Michaels vitiligo

[MJImpeccable]

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately, I still see a lot of ignorant people on twitter or other social media mocking Michael Jackson about 'wanting to be white', 'bleaching his skin' or that 'he hated his race'. It really annoys me and I think Michael should be respected for having to deal with this skin disorder.

The first time he spoke about it was in 1993, which was late because the press and the public already speculated about his appearance for years. The reason for not talking about it for so long, while seeing him change, is not really clear to me, however he might have used it to his advantage and gain more interest from the press and the public, possibly not always for the better. Though, Michael said in the Oprah interview something along the lines of 'why does it even matter' and he is completely right about that.

Michael has talked about his vitiligo a few times and battling the skin disorder must have been tough. Especially combined with his negative-self image, which partly resulted from his childhood, and being in the spotlights as the most famous person in the world.
Logically, according to multiple sources close to him, he tried everything to hide it, using heavy stage make-up and medication to even out his skin tone.

There are some pictures where you can see his vitiligo. But there are also pictures circulating that are edited and photoshopped by fans who are trying to prove it to people online, but I don't that's the right way to do it.

I think his vitiligo is a very interesting, unique but difficult part of his life and it makes him a role model for other people dealing with the same skin condition.

Therefore I was wondering if there are more rare and legit pictures in which you can see his vitiligo and the origin of the pictures?

Please also share your thoughts if you have any

 

[zinniabooklover]

I had forgotten that 25th June is World Vitiligo Day.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1672981479884726273

 

[zinniabooklover]

Understanding World Vitiligo Day - Theme, History, and Importance

Celebrate World Vitiligo Day by understanding its theme of acceptance, awareness & significance. Discover why embracing diversity in skin is key to fostering inclusivity worldwide.

www.pacehospital.com

'The first World Vitiligo Day was organised in 2011 by the non-profit organisations VR Foundation (USA) and VITSAF (Nigeria) and their supporters around the world with a resolution to create awareness about this unrecognised disease and its impact on the vitiligo-affected people.

Its primary focus was to highlight the challenges and create awareness. The day - 25th June, was chosen by Yan Valle, CEO of "The Vitiligo Research Foundation", to commemorate the death of Michael Jackson with an idea to have a day dedicated to vitiligo awareness.

This year 2023, the theme for World Vitiligo Day 2023 is "Vitiligo: Looking into the Future" In the last decade, campaign headquarters have been hosted by different countries with different ideas, and this year the campaign headquarters will be hosted by Kazakhstan under the guidance of Dr. Aliya Kassymkhanova.'

 

[staywild23]

Thank you for starting this thread. It's a really important topic and so frustrating!

Unfortunately, I still see a lot of ignorant people on twitter or other social media mocking Michael Jackson about 'wanting to be white', 'bleaching his skin' or that 'he hated his race'. It really annoys me and I think Michael should be respected for having to deal with this skin disorder.

People 100% underestimate how strong of a person Michael really was. We often refer to the allegations, for example, as proof of his strength. But it's pretty rare I hear anyone giving Michael the credit he deserves when it comes to the daily toll of being in the spotlight and having a skin disorder that massively affected his appearance. Not only that, but it massively affected how people treated him as a Black man. The psychological toll of fame + insecurity is already harrowing enough, but you add a skin disorder, and racial accusations? I can't even fathom this. Wow.

At this point, I would say the biggest issue is willful ignorance. The fact that in 2023 people still repeat these falsehoods is tragic, especially if they consider themselves fans in any capacity. I say this because unfortunately I see this a lot in fan spaces, especially on Facebook. How do you consider yourself a fan and not know this? I don't know. However I'll admit, I don't really blame the general public too much. This might strike you as a bit odd, but hear me out...

In 2015 I discovered I have vitiligo. Now, I'm very fair-skinned so for me it is only apparent when I spend a lot of time in the sun and my unaffected skin "tans" while the rest does not. When this happens, it becomes VERY apparent all over my hands, elbows, knees, backs of my legs, ankles, feet, and even a few spots on my face. I would have people ask me what was wrong with my skin pretty frequently, but I really didn't know. I just called it my "patches" because that's what it felt like to me. Just weird, misshapen, patches forming on my body quite literally over night. I still remember where I was and what I was doing when I first noticed it. Anyway, once I discovered it was vitiligo I at least had a name for it, but it made me feel awful about myself for a couple of summers. I don't know how to explain it, but it made me feel dirty. It made me feel just really...freakish. Even though my skin tone differences weren't that extreme (which means they weren't noticeable upon immediate glance most of the time, I think the total lack of control over it happening was painful and scary.

