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Tyra Banks Discusses Skin Bleaching!

I don't know what to say, really. It is always sad when people want to change their looks because there's always something else that is the real reason for going to those measures.
 
I agree, this is so sad, what kind of society do we live in.
I love Tyra and its so good to see someone of colour addressing these issues.
Im white and so I guess it hard for me to understand what would drive a woman to bleach her skin. I have very fair skin that freckles and to be honest I hate it, I would like to brown my skin in the sun but I burn easily and I don't want to risk skin cancer. All my friends who are white want to brown their skin. What does that tell you.
Prejudice over skin colour is insane, God has given us the skin we live in and we should stand up and be proud of it, whoever we are, black or white.
This is an example where we should all learn from Michael.
 
mariemarie said:
I don't know what to say, really. It is always sad when people want to change their looks because there's always something else that is the real reason for going to those measures.
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The woman who admitted to bleaching her own three sons really disgusted me though. Just listening to her going on about she wants her boys to look "presentable" made me want to slap that arrogant smirk off her face! Those poor boys, they must feel really traumatized and brainwashed! :(
 
It is also hypocritical when you think that Tyra is wearing a non african american hair style which amounts to the same thing in essence. I don't think i can ever judge these women when I have never walked in their shoes.
 
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andythemisfit said:
The woman who admitted to bleaching her own three sons really disgusted me though. Just listening to her going on about she wants her boys to look "presentable" made me want to slap that arrogant smirk off her face! Those poor boys, they must feel really traumatized and brainwashed! :(
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I know, she should have a real big smack on here face for including her children into her own problems.

It goes for white girls as well. Many of them hate being white, so they either spend timeless hours in the sun or solarium's. Some people are also going around looking like oranges. Not pretty.

Whats sad is that people always want to look like someone else. It's all about "being the prettiest". It's sad.
 
mariemarie said:
I don't know what to say, really. It is always sad when people want to change their looks because there's always something else that is the real reason for going to those measures.
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I do not agree with that. people have been forever changing their looks throughout history. Every race of people have experimented with their looks . hat is the reason why we have the fashion industry. I just think it is hypocritical to target a certain women as if what they are doing is more wrong than what others do to look beautiful.
 
Janey said:
I agree, this is so sad, what kind of society do we live in.
I love Tyra and its so good to see someone of colour addressing these issues.
Im white and so I guess it hard for me to understand what would drive a woman to bleach her skin. I have very fair skin that freckles and to be honest I hate it, I would like to brown my skin in the sun but I burn easily and I don't want to risk skin cancer. All my friends who are white want to brown their skin. What does that tell you.
Prejudice over skin colour is insane, God has given us the skin we live in and we should stand up and be proud of it, whoever we are, black or white.
This is an example where we should all learn from Michael.
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I don't understand your argumet. You just said you and your friends would like darker skin, yet you judge the ones who want lighter skin. Tell me, What is the difference?
 
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Datsymay said:
I do not agree with that. people have been forever changing their looks throughout history. Every race of people have experimented with their looks . hat is the reason why we have the fashion industry. I just think it is hypocritical to target a certain women as if what they are doing is more wrong than what others do to look beautiful.
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I understand your point. But my opinion is that when you want to change the way you look for the wrong reasons, it's not going to make you happier.

I admit I was wrong when I said it goes for all people, but many are going to the extremes because they are not happy about how they look on the inside. I think we have to deal with that first.
 
My roomate told me that this came on while I was in class :(
ok, I'm off to watch it.
 
mariemarie said:
I understand your point. But my opinion is that when you want to change the way you look for the wrong reasons, it's not going to make you happier.

