Cosmetics companies have agreed to remove racially offensive language from their skin products - but history, in Kenya and South Africa, shows they’ve done the same before.
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Articles on Skin whitening
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Even as skin-whitening products rebrand, they are still selling racism under the guise of wellness and youth.
The long history of racist beauty standards alone cannot explain the ongoing global use of harmful skin lighteners.
Beauty brand Dove caused controversy with an ad seemingly showing a black woman turning white after using its body lotion. While Dