Monday, April 11, 2011
skin bleaching in Jamaica tied to career opportunities
I found this article very interesting, people in Jamaica and other areas using lightening creams to make themselves more attractive to advance in career opportunities, opposite sex, and be accepted into the circle of society. Some go as far to use mercury in their lotion allowing the metal in the mercury to block melanin. This article stated some use dangerous creams on their babies! I thought this tied into our class regarding racial profiling and color prejudice - all to do with identity and race.
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This article reminds me of a time in our own country’s history when people were stereotyped by their clothing, skin tone, and physical stature. I am referring to the stereotyping of the American laborer/farmer by the wealthy/educated class during our country’s Victorian era. During this period, a person’s looks would telegraph their social status. A Farmer’s complexion tended to look tanned and weathered while a wealthy individual deliberately stayed out of the sun. It was taboo for a wealthy individual to have a tan in those days. Where do you think the term Redneck came from? A farmer or laborer could also be distinguished by the size of their hands or their walk. Laborers tended to have big gnarly hands while the educated have dainty, soft looking hands. The farmer or laborer was sometimes bowlegged and less graceful on their feet in comparison to the rich/educated individual. And the difference in clothing and cleanliness between the classes was drastic. Poor people were some times clean, but their clothing usually announced their lack on money.
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination and profiling have had a long history and have no boundaries. It is unfortunate that this type of class structure still exists as it does in Jamaica, but will this be more common in the future? I ask myself what would drive someone to use toxic ointments to be something they are not, but I am unable to fathom their desperate struggle. I can only reason that the mortality rate for living in a Jamaican ghetto is high and one would rather risk death to leave rather than waiting to die in squalor.