- Jul 19, 2012
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Anecdotally I have never seen a Black person here in the US with bleached skin and noticed.
Cant speak for the Africans / Afro-Caribbean folks but we don't get down like that.
From what I can see in the images, it's not exactly hard to miss - especially in person.
Not so anecdotally, NIH had this to say:
While much of the focus on the ramifications of skin bleaching has centered on Africans and African immigrant communities abroad, this topic has not gained much attention among clinical and translational researchers in the United States (US) beyond investigations of Hg-poisoning-related outbreaks resulting from skin bleaching products [27, 31, 32]. Yet, there is little evidence to suggest that skin bleaching is not practiced by African and Afro-Caribbean populations in the US. For example, in New York City (NYC), elevated urine Hg concentrations among Caribbean-born blacks and Dominicans were linked with skin lightening product use [14]. Nationally, state and local health departments have issued multiple advisories and/or initiated public health campaigns to educate consumers about harmful levels of Hg in skin bleaching products [33–36].
Skin Bleaching Among African and Afro-Caribbean Women in New York City: Primary Findings from a P30 Pilot Study
The application of skin bleaching products to inhibit melanogenesis is a common practice within the African diaspora. Despite the adverse health effects of skin bleaching, rigorous studies investigating skin bleaching behavior among these populations ...www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
It's not a big thing in the US among Black folks so not sure why Vice felt the need to assemble this cast of goofballs to talk about it.
Then again - it probably gets clicks / here we are discussing it so there's that.
Either way:
The Reality of Skin Bleaching and the History Behind It
Read our honest and educational breakdown of skin bleaching's history in our society
www.byrdie.com
Its just as prevalent in the U.S. I think it just doesnt get talked about as much, more taboo and its done with a little more taste. African Americans may know when its time to chill. Other cultures just keep going until they look like sosa.
"Skin bleaching is just as prevalent in America as it is everywhere else. In the United States, we hide under political correctness, so people aren't going to be as open about it. We don't have billboards here because the FDA has some level of enforcement of what can be advertised.
I think other countries are just more open and shameless about it. Lol