To be or not to be white..

When I was in Cabo, I had a facial treatment and after it was done, the therapist told me, "See, your face is now white, very nice." I thought, well, maybe it's her lack of English skills that I misunderstood what she meant. But when she tried to sell me some skin whitening lotion, I knew she meant exactly what she said.

In the Philippines, skin whitening products is big business. Women there are brainwashed into thinking that a brown or dark complexion is less attractive. I knew this girl who had no job, no money whose only income is from what she can smooch off from her family -and mind you, her family are nowhere near moneyed, but she buys whitening pills and pops them like her life depended on it. Well, I guess you could say that her life depended on it, because she said that to marry well, she has to look "presentable."

I wanted to tell her that finding a job would be more dignified than finding a man who prefers a light skinned woman. She needs to read this article about what they do to light skinned people in Tanzania,