My life started 33 years ago when I was born in Sri Lanka. As you may know, people in Sri Lanka are mostly dark skinned. But I grew up in a more or less ‘white’ world, namely the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands is a melting pot of different cultures and people from all over the world. My friends are a cool mix too! I love that…We look different on the outside but we’re definitely the same on the inside!
Back home I’m often confronted with my origins. Especially when I meet new people. One of the first questions is: “Where do you come from? ” I never know if they mean the place I live or where I was born. The second option follows if I answer the first because of my skin colour. When I’m in Sri Lanka it is the other way around. People want to know what life is like in the Netherlands…
When I was in Sri Lanka I met a Sri Lankan girl and she wanted to know a lot about me and life in the Netherlands, such as work and money. But she couldn’t stop talking about boys. She told me that she really likes white boys because of their skin colour and beautiful blue eyes. Also she finds white people prettier than brown or black people. Although she loved my colour, which is brown but is considered light in Sri Lanka because most people are darker than me. Then she went on and told me she wants her skin to be lighter and confessed that she goes to a beauty salon for some treatment to lighten her skin. She also uses special cream and always takes an umbrella with her when she’s going outside. And she knows people who even take pills to change their skin colour!
I was shocked even though I already knew that people in Sri Lanka (or Asia) want to have a lighter skin. Of course the cosmetics industry offers a wide range of products to meet this wish. There are all kinds of creams and face washes available. I didn’t really notice before till now. When watching tv here in Sri Lanka, these commercials of a brand named Pond’s drop by about their white beauty face wash. They promote a lighter/white skin and even talk about white cells! (Am I missing something?!) The models in a lot of commercials here are also very light skinned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXULNay-QPg
On the contrary…people in the Netherlands (or Western world) love the sun and want more of it (to get a little darker). We can go to a tan salon or book a vacation to some sunny destination. You can even buy self tanning lotion. But the original skin colour will always return eventually. I told the girl about this and emphasized that I’m proud of my skin colour! And it doesn’t matter to me if you’re black, white, brown, yellow or anything. Everyone is beautiful in their own way!
In the meantime I keep wondering where this need or wish comes from. If you know the answer, please let me know!