Fast forward to 2022. I am suddenly, overnight, *obsessed* with Michael Jackson. I never really thought about his skin tone changing because I was just used to that being Michael. But at some point I read something (perhaps it was actually watching the Oprah interview? idk) and Michael said he has a skin disorder. But you know what? I didn't even think of vitiligo. I have this condition and I didn't think of it. Why? Because I grew up with the narrative that he had bleached his skin in some way. I mean it was pushed on the public so strongly that I had internally just accepted this as truth so many years earlier that I didn't even question it. Once I read that he had vitiligo, it hit me over the head and I couldn't believe anyone questioned it. But before I became a fan of MJ, if someone randomly asked me what I thought happened to Michael's skin, vitiligo wouldn't have even been on my radar. How sad is that??

The first time he spoke about it was in 1993, which was late because the press and the public already speculated about his appearance for years. The reason for not talking about it for so long, while seeing him change, is not really clear to me, however he might have used it to his advantage and gain more interest from the press and the public, possibly not always for the better. Though, Michael said in the Oprah interview something along the lines of 'why does it even matter' and he is completely right about that.

I'm a college writing prof and last year one of my students wrote a really interesting paper on Michael's vitiligo. Her argument was that Michael, and other Black male celebrities who have had health issues that they have not spoken out about, are examples of toxic masculinity in the Black community among men who are taught to never show weakness. She theorized that the vulnerability it would take to share this condition that likely made him feel insecure and ashamed, is probably the primary reason behind him not sharing. Does not sharing make PR sense? Not even a little. But does it make human sense? yes. I think so.

Michael has talked about his vitiligo a few times and battling the skin disorder must have been tough. Especially combined with his negative-self image, which partly resulted from his childhood, and being in the spotlights as the most famous person in the world.
Logically, according to multiple sources close to him, he tried everything to hide it, using heavy stage make-up and medication to even out his skin tone.

Right! like, you can't even imagine the particular suffering that went into something like this. I have always found it interesting that Michael did the YANA video where he reveals a lot of his body, presumably wearing makeup all over. While I strongly believe he didn't owe anyone a real explanation for this, I do wonder if him having this perfectly even body tone in this videos made people question the vitiligo even more? Because really, prior to that, when does the public even really see his body that revealed? It's always been notable to me that Michael wears long sleeves for most of his performances. Also, I've heard many people say he wore a lot of layers because he was always cold. THough i don't doubt that he was always cold, I do wonder if he wore those layers for another reason, such as hiding his complexion?

There are some pictures where you can see his vitiligo. But there are also pictures circulating that are edited and photoshopped by fans who are trying to prove it to people online, but I don't that's the right way to do it.

Totally agree. Edited photos are not a good look.

You might check out the "poultry press" photo of Michael! Brad Sundberg discusses it at his seminar. While there aren't necessarily clear lines of discoloration, his face does look slightly two-toned. I saw Brad speak about it once, online, and he pulled out a polaroid photo and Michael looked exactly the same in it, so I know it wasn't edited. Perhaps not what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Right! like, you can't even imagine the particular suffering that went into something like this. I have always found it interesting that Michael did the YANA video where he reveals a lot of his body, presumably wearing makeup all over. While I strongly believe he didn't owe anyone a real explanation for this, I do wonder if him having this perfectly even body tone in this videos made people question the vitiligo even more? Because really, prior to that, when does the public even really see his body that revealed? It's always been notable to me that Michael wears long sleeves for most of his performances. Also, I've heard many people say he wore a lot of layers because he was always cold. THough i don't doubt that he was always cold, I do wonder if he wore those layers for another reason, such as hiding his complexion?

Jumping in quickly. I'm sure wearing long sleeves is bc of the vitiligo but the extra layers of clothes? I think that's more than likely the lupus. I don't know a great deal about lupus but I do know that it's one of the auto-immune diseases that causes a significantly lower core body temperature. Crohn's disease is another one that does this. I think lupus can do one of two things - lower the core body temperature and / or cause a form of Raynaud's disease where the person feels very cold in their fingers and toes.

Also, at the risk of derailing the discussion, I just want to say that I don't think Michael gets nearly enough credit for dealing with the lupus. I agree that the vitiligo must have been beyond dreadful to deal with for all sorts of reasons, not least bc it's so visible. It can't be controlled (well, not easily) and it can't be hidden. It can be disguised - sort of - but the fact of its existence and / or how much it is spreading can't actually be hidden. But the lupus causes so many other physical problems. We know about the lung inflammation but it goes beyond that.

I don't know much about Selena Gomez - her music is fine but it doesn't really interest me - but I know she has lupus. Afaik, the kidney transplant she had is linked to the lupus (I haven't checked this). She has also spoken about the extra weight she sometimes carries and that is caused by the medication she has to take for the lupus. People have speculated about Michael during HWT - he wasn't as skinny as he sometimes was at other times in his life. Perhaps he also had a reaction to the lupus medication. I'm not medically trained, I'm just speculating.

