Skin whitening products -- reprehensible or wrongheaded?

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, DogNo1 said:

There have been books written about skin color and its relation to social status in various countries around the world.  What Farangs think about dark- or light-skinned people is of minor significance.  It’s what members of the communities think about each other that matters.  If members of a certain community want to use skin-lightening products, it has nothing to do with me.  It is just another cosmetic, many of which are used to change the color of lips, cheeks, under-eyes, etc.

Very true of course, however these are other aligned points. I've had numerous female (and male) university students who re-apply their whitening cream before class starts, at coffee and lunch and a.noon coffee break and before they leave the building to go home. Invariably cost comes up; with occasional stories about telling their parents BS stories that they need another 30,000Baht (?) for pre-booking graduation slot and must be re-booked again (more fees) within 3 months and pre-booking graduation robes (8,000Baht for one already made robe for 2 hrs. etc) but final fee comes later.

 

Reality is at this specific uni there are lots of students who come from poor families, both mum and dad and big brother working several jobs etc., to pay all the uni fees.  

 

 

[Thongkorn]

This topic has Been done to death , Brown /Dark skin means you worked in the fields = Poor. The whiter you where the more money you had, As for whitening creams they dont work long term Common knowledge,, 

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

1 hour ago, Isaanbiker said:

Which totally explains why foreigners come to Thailand to get a decent suntan. I strongly believe that dark skinned girls are much sexier than their white-skinned counterparts.

 

 I do not want to see all their veins and having an extended form of cellulitis. 

 

No matter what the so-called high- so people believe. In Thailand, it's all about the money, so there wouldn't be a person calling a dark-skinned girl driving a 560 Benz a poor farmer girl, would they?

 

On the other side, which man would like to have a 260 kg wife/gf who's white?

 

   Two darker skinned ones and one white-skinned as an example. 

 

    

 

    

The white woman appears older so you are now adding age as a factor into a claim of skin color preference.  Since the OP is more interesred in thai valuation of skin color a simple experiment to test the relative preference of skin color and age among Thai women towards farangs would be to offer a photo of you in your underwear and two photos of young slim darker thai males and see which the Thai women would vote to jump in the sack with first.  

[marcusarelus]

34 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

This topic has Been done to death , Brown /Dark skin means you worked in the fields = Poor. The whiter you where the more money you had, As for whitening creams they dont work long term Common knowledge,, 

Are you sure?

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Similar products on shelves and advertised on TV across Asia, I always felt it was "discriminatory" 

I wouldn't call it discriminatory but I would call it an unfortunate part of this (and other) cultures.

[Jingthing]

55 minutes ago, Thongkorn said:

This topic has Been done to death , Brown /Dark skin means you worked in the fields = Poor. The whiter you where the more money you had, As for whitening creams they dont work long term Common knowledge,, 

Yeah. OK. I wasn't claiming originality. 

[marcusarelus]

52 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah. OK. I wasn't claiming originality. 

Why not start a thread about under arm whiteners.  Hundreds in every Thai grocery or pharmacy or 7/11.  The significance of underarm whiteness as related to social status has been terribly neglected.  It's right up there with addiction to squid corn chips.  

Edited June 16, 2019 by marcusarelus

[Lacessit]

5 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Falangs like light skinned Thai women better.  Check out the rental prices.  

Nonsense. In terms of Isaan women, it is notable Germans love them, a la Boris Becker. Something wrong with their racial purity indoctrination.

While I have a Thai GF from Chiang Rai ( medium brown ) I must admit the darker Isaan girls are very attractive. Don't tell my GF.

Edited June 16, 2019 by Lacessit

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I call them deformed. 

As we in Oz would say, you'd need to tie a two by four to your backside before taking the plunge.

[marcusarelus]

22 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Nonsense. In terms of Isaan women, it is notable Germans love them, a la Boris Becker. Something wrong with their racial purity indoctrination.

While I have a Thai GF from Chiang Rai ( medium brown ) I must admit the darker Isaan girls are very attractive. Don't tell my GF.

Got me there.  There are no light skinned women in Issan they are all in Chiang Mai as it's a college town and they all go to college.  

[Enoon]

6 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Not what I said.  I said Farangs like light skinned women better.  It is easy to check.  But we can't discuss the specifics of that industry on Thai Visa.  

 

Some Occidentals prefer light skinned women.

 

However Occidentals make up a minority of the customer base in Oriental countries.

 

The greatest demand for light skinned women in Oriental countries comes from Oriental customers, who comprise the bulk of the customer base in the market as a whole.

 

And the percentage within that majority base who prefer light skin is much greater than the percentage within the Occidental customer minority base in Oriental countries.

 

The same is true when dealing with any Oriental country.

 

Oriental men desire light skinned women more than Occidental men do.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by Enoon

[tifino]

the artificially created anemic look is not for me...

 

maybe it is soon time for a Survey?

[marcusarelus]

16 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

Some Occidentals prefer light skinned women.

 

However Occidentals make up a minority of the customer base in Oriental countries.

 

The greatest demand for light skinned women in Oriental countries comes from Oriental customers, who comprise the bulk of the customer base in the market as a whole.

 

And the percentage within that majority base who prefer light skin is much greater than the percentage within the Occidental customer minority base in Oriental countries.

 

The same is true when dealing with any Oriental country.

 

Oriental men desire light skinned women more than Occidental men do.

Sounds like bar guys talking.  Do you have any links to back that up?

[marcusarelus]

3 minutes ago, tifino said:

the artificially created anemic look is not for me...

 

maybe it is soon time for a Survey?

23 billion dollar business.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/863876/global-forecasted-market-value-of-skin-lightening-products/

[chickenslegs]

If (big if) people are sufficiently informed and educated regarding the dangers of skin whitening products, I say: Let them use whatever they wish.

 

From what I observe in Thailand (admittedly, limited to my wife and her family/friends), people have no idea what harm they are doing to themselves. The longer term effects are unknown to them and they really don't care.

 

On a personal note. I think it is ill advised for any woman with naturally dark hair to whiten her face - unless she is prepared to pay for electrolysis, or shave her moustache daily.

[marcusarelus]

9 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

If (big if) people are sufficiently informed and educated regarding the dangers of skin whitening products, I say: Let them use whatever they wish.

 

From what I observe in Thailand (admittedly, limited to my wife and her family/friends), people have no idea what harm they are doing to themselves. The longer term effects are unknown to them and they really don't care.

 

On a personal note. I think it is ill advised for any woman with naturally dark hair to whiten her face - unless she is prepared to pay for electrolysis, or shave her moustache daily.

I whiten my underarms daily.  No bad effect so far 20 years.  

[chickenslegs]

11 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I whiten my underarms daily.  No bad effect so far 20 years.  

I smoked cigarettes for 35 years - also no ill effects.

[ballpoint]

I see skin lightening products as no different in principle, and ultimately less dangerous, than the practice of lying under the sun trying to turn brown.  Neither are things that I would ever do, (not that I would need the lighteners, still being whiter than a white cat in a white room in a white house in a blizzard after over 30 years in the tropics), but I don't really care if others choose to, any more than I do about those who dye their hair or use contacts to change their eye colour.  It's their skin, their life.  

[ballpoint]

Just now, chickenslegs said:

I smoked cigarettes for 35 years - also no ill effects.

I've ridden motorcycles for 47 years, with only positive effects.

[Scott]

Baiting posts and replies reported and removed.  

[fusion58]

16 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Falangs like light skinned Thai women better.  Check out the rental prices.  

 

I've lived here long enough that I believe I've "gone native" with regard to that particular preference.

 

Like many expats, my initial encounters with Thai females took place as a tourist - primarily in those "entertainment" venues which cater to falangs. Hence, my "sample group" was more or less restricted to Isaan girls.

 

Fast forward five years, and I've developed a preference for the lighter-skinned specimens.

 

Not the girl with the fake headlights and the cut-rate plastic surgery who looks like she sleeps in a wheelbarrow full of whitening cream with only a straw to breathe through, mind you, but the Thai-Chinese looking girl. In other words, the same type of girl well-heeled Thai men generally prefer.

 

Can't say with any absolute certainty how or why this happened to me.

 

Perhaps there's some sort of partial acculturation falangs undergo over time without even realizing it?

[Emdog]

The Thai ethnic group moved in from China and took over about 1000 years ago, displacing the darker indigenous people. The new ruling class was lighter skinned.

Those who wish to get ahead adopt styles and preferences of the new ruling class, as so much colonization has shown in history. Nothing unusual here in wishing to appear like lighter skinned Chinese.

At least this is one trend that can't be blamed on Westerners.

[connda]

Simply separating the vain and gullible from their hard earned money.  

[Yinn]

18 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, it's about much more than sexual attractiveness. It's about perceptions of class being linked to skin lightness. Sadly we see this in many parts of the world. 

Farang spend hours sunbath to get skin cancer. Use fake tan creams, look orange like Donald Trump. Pay a lot of money to use sun beds with the cancer lights to get more skin cancer.

 

just so they can look highso. Not look like the poor people who work everyday in the factory and office and can not have money for holiday to tropical paradise is Thailand.

so sad.

 

And get a lot of wrinkle and sun damage spots.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Yinn

[dotpoom]

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

what's wrong with being darker, hmmm?). 

Isn't that a personal choice...?

[NightSky]

Don’t forget smurfs they have blue skin..

 

Write a silly post get a silly response ????????

[rwill]

Lighter skin is desirable for them because dark skin is a sign you are a low class uneducated laborer working out in the sun all day.  

I do not like at all the fake skin tones, fake eye brows, fake noses etc.  For me natural is much more beautiful.

[bluesofa]

16 minutes ago, NightSky said:

Don’t forget smurfs they have blue skin..

Write a silly post get a silly response ????????

And in the same vein, there was that 80s punk band, The Four Skins.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_4-Skins 

[xxeo]

I asked a Thai guy who studied chemistry, also in Germany, and is working in the cosmetics industry: Are these whitening creams risky for the skin? The answer: Yes.

Edited June 17, 2019 by xxeo

[Spike1938]

19 hours ago, CGW said:

Blame the advertisers - $ # 1 

Watch Thai TV, there all white & they never sweat, they all have great AC, that's what they aspire too, they think they should be the same as their soap opera starts.

Believe it is similar in the west with people wanting to be like their heroes like the big ass Kardishians or whatever they are called.

Because my Thai wife watches those Thai soap opera I sometimes am trapped into watching them. What I have noticed is that many of the Thai actresses appear to have white faces. This is accomplished with makeup and lighting If you check out their arms and legs you can see they are brown skinned. Some more than others. For myself, I like the brown skinned ladies.