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You should be ashamed

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND

 

Dear Ponds,

You should be ashamed of yourself. I spotted you in Bali. I recognized the packaging right away. I am disgusted by your actions.

A big multi-national company like you should not be promoting colorism and the “whiter is righter” mentality. As a popular, internationally renknowned beauty vendor, I expected better of you. Oh, I know you may say, “but we are not the only ones in our industry who do this!” and that in my pictures, another brand, Ovale, has a similar product right alongside yours. But that is irrelevant. Would you jump off a cliff just because all the cool kids are doing it? Should you sell these products just because it’s de rigueur and other companies are? I’ve never heard of Ovale, but I’ve heard of you. I have used you before. Your products have been invited into my home and have graced my face. I am (was) fond of you. So I was more than a little surprised to run into you in Lembongan, Indonesia of all places, and in this incarnation. You have disappointed me.

I am tired of this nonsense.

I am tired of seeing Chinese people in Hong Kong walking around with umbrellas on sunny days so they can keep their skin porcelain white.

I am tired of having to double and triple check that I have not picked up a face wash with bleaching agents in it when I go shopping for toiletries in Asia (Dove and Clean and Clear are also culprits).

I am tired of beautiful, darker-skinned people ruining themselves via skin-bleaching creams, lotions, and soaps, in hot pursuit of the better life that they are told they will have if their skin is lighter, if they have a more “presentable appearance”.

Oh, I know you don’t care. I know that you sell whatever is profitable, market what is popular. But the rewards you reap? They come at the expense of people’s self-esteem and physical health.

It’s sick, this whole idea that European features are a fashion and beauty ideal, that one could possibly be “lesser than” for being born with dark skin. I know that you didn’t create this mess, but you are contributing. Not cool.

Luckily, it’s not a problem for me. I am far from the European ideal, but I have enough self-esteem that I am relatively unbothered that my skin colour is as far away from porcelain as the South Pole is from the North.

I just worry for those who don’t.

And so, Ponds, I say it again, and I say it loudly:
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.

Do me a favor and spread this message to your peers (like Ovale). Better yet, stop producing and distributing this foolishness so I can continue to keep my blood pressure at a respectable level.

Sincerely,
Oneika

SHARING IS CARING

241 Comments

  • Ponds and Unilever market skin bleaching agents throughout all of Asia. That's why Dove's "Campaign for Real beauty" is such a joke.

  • skin lightening is big here in delhi too – the products are labeled "fairness cream" or "fairness wash" etc. instead of "whiter" – and i've also noticed women walking with umbrellas (though it's not too bad..but definitely seen some). i walked into a store to get some face wash and the lady politely said "can i show you some fairness cream?" ummm???? i said "no. i love my dark skin. no fairness cream for me."

    It's kinda sad that some feel that they have to be lighter and brighter to be considered beautiful. How sad that they don't realize beauty comes in all shades – and it's different strokes for different folks!

  • Ponds? Really? I can't believe they would stoop to that level to sell such unnecessary and harmful products. Last time I checked, putting any kind of bleaching product on skin was against any medical opinion.

    What I find interesting in North America especially is that white women spend hours in tanning beds and buying tanning creams to look darker, and black women spend tons of money on these bleaching creams. Why can't we all just be happy with what we've got? (says the nearly translucent white girl who is always complaining about being so pale lol)

  • OMG! What the hell is that all about? But, I can totally see it. At work, here in Canada!, I have a few east Indian coworkers who obsess about color and maintaining their "lightness". I just laugh as I have always been puzzled by this crap. Ponds and most beauty manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves indeed.

  • This kind of "beauty treatments and products" were shocking to me when I lived in Seoul. Koreans are so beautiful and I couldn't understand why they wanted to whiten there already unique and beautiful skin. Anyhoo, I can't stand the products but the umbrella, oh that I can understand. It's cool under those brella's' eh eh eh.
    I use them to keep cool and with the help of sunscreen, keep my skin "crack-free". LOL.