I admit I was wrong when I said it goes for all people, but many are going to the extremes because they are not happy about how they look on the inside. I think we have to deal with that first.
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But who will decide that it is the 'wrong reason'? When we go to the hair dresswers to have our hair done, is it for the wrong reason? When a white lady put curls in her hair instead of wearing her natural hair, is it for the wrong reason?
What I do not understand is why, once again black people are targetted as having something wrong with them for wanting to look different while the same scrutiny is not meted out to white people. There is no programme about low self esteem for the white ladies that are addicted to tanning. Both tanning and bleaching has the same side effects. Why not have a programme about women who want to change their skin colour and include some white women in there, instead of having these black ladies feeling inadequate and guilty for doing what white women have been doing for generations without any guilt.
 
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If white women came on a show and said they wanted to be black it's considered a positive thing. When black women is on a show and say they want to be white it is a negative thing. It is the way our history is.

I am stretching it there, but I hope you see my point.

It is not a breaking news to have ten white women on a show talking about them wanting to have more darker skin, but when black women say they want the opposite it is more of a shocker because we hardly ever hear about it, and we have been learning through the years that we all should embrace our own race and be proud of it.

I have seen many shows on Asian women who are also bleaching their skin. They have been doing it for years.

But you're right, Datsy there's not many shows about white ladies being addicted to tanning. The Tyra Banks show is not showing the majority and they have only choosed to focus on black women. The show should instead be about wanting to change your skin color in general.

It's a difference though, to say "I wish I was darker", or "I wish I was lighter", then to actually doing something about it. We all wish we were someone else or looked a little bit different from time to time.

The wrong reason I think, is when you are doing it for others and not yourself. Making other people more pleased with the way you look.

I really dislike these discussions about color, and I have no idea why I get so caught up with them. I think it is very difficult to discuss. It can easily get too personal.
 
I don't have an issue with women (or men, I guess) who want to lighten their skin for certain reasons. But when they do it to their children who can't even decide for themselves and the reason they give is "to make them more presentable", that is just ridiculous.
 
Superstition said:
I don't have an issue with women (or men, I guess) who want to lighten their skin for certain reasons. But when they do it to their children who can't even decide for themselves and the reason they give is "to make them more presentable", that is just ridiculous.
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Yes, I think it is a dangerous thing for the children to be invbolved with. I would consider that wreckless, whether it is more so that other endangering of children, I will have to think about it.
I think it is society that is at fault and the media too. I would never dear tell these women to accept themselves as they are, cause I will never know what it feels like to be them. I can only tell about me, I see no differnce from the black lady who never shows her natural hair, or Tyra banks who wears a white womans wig on her head. Or the woman who puts chemicals on their head to get a perm, the white man or woman who buys a tanning machine to have a brown complexion or the people who pay much for plastic surgery. No difference at all, except that these women are being streo-typed and made to feel guilty just because they are BLACK.
 
about the woman who bleaches her children, and some saying she should be slapped, she herself has been bleached since she was 5 by her mom, so to her it is normal, and her thinking could be it didn't have any side effects on me, i haven't seen any side effects on my kids, with the exception she believes her and her kids are treated better because they bleach. i dont see why anyone should say she should be slapped.
 
friend said:
. i dont see why anyone should say she should be slapped.
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Good point, friend.

Where is the compassion?

Tyra clearly stated that these women are victims and are caught in a cycle.

Anyway, this program truly caused my heart to ache. I had no idea this was going on out there.
 
I have two concerns one being the fact that this is occurring to children by mislead parents and therefore robbing that child of their own choices (and further more creating confusion for that child). And the other concern is where are the long term effect studies for this procedure?

We already know the risks of what will happen to white people who try to tan themselves (skin cancer... which by the way is no laughing matter).
But what are the potential effects of bleaching ones skin?

I think a lot of people forget that our skin is our bodies largest organ... whatever you apply to your skin get's absorbed into the body on some level.
A classic example is back in 1700s when lead based makeup was all the craze for many different societies. In fact it is well thought that Beethovan died of lead poisoning (which if the case is an awful irony considering he was treated with leadbased poultices...)
 
There's been cases in places like Jamaica of people dying from toxin poisening by trying to bleach their skin. It's an impossibilitiy to do it to any kind of drastic extent as it is and it's dangerous.
 
