hairs want to straighten their hair, short people wear shoes which make them look taller, tall people wear flat soled shoes and hunch over, not so rich want to show off their expensive Mercedes cars, the really rich seldom care what they drive.....it is the way of human minds.
All human societies have a bias toward lighter skin, not so much a racial bias, but a skin tone bias. The ruling class in all societies of dark skinned people is lighter than the subject/citizen class. If a very dark usurper manages to upset the order and become the main dictator or chief or king or whatever he marries his children to the lighter members of the group.Conquest by a darker invader ends with the same phenomenon. The ruling class, the invader overlords select mates for themselves and their children from the lighter members of the conquered people or their own people and the ruling class lightens over generations. Only in very rich economically advanced societies is this less true. But somewhere in Zaire parents are asking their son, “Isn’t she a little dark?” No amount of laws and societal regimentation will eliminate this phenomenon. It is innate. In a wealthy society there is much more mixing of color but the ruling class will still be lighter skinned than the ruled. There are some genetic ramifications of this phenomenon but they are unmentionable in modern society.
There was a patch of shore there that was well shaded by large trees...this is where the black folk would swim.
Dark skin evolved in tropical people to protect them from the harmful effects of the sun's radiation...
...thought it odd that I, with pale skin, frolicked and burned in the sunshine while the shielded shunned ol Sol.
Actually she is dealing with reality - and here is a black who actually says she likes whites! Since blacks commit a disproportionate portion of the crime - and probably even worse where she lives - I can understand her thinking.
Having said that, I have co-workers of all sorts, American Indian, an actual African, American blacks, Brazilian, Indian, Asian, along with garden variety Americans and under these circumstances color truly does not matter - we are separated only by our achievements.
Years ago you’d also find me in the shady part of the lakeshore. During BC (before sunscreen) summers this freckle-faced, red-tinged blonde could turn lobster red at record speed. My husband provided even more ginger genes so neither of our kids tan.
It’s such a shame these dark-complected women bleach themselves. I do pen and ink portrait art, B&W on cold press using a stippling method, and attractive, young Caucasians are the WORST to draw. You get large areas of white where one tiny, misplaced ink dot can really mess up hours of work. The best faces, the most fun to render, are old, wrinkled or have prominent features.
Billy Paul - Am I Black Enough For You [HQ Audio]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaaY3slVuus
That looks photoshopped.
I learned all about this behavior when Ma read me “The Sneeches and Other Stories” by Dr. Seuss.
This is a cultural universal.
Note that rich people in times gone by did not work outdoors. Poor people mostly toiled in the fields and menial labor jobs outdoors. Dark skin is nature’s defense against harmful exposure to sun’s ultra violet rays. Therefore rich people in the same country tend to be lighter complexioned.
It is just amazing how much darker people in southern US are compared to people in northern states, belonging to the same race. In only 200 or so years, nature is already making it’s presence felt.
As are many oddballs among us...
Don’t forget Mr Tan Man George Hamilton.
Whiteout.
“Many Asian and Latin American women carry umbrellas, to keep their skin from tanning.”
Tanning is also the fear that explains why Asians wear long sleeves and won’t wear shorts. They fear they will be mistaken for a farmer, i.e., not an urban swell.
Could be the migration of genetics.
My Danish/Scots mom is pasty white and uber-freckled [when not in her perma-tan mode, courtesy of artificial UV] and my dad is the same weird golden color as I am, owing to a preponderance of Welsh blood.
Neither he nor I “tan”.
We just get a “darker gold”...and I get freckles.
[thanks Mom]
:-\
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