    Felicia, http://www.nearandfar.wordpress.com

  • Crystal makes a great point of outing the white obsession with tanning. I don't believe enough psychological examination has been done to understand this multi-billion dollar industry. On the other hand, as an African-American who understands the propaganda of promoting 'white superiority' I can understand the draw these skin bleaching creams have for dark skinned people around the world. Dark skinned beauty is not propagandized— period. In the USA during the turbulant 60's civil rights era, black people fought hard and lost lives against vicious, rampant racism. Out of this struggle came the Black is Beautiful movement-Afro's, Ultra Sheen/Afro Sheen..even whites were walking around with afros during the late 60's and throughout most of the 70's. The lesson here is that dark people (in this case, black people) showed the world an example of their 'natural' beauty-and the world became amazed. I encourage dark skinned people to understand this concept-accept and love your true selves…so that the rest of the world will respect and appreciate it-I just have to say that it all falls on a collective US. Unfortunately, we are our own worst enemies at times, sad to say. This will take a revolution to bankrupt companies like Ponds. Once we slay these companies, then maybe we can bankrupt the Tanning industry as well…

  • As bad as Pond's is for promoting this, all this crap starts at home. It's time to stop generation after generation from promoting the 'white superiority' crap. Till you do that, Pond's will keep making products because people will still be demanding them. Corporations have no conscience.

  • Eek! I always marvel at how people go to tanning beds to try and darken up, but I've never quite wrapped my head around the opposite.

    a lot of people (Asian and whities) in Australia use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun because skin cancer rates are so high here – and THAT I can respect.

  • Sad thing is this color complex issue is a constant thing in the African-Caribbean community where I live. I don't care what mainstream society says my dark skin is beautiful and makes me stand out and I embrace it. I just came across a video/doc a while back called "dark girls" I never felt so much sadness and anger at how this issue is ruining young girls self esteem and worth about their dark skin color.

  • You should send this blog post to Pond's and ask them to respond. Better yet, start a facebook group and promote it on Twitter. Get the word out. That absolutely sickens me that they're doing this in the name of profits. I understand that certain local companies may be doing (that doesn't make it right). But I expect more from a big corporation like Ponds, I expect them to know better, and I expect them to not be so obsessed with profits that they would be lowering their standards this.

  • I saw alot of that in India. I asked about it. The Ponds and Dove products being sold in Asia are made under license over there so I suppose they are given the liberty to market it how they think their market will buy it.

    @ Kay I would get that all the time, every time, and I was lighter than the people trying to get me be bleach my skin, it would piss me off!! I don't get the whole skin bleaching thing. I often wondered if that was why I saw so many young women with vitiligo in India.

    The whole society is obsessed with fairness, read an Indian newspaper you are bound to see a classified ad for a wife that list "fair" as an attribute they want in a woman. I have never seen a dark-skinned Indian woman at the banks or even at the airline counter at the airport.

  • This is such a frustrating thing to encounter and it's even more sad that it's deeper than beauty… women (and some men) feel that there will be less opportunities for them in life if they have a darker shade of skin. Sadly, this is often justified. Cosmetic companies are so, so wrong for perpetuating those ideas and individuals also need to step up to accept themselves as they are and others as they are. It's so absurd.

    I actually wrote a piece about this subject for ecosalon, feel free to check it out: http://ecosalon.com/toxic-products-for-lighter-skin/

  • This is sad! But also interesting.

    Fair skinned people have products like "bronzers" and "self-tanning" creams too. We always want we don't have. It's funny that they sell the stuff the same way, marketing a better life with golden dark skin. 🙂

  • It really is a shame. All in the name of making money. I personally admire beautiful Asians and Indians and people of African descent. They have often got beautiful skin (and age less than we pale Anglo-Saxons). It really is a crazy world.

  • I agree most with what Flaming Star has said. Ponds is a business and as bad as this is to promote, their bottom line is money.

    This is an issue in a lot of countries. Those who are passionate about it need to discuss it (as you are) and reject it as a nonsense thing to subscribe too.

    Also, you can lighten your skin but you can't physically change your features. Sammy Sosa does not in any way look like a white man. Even for those who DO change certain physical features they will never look like a difference race fully. Sad really.

    *wishes there was an edit button for comments!

  • wtf? Flawless White? roflmao.. When I lived in China they would always suggest that I use whitening cream to make myself lighter. I told them I was born this way and I love it..

  • wow, I heard about the bleaching products but it still blows my mind :/

  • Thanks so much for all of your thoughtful comments!

    @Natural Nubian: I've seen Dove whitening products here in Hong Kong! It is a joke indeed.

    @kay: Yes, I hear that it's even worse in India and that the t.v. commercials for these products are ridiculous!