I haven't researched or read into any of this kind of stuff.

I don't take objection to people tanning or bleaching themselves, on the proviso that they have at least researched and come to an informed decision about their choice or choices. After all most of society doesn't object to piercings (even though some her proven to be dangerous health wise) nor does society in general object to tattoos (which have also had cases link to ink poisioning and unsanitary needle use etc).

I do however take offense to companies who are supposedly meant to be "experts in their product" who sell something they are aware will and could cause potential health problems for their customers (this includes tanning salons or solariums, and skin bleach products). There's just something not quite right with the notion off making a profit of something that will most likely harm the customer long term.
 
We all have issues that we are coping with. we look for the best way to deal with it. Some people cpoe by taking drugs, some drink alchohol, some smoke, some go shopping, some take a holiday, some steal and kill or lie.
we all have issues that got to be dealt with. Every action has a re-action. These women are dealing with the hand that is meted out to them, just like the rest of us. Society is an intolerant place to be. Every imperfection needs to be fixed. Society decides what that imperfection is, and we all like sheep tries to fix it.
These women feel imperfect with a 'Darker skin', because the image of black women thye see in the magazine is of light or honey coloured skin.
The 'fat' women feel the same way about their bodies, so the go book up for the gym. or they go on a diet, even though their body frame is designed for a larger body.
The list goes on.
What I do object to is that these women are being targeted to be made out to have more problems that any other group that seeks to compensate for their iss, it is no different, but these women will go home feeling like iss because they have just been condemned by some pompous females, with lighter skin, some white, who do not have a skin issue, but do have other issues, Tyra's is not wearing her natural hair,cause it isn't glamourous enough. Why single out these women issues as being more serious than any others?
Bleaching creme has been around for decades now. many women swear by it cause it gives them a smoothe skin tone. It really doesn't make them much lighter when they use it, but they feel better about themselves. The man who takes a drink before he gives a speech, feels more confident. The woman who puts on her make up before she sets off for work feels more confident, the woman who wears some bleaching creme feels more confident and the woman or man who sits out in the sun to get a tan, feels more confident.
Once again the black people are being told that they shouldn't do what every other race does, because they are black.
 
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its the same thing with white ppl trying to have a darker skin by getting tans.
these bleaching cremes though are extremely dangerous and should not be legal imo.
white skin. dark skin. they're all beautiful. why try to lighten or darken the color of ur skin. accept urself and love urself for who you are and then you can expect other people to accept you too. but if u dont accept ur own self first how do u expect others to accept you ? on the one hand i blame the society for doing this to people but on the other i blame those individuals too for changing themselves to be "acceptable" in the eyes of society. i guess there are many points of view on this issue.
 
Well the thing with trying to accept themselves could already go to ppl using make up...
My opinion on this is pretty clear, I can accept everything as long as health is not on risk. If it is, then there is a serious problem hidden.

I mean come on ppl are 'correcting' their teeth, they color their hair, they use artificial hair... normal is funny cuz it's defined only by what most ppl are doing... there's no right or wrong. So I say... if it makes you happy!
But happiness should never be build on the cost of health, it's more than only fragile then!
 
its the same thing with white ppl trying to have a darker skin by getting tans.
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not really. ppl dont get tans cause they want to be black its because they dont like looking pasty white because of how unhealthy it makes them look. its makes ppl feel better having colour in their cheeks. and ppl who go on beds before they go on holiday. very few ppl with tans actually look anything more than a white person with a really dark tan,if they are from the med for ex.
 