Anyway, apologies for the derail. Vitiligo is a big enough subject on its own and I agree, it is misunderstood, overlooked and just not taken seriously. Not properly, imo. All of which is bad enough but then it gets used as a stick with which to beat Michael so that's even harder.

People 100% underestimate how strong of a person Michael really was. We often refer to the allegations, for example, as proof of his strength. But it's pretty rare I hear anyone giving Michael the credit he deserves when it comes to the daily toll of being in the spotlight and having a skin disorder that massively affected his appearance. Not only that, but it massively affected how people treated him as a Black man. The psychological toll of fame + insecurity is already harrowing enough, but you add a skin disorder, and racial accusations? I can't even fathom this. Wow.

I'm so pleased you said this bc I don't think this gets acknowledged nearly as much as it should, imo. I would say Michael's strength in dealing with the vitiligo - and the lupus - is underestimated to a degree that I just don't understand.

I'm a college writing prof and last year one of my students wrote a really interesting paper on Michael's vitiligo. Her argument was that Michael, and other Black male celebrities who have had health issues that they have not spoken out about, are examples of toxic masculinity in the Black community among men who are taught to never show weakness. She theorized that the vulnerability it would take to share this condition that likely made him feel insecure and ashamed, is probably the primary reason behind him not sharing. Does not sharing make PR sense? Not even a little. But does it make human sense? yes. I think so.

Don't know if this would be the primary reason for Michael keeping his medical history private but it absolutely is a major factor, imo. Doesn't get nearly enough consideration.

Finally, I feel very conflicted about this whole thing. Otoh, it's an important subject and Michael deserves much more credit for how he dealt with various health issues in his life. Otoh, I don't feel completely comfortable discussing his private health issues. Is that why the conversation around this part of Michael's life is so limited? I just don't know.

 

[MJImpeccable]

In 2015 I discovered I have vitiligo. Now, I'm very fair-skinned so for me it is only apparent when I spend a lot of time in the sun and my unaffected skin "tans" while the rest does not. When this happens, it becomes VERY apparent all over my hands, elbows, knees, backs of my legs, ankles, feet, and even a few spots on my face. I would have people ask me what was wrong with my skin pretty frequently, but I really didn't know. I just called it my "patches" because that's what it felt like to me. Just weird, misshapen, patches forming on my body quite literally over night. I still remember where I was and what I was doing when I first noticed it. Anyway, once I discovered it was vitiligo I at least had a name for it, but it made me feel awful about myself for a couple of summers. I don't know how to explain it, but it made me feel dirty. It made me feel just really...freakish. Even though my skin tone differences weren't that extreme (which means they weren't noticeable upon immediate glance most of the time, I think the total lack of control over it happening was painful and scary.

First of all, thank you for sharing your own experience with vitiligo, I was very interested in your story so thank you for that! Is Michael a big part in the vitiligo community?

Also I think you make some very well thought observations/statements:

I never really thought about his skin tone changing because I was just used to that being Michael. But at some point I read something (perhaps it was actually watching the Oprah interview? idk) and Michael said he has a skin disorder. But you know what? I didn't even think of vitiligo. I have this condition and I didn't think of it. Why? Because I grew up with the narrative that he had bleached his skin in some way. I mean it was pushed on the public so strongly that I had internally just accepted this as truth so many years earlier that I didn't even question it. Once I read that he had vitiligo, it hit me over the head and I couldn't believe anyone questioned it. But before I became a fan of MJ, if someone randomly asked me what I thought happened to Michael's skin, vitiligo wouldn't have even been on my radar. How sad is that??

I'm a college writing prof and last year one of my students wrote a really interesting paper on Michael's vitiligo. Her argument was that Michael, and other Black male celebrities who have had health issues that they have not spoken out about, are examples of toxic masculinity in the Black community among men who are taught to never show weakness. She theorized that the vulnerability it would take to share this condition that likely made him feel insecure and ashamed, is probably the primary reason behind him not sharing. Does not sharing make PR sense? Not even a little. But does it make human sense? yes. I think so.

Right! like, you can't even imagine the particular suffering that went into something like this. I have always found it interesting that Michael did the YANA video where he reveals a lot of his body, presumably wearing makeup all over. While I strongly believe he didn't owe anyone a real explanation for this, I do wonder if him having this perfectly even body tone in this videos made people question the vitiligo even more? Because really, prior to that, when does the public even really see his body that revealed? It's always been notable to me that Michael wears long sleeves for most of his performances. Also, I've heard many people say he wore a lot of layers because he was always cold. THough i don't doubt that he was always cold, I do wonder if he wore those layers for another reason, such as hiding his complexion?

I feel like people in general are very easy in making assumptions/own opinions without doing research first to base their opinion on, which creates a lot of fights on the internet, misunderstandings and false information. (possible people are not taught enough or people not smart enough but thats another topic). This indeed does lead to people (still) believing all the tabloid/media stories. I still see, even to this day, news pages on social media recycle all this crappy stories from years ago, just the gain clicks and money. But unfortunately thats which people want to read and find interesting. So that combined, I really agree with you that you cant fully blame the general public. Though, I wish that people in the future would be more willing to investigate and find the truth themselves.

We definitely see clear signs, wearing long sleeves even in the summer, make-up on some sold items, statements people close to him, the umbrella, etc and on top his autopsy report of course.

Though the question to ''why he took so long to tell the public and explain the changing skin color'', while people were theorizing why his skin color was changing (some with clear negative opinions), is still a mistery to me. He could have done it way sooner to combat the negative image that was starting. Here, the theory of one of your students is an interesting perspective (do you have a link to the paper). Regarding the PR sense, there have been some statements of people he worked with, claiming michael wanted to create mystique around him (he also admired a lot of magicians and illusionists etc.). The postponed explanation and mystique regarding his changing skin color could have been a way to use his vitiligo to an advantage in that sense.

I also definitely agree 'he didn't owe anyone a real explanation for this' and he choose his way to express it. however I always feel sad that his public image might have been better with more sympathy from the public if he for example showed his arm or releasing a statement. Because due to a lot of controversy in his life fed by the tabloids, there are still people to this day claiming he is a 'freak'. Whatever the reason, so I just hope it thinks it way the right decision for him.

Totally agree. Edited photos are not a good look.

You might check out the "poultry press" photo of Michael! Brad Sundberg discusses it at his seminar. While there aren't necessarily clear lines of discoloration, his face does look slightly two-toned. I saw Brad speak about it once, online, and he pulled out a polaroid photo and Michael looked exactly the same in it, so I know it wasn't edited. Perhaps not what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention it.

Indeed, it seems that Brad is showing the original photo. I found a link to the video, I will share it so other people can also see it if they are interested!

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7078118275598552363

Anyway, thank you for sharing your insights, I really appreciate it!

 

[MJImpeccable]

...
Anyway, apologies for the derail. Vitiligo is a big enough subject on its own and I agree, it is misunderstood, overlooked and just not taken seriously. Not properly, imo. All of which is bad enough but then it gets used as a stick with which to beat Michael so that's even harder.


Finally, I feel very conflicted about this whole thing. Otoh, it's an important subject and Michael deserves much more credit for how he dealt with various health issues in his life. Otoh, I don't feel completely comfortable discussing his private health issues. Is that why the conversation around this part of Michael's life is so limited? I just don't know.

Probably like a lot of other fans, I havent really looked into the possible effects of Lupus and how it could have affected Michael. Thanks for the idea of looking more into lupus cause it definitely adds value to the topic! I am going to research Lupus soon so I cant say much about your ideas now.

I also agree with your conflicted feeling around his private heath issues. But apart from it being a big part of his interesting life, one of my goals is to try and understand Michael, cause I think we can learn a lot from him. And also important, I want to somewhat combat the negative image and misinformation about him in the general public. But in order to do that, you have to study and research him before making claims so thats kinda what im trying to do.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Probably like a lot of other fans, I havent really looked into the possible effects of Lupus and how it could have affected Michael. Thanks for the idea of looking more into lupus cause it definitely adds value to the topic! I am going to research Lupus soon so I cant say much about your ideas now.

I don't know much about lupus myself, tbh. The little bit I do know, that's just bc I have a general interest in health issues, medical stuff, etc. But I have no specialist knowledge. Clearly, it's possible to have lupus and also a really successful pop career. We can see that with Michael and with Selena Gomez. But it causes a range of symptoms - for example, joint inflammation, hair loss, inflammation of the scalp. The medication can cause weight gain in the form of water retention, IIRC. I can never remember which type of lupus Michael had, there are 2 or 3 different types, IIRC. They don't all create the exact same problems. But none of them is easy to manage and yet Michael kept that global career going for decades.

I also agree with your conflicted feeling around his private heath issues. But apart from it being a big part of his interesting life, one of my goals is to try and understand Michael, cause I think we can learn a lot from him. And also important, I want to somewhat combat the negative image and misinformation about him in the general public. But in order to do that, you have to study and research him before making claims so thats kinda what im trying to do.

This all makes sense. Just to be clear, I'm not being judgemental when I say I feel conflicted about discussions around Michael's health issues. I think the man deserves his privacy and to not have every little corner of his life scrutinised. Otoh, he was subjected to lots of media manipulation, misinformation and misrepresentation. And that's just wrong. There are still so many weird, unhelpful ideas about Michael floating around out there. Even now, many people still do not accept the findings of the autopsy that he really did have vitiligo.

As for him not talking about the vitiligo in order to create more mystique around himself, I suppose we'll never really know the answer to that.