But Not Too Black: Difference between revisions

[[File:loreal_640.jpg|link=Beyonce|frame|<small>[[Department of Redundancy Department|Yes, L'Oréal lightened the]] [[Unfortunate Implications|light-skinned Beyoncé]].</small> ]]

 

 

After a long struggle in gaining visibility and acceptance in the entertainment world, ethnically-African actors and actresses have many more opportunities in Hollywood and on television than they ever had had before. Some have become huge stars in their own right. Unfortunately, as these new opportunities grew, a new dark side of 'racial' bias emerged.

 

== Advertising ==

* Parodied [http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=stock_photos here]

* Another example would be the Oil of Olay commercial featuring Denise Vasi whom would also fit this mold. Ironically she was depicted a lot lighter then what she is. When in fact Vasi is Basically more of a medium brown.

* The skin-lightening cream "Fair and Lovely" is sold in India and the Middle East. The commercials often feature pretty women who feel insecure because of their dark skin, and sometimes feel it's holding them back for some reason or another. But here's what makes them fall directly into this trope: ''the women already have very light skin to begin with.'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIUQ5hbRHXk This is one of the ads], and there are plenty of others. [[Irony|Unilever, also makes Dove soaps and shampoos, which has been having one of those "Feel beautiful in your own body!" campaigns in the US.]] This is more [[Values Dissonance]] as in India, lightening your skin is considered the same as getting a tan is in the West, though even among Indians.

** The same kinds of creams appeared in African-American periodicals right up until the late 70s. While the language became more subtle throughout the years (referring to skin as "glowing" rather than "light"), the before and after pictures always gave away the underlying message: you're not pretty if you're dark.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Somewhat strange case, considering anime is not exactly known for its racial diversity and wide assortment of skin colors to begin with, but in the manga version of ''[[GetBackers]]'', Kudou Himiko was originally shown to have slightly darker skin than the rest of the cast. As the series progressed and gained a serious [[Art Evolution]], her skin got darker and darker until, by the time the manga ended, she was closer in skin tone to black characters than the rest of the white cast. (Her race or ethnic background is never addressed, and her brother was drawn with a similar skin color.) The anime kept her at "slightly darker than the main cast", looking more like she just had a tan than she was of a different ethnicity than the main cast.

* A case of this appears in the adaptation of ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' from manga to anime. In the manga, Egypt, being of course an Arabic nation, has sandy-coloured skin. However, when he appears in the anime, he has the the same white/caucasian skin as the European nations.