elusive moonwalker said:
not really. ppl dont get tans cause they want to be black its because they dont like looking pasty white because of how unhealthy it makes them look. its makes ppl feel better having colour in their cheeks. and ppl who go on beds before they go on holiday. very few ppl with tans actually look anything more than a white person with a really dark tan,if they are from the med for ex.
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Actually, those women never said that they wanted to be WHITE. Black people come in a multitude of shades of skin colour. Ranging from Pass as white' to black as night. These women were trying to reach a shade that was 'Pleasing to their eyes. I am Black, but I am several shades lighter than those women. Yet I have 3 sisters that are many shades lighter than me. 2 of them were called mixed race at school. one of my brothers is as dark as some of those ladies. he is the darkest of the siblings.
just because the women seek lighter skin, doesn't mean that they want to be white, any more that Tyra banks or Beyonce wearing blonde wigs want to be white.
The entire programme was quite difficult for me to watch, cause it left a smug on some faces in the audience. i could almost feel the' I am glad I am not as black as they ' tention.
The programme was racist because it only targeted women with very dark skin yet didn't acknowledge that there were women with much lighter skin shade that used the very creme, it was not just used by darker skin people, so why target them, why not bring out a fairer representaion of women who used the creme?
Why not bring out white women who wanted to be darker and are addicted to the tanning machine, I know plenty of them.
The programme was sensational and targeted a group of people that will only feel more vulnerable and guilty for sojmething that is common in society.
 
Mechi said:
Well the thing with trying to accept themselves could already go to ppl using make up...
My opinion on this is pretty clear, I can accept everything as long as health is not on risk. If it is, then there is a serious problem hidden.

I mean come on ppl are 'correcting' their teeth, they color their hair, they use artificial hair... normal is funny cuz it's defined only by what most ppl are doing... there's no right or wrong. So I say... if it makes you happy!
But happiness should never be build on the cost of health, it's more than only fragile then!
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I agree with you
 
Roxanne said:
its the same thing with white ppl trying to have a darker skin by getting tans.
these bleaching cremes though are extremely dangerous and should not be legal imo.
white skin. dark skin. they're all beautiful. why try to lighten or darken the color of ur skin. accept urself and love urself for who you are and then you can expect other people to accept you too. but if u dont accept ur own self first how do u expect others to accept you ? on the one hand i blame the society for doing this to people but on the other i blame those individuals too for changing themselves to be "acceptable" in the eyes of society. i guess there are many points of view on this issue.
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All throught history people have been changing their natural looks. it is human nature, that is why we have the cosmetics industry. People want to be taller, to have perfect teeth, to have long hair or blonde hair or they want to be slim or whatever. high heals were invented to give women more height, yet it damages our feet and give us bunions and other physical problems. We wear clothes on our bodies because they make us feel good and look good. The list goes on, but it is because we are unsatisfied with ourselves that we explore and discover new ways to look and feel better. We build hospitals for the sick to save them from dying, when we could have just left them to die naturally. So you see, we could take things to the extreme and not do anything to ourselves. Not human.
 
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the lines and definitions of what "natural" is are becoming more blurry as we progress. i don't use the word any more, and neither does science because everything we do and that exists in this universe are, by conventional definition, "natural".

in the end, white/brown/black, this is all about dealing with one universal compound (melanin) we all share and have a right to do whatever we want with.

it's a bigger issue than this, like others here have acknowledged the health risks involved (physical and mental) and the racial impact or pressures by society.
 
I agree with this. I would like to add that what Tyra Banks did in that interview will have done a dis service to the black community and to the community at large, because she has singled out a group of dark-skinned women as being so unhapy with their dark skin that they are using creme to make themselves lighter.
As a matter of fact, the creme industry is very robust and many of the regular users are light-skinned black women. They are not necessarily of dark complexion.
To single out the darkest of these women is dishonest.
If Tyra was honest herself she too may want to admit to using the creme. Many black celebs have been known to use it, including Opra Winfrey, witney Huston, many others. It is big business in the music and fashion industy.
Beyonce is also a victim of it I am almost certain. I can usually tell by the ashiness of the tone of the skin.
 
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yes i completely disagree with what the likes of Tyra or Oprah do on such a mass scale - they don't get "real", they are a hollywood product of dramatisation and targeting of certain groups. American media (including films that are adored worldwide) are unbelievably backward in comparison to many of America's great achievements on this planet. it's disturbing, actually.
 
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