With My Luck, It Would Just Stimulate More Freckles September 21, 2006 zuzu Scientists may have developed a melanin stimulator that can give some protection from UV rays.
What I don’t like about this is that it removes any excuses for not following a prevailing beauty standard. If a safe, effective skin bleach were discovered, many black women would rightly decry it as buying into a rascist beauty standard. There can’t be a similar outcry about a tanner like this even though pale skin is just as much a natural, beautiful variation of the human body.
hippychik said: There can’t be a similar outcry about a tanner like this even though pale skin is just as much a natural, beautiful variation of the human body[?] As someone who is one of those paler than pale people, I have to say I the last thing I thought when I saw this report was that it had anything to do with racism or beauty standards. Actually my first thought was “wow, maybe I’d be able to go out in the sun for a normal amount of time without burning to a crisp!” I’m not one to blindly follow fashion trends (which is one reason why I’m so pale – fashion or skin cancer? Which would you choose?), but I live in the tropics and believe me, not being able to go outside without long sleeves, pants and a hat is a real downer (especially since 30 celsius and 90% humidity is normal). This stuff apparently wouldn’t even take the place of sunscreen (I think they said the equivalent of SPF 4 – I usually buy SPF 40, 70 for my face). But, and believe you me, when you’re as pale as I am every little bit counts.
Iosterizo: I am also very pale and I live in the south, which is very hot and sunny. I slather 45 sunscreen on all the time and stay out of the sun as much as possible. A pill or cream that helped protect me from the sun would be a great thing, but I am not willing to accept the unnaturally darkened skin color to get it, especially for only 4 SPF. You would obviously make a different decision, and that’s your right. I’m just worried that the existence of a safe way to tan will cause some people to invalidate the choice not to use it.The same argument can apply to almost any kind of new, improved, safer beauty product. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist, but it does mean that we must reevaluate beauty standards and if we choose to conform to them.
What I don’t like about this is that it removes any excuses for not following a prevailing beauty standard.What I don’t like about this is that it removes any excuses for not following a prevailing beauty standard. Why do you need any excuse other than that you don’t want to follow such-and-such a beauty standard? There’s always a perfect excuse in the form of one’s own desires. If I want a tan, skin-cancer issues and the expense of tanning places do a fairly good job of preventing me from getting one; a product such as this would enable me to obtain a look that I want (and fuck however it happens to fit into others’ beauty standards; it’s mine and makes me happy, I don’t care if the bad guys agree). Meanwhile, if I don’t want to be paler, a perfectly safe, effective skin cream has no effect at all, because that’s not a look I want (and once again, fuck however it happens to fit into others’ beauty standards).
I could see myself tempted to use that as I have always, absolutely always since a child hated my pale, glowing white skin, much less the horrendous pain I have suffered most all my childhood during the summer because I was never provided sunscreen by those imparted with that duty. I would be quite amused if the pill could be overdosed and cause very deep, darkening of the skin. Oh, I snicker with joy thinking of an upper middle white woman waking up, looking in the mirror, or better yet, turning to her husband who shrieks to find a black woman has replaced his beloved. “Sheila Jones, of 123 Whiteneck Way sues pharmacy company, complaining of the pain endured having to live with dark brown skin for two weeks.”