    @Crystal: Bizarre how tanning is so popular amongst the fair skinned, eh? I guess we're trying to meet somewhere in the middle… 🙂

    @kuesooM & thobeka: Thanks!

    @Rhona: Sad, no?!?

    @Patricia: I saw that article a few days ago. Pure foolishness. No wonder darker-skinned people have an inferiority complex! Thanks for dropping by.

    @Felicia: LOL at your "umbrella eh eh eh" comment… I also heard that Korea is the plastic surgery capital of Asia!

    @tanya: Good points all around. I would definitely like to highlight the fact that many White people don't really distinguish between "levels of darkness" of Black/Brown people and it is often people of colour who discriminate amongst themselves… Sad…

    @Flaming: I agree. We need to promote the notion that beauty and intelligence and success come in all different sizes and colours.

    @Deidre: I'm also down with people wanting to protect themselves from UV rays via umbrellas. I just wish that the need to prevent themselves from getting darker wasn't also a priority.

    @Rooney: The self-hatred in the Black community is just so sad. I'm so glad that I love my dark skin. I heard about that documentary and hope to watch it soon.

    @Mamacita: That's a good idea and I will look into it. The problem is that this issue is so widespread and far-reaching that I feel powerless to stop it. They are so many black market bleaching products (especially in India and in many parts of Africa). But you're right, letting big companies like Ponds know that this is not ok is definitely the first step.

    SunSoakerB: I understand that it's a business strategy and they are giving the people what they want but I think it sends out a very negative message.

    @girlunstoppable: Great article and I liked the connection you made to Black women wearing their natural hair and having to excuse themselves for what grows out of their head naturally. I have been told repeatedly (by Black people!) that my dreadlocked hair would prevent me from getting a lot of jobs and preclude me from many job opportunities. Others have assumed that I am trying to make some sort of statement with my hair. Luckily, I haven't had any trouble securing employment because of my hair or dark skin, but I understand that dark skin in certain places can actually mean that you are passed over for some job opportunities. So very sad. What ever happened to judging someone based on the content of their character?

    @StylusFunk: You are absolutely right: we always want what we don't have. I have been stopped many times by people in Asia who tell me that my skin and African features are beautiful- they wish they had my full backside in particular. lol. Thanks for stopping by!

    @Mil: It's sick, no? All that damage in the name of profits! I guess that's why they call it capitalism.

    @Melissa: Agreed! Samy Sosa looks like a damn fool. Do you listen to reggae/dancehall? Have you seen Vybz Kartel lately? He's bleached his skin recently and it's VERY dramatic and scary looking. When asked about his transformation he said he just wanted "a new look".

    @Shulamit: LOL! You tell 'em, Tanisha! "Flawless White"… whatever…

    @Spinster: I haven't, but now I'm thinking that I should maybe do something about it and see if I get a response.

    @liveletlive: Disgusting, huh?

  • I like a strongly worded letter. And this one hits home. I have mixed blood, a splash of European thrown in, and I am by far the whitest Asian person through genetics.

    When I was volunteering in India the orphan girls would fawn over my *white* skin, saying how beautiful it is. Funny, cause usually I looked like shit, so it couldn't have been my beauty. 🙂

    And like Kay, I also saw "fairness" products in Indian stores.

    My take is people in North America are definitely obsessed with the opposite and hit tanning salons like crazy or apply those "tanning" creams. Being white is considered gross or you get teased for being in chemo instead of blushing with health (a tan).

    Because I'm Asian and have heard some of this since childhood, a lot of the reason "whitening" is coveted does not relate to beauty per say, but status.

    The upper echelon in China did not work for one, and any kind of work in the sun is considered lower class and peasant. It's not uncommon to watch period films and the rich ladies are toting an umbrella.

    And you are right, a pale face in those parts of the world also relate to a beauty ideal.

    It's an interesting dichotomy between what the West thinks is healthy skin versus what the Asian standard is.

    But, you are also talking about race identification and Sammy Sosa clearly suffers from shame at being a black man. That, I agree, is sad.

    I use to be a bit like him while growing up in Calgary. I got over it and love my diversity, don't care if I look Asian, not Asian, half-Asian. Whateves. I never tan my skin to obtain a certain "look".

    The best part of your letter is when you call out those who have mental problems or such low self-esteem that they take these products to the extreme.

    And that's generally who these companies count on to keep sales rising. Shameful.

    Such a great post girl, you got me thinking hard about this!

    Jeannie

    http://www.nomadicchick.com/

  • This is a very interesting observation I am currently working on a PR project that deals with the issue of Dove "Campaign for real beauty" and axe which are both under the Unilever global company. They were accused of hypocrisy for exploiting women in Axe commercials. Then to find out that many of their other brands also destroy go against their real beauty campaign is really disturbing. A man left a comment that responds to Dove on Huffington Post about how we need to support more African American beauty products that are made by and for us instead of the products that degrade and insult our beauty. You can read the comment on my blog

    http://elusive7.blogspot.com/

  • Isn't one thing a metter of choice. I mean if I am motivated to make my skin lighter or whiter isn't that my right? Hair color, eye color, breast augmentation, nose jobs, colegen fillers, skin bleaching – all the same to me. My question is why there remains a deep rooted desire to change who we are. Is it the companies and their propaganda? Or is it us, and our need to be someone elses image of perfect? Don't shoot the messanger, I am just asking. But I will tell you this is one of the reasons I am in Barranquilla. Not that Colombia does not have its color issues. It is just that on the coast people seem happy to be who they are and where there ancestors came from.

  • this is the world we live in.
    Oh and India is one country i'm not interesting in going too. Their caste system and colorism issues is too extreme for me to be sane there

  • I agree at 100% with you Oneika.
    These companies take advantage of loss of confidence of some (many) people.
    Which is sadder, is the fact that people failed to be proud of what they are. I know that history (Europa and its white inhabitants mythically perceived as an kind of Eldorado) has a big weight in that. I believed not too long ago that this bleaching "trend" was something from the past (segregation times), but your witness and other I get recently show me that is still on the run.
    I'm not sure a boycott will be effective (but maybe it should be tried), because it seems so much people are attracted by this illusion that white is good. The proof is that, these mercantile companies rely on that, like drug dealers rely on junkie's addiction. Only the growing awareness of people themselves can help them to reject this false idea and become confident to just be themselves and beautiful as they gueninely are.

    I'm attracted by black beauty, but doesn't specially want to turn black myself. I'm what I was born (didn't choose, like all of us) and get no glory nor shame of my white skin. I hope everybody can do the same and be proud of what they are, because diversity (which I like above us) is one of the most beautiful present to mankind.

    So let shout it strongly like you do it in your blog.

    Thanks for your thread.

  • Oneika, I've just come across this post from your most recent list. You have said everything that I feel about this product, but haven't been able to express as I see my own (Filipino) relatives use it. It disgusts me. Full stop. Thanks for this post. I'll pass it along.

  • @Simple Man: Sorry, I'm just seeing this comment! I agree with you completely, well said! Sometimes being proud of ourselves is hard to do, I can understand that. I can also understand that we may admire something else, want to embody some other type of beauty, but we shouldn't destroy ourselves to do it!!

    @grace: So so sad. It's a hard life for the Filipinas that I know in Hong Kong- they are all employed as cleaning ladies and send home large portions of their salaries back to the Philippines. I think that some of the self-hatred runs deep and is really based on economic lines. Thanks for reading and passing it along!

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  • Hi, I am Indonesian and as an Indonesian teenager it is really depressing how I am less accepted to be “beautiful” since I have darker skin color which is my natural color. I was told by my mother to use this product since I was on my first year on Junior high but I ended up on depression, well not that hard though. You know, because I want to be just who I am and people eventually accepted me.

    You will be surprised too seeing tv shows and commercials here in Indonesia, or maybe in south east Asia countries that most of the superstars are brightly white and the ads sell bleaching products for both women and men! This is ridiculous. I’m not using this bleaching product anymore.

    And oh! the reason why the locals keep asking your boyfriend to take pictures with them is hard to explain but I understand it. So, it is because your boyfriend was a “bule” or foreigner, and people here are a bit of “proud” having your bf, and this means that they are able to talk in English (which is cool because this is not their native language), and this means that they have the courage to talk to strangers.

    I know it sounds weird, but it is. Love your posts, I love you!

  • Hi Oneika,
    Thank you so much for this post in particular, it has been a real eye opener for me. Like so many young Africans, I’ve also fallen prey to the Ponds regime *Flawless Radiance*. Your post has helped me to really question my decision to use it and whether I was subconsciously uncomfortable with my dark skin, I had never really thought about it before so thank you for giving me something to think about.

    Lots of love from Lesotho

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