This is a very serious post. Why are you staring at a picture of make-up wipes? And why is it in black and white? Because our world would simply just be a lot simpler if it wasn’t defined by black and white.
Going to a new country isn’t always fine and dandy (obviously) and living in a new country it’s impossible to avoid culture shock.
In the United States, we buy self-tanner, layout in the sun, and complement one another on our post-vacation glow. In Thailand (and most of Asia) getting tanner/darker is associated with the lower class. Meaning, when you arrive at the Bangkok airport you will be greeted with a giant billboard for “snail white cream.”
Meaning, when you buy sunscreen it has whitening agents in them that are harmful to your skin (I.e. some have mercury and bleach). Colorism is prevalent and no discrimination laws are in place; some companies prefer to hire white/ fairer people.
I denied a job after learning that my hirer wasn’t interested in my fellow TEFL Academy alumna because she was black. At another school, a woman was being very rude to me until I handed her my resume and she nearly jumped out of her seat and said, “oh your name is Rose?! So you must be part white?!”
The reason I am posting this picture of makeup wipes is that colorism is so ingrained into society that I have been finding out the hard way that most women’s skincare products always secretly have whitening agents in them.
I thought I would be safe with Nivea since I’ve used it in the west – and after spending an entire day swimming outside in the sun I noticed the next day that my face looked oddly… whiter, Significantly lighter than the rest of my body. I was beginning to look like the middle-aged massage ladies up the street. They all have glowing bronze skin that they cannot see as beautiful but paint their faces white.
Upon further inspection, I found out that vitamin E listed here, along with Castor Oil on the back to “reduce pigmentation.” This is now the second time I’ve been here that I have accidentally lightened my skin.
As for culture shock, there is something very dehumanizing about wiping away your own ethnicity.