Reference: A lighter skin color, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2008

As journalist Nikki Assavathorn has articulated so well, the marketing of skin whitening products to Asians promotes what she calls "skin racism" because their sales depend on developing low self esteem for women with darker skin (A lighter skin color, Bangkok Post, September 25, 2008). The same may be said of the thriving cosmtic surgery business in Asia that promises to make Asian eyes and noses more Aryan looking. However, this nature of the cosmetic business is not restricted to Asia and is possibly more intrusive in the West than it is here. All of their marketing and sales, whether there or here, depend on low self esteem or what Ms Nikki calls self-loathing. Decades ago the "does she or doesn't she" ad campaign caused millions of American women to dye their hair blonde to be more beautiful. More recently the push has been for breast enlargment worldwide and for skin whitening in the Asian market. These people make a living by selling low self esteem to women. I congratulate Ms Nikki for speaking out for women and I wish that all women both in Asia and in the West would heed her call and say no to extreme cosmetics. 

Cha-am Jamal

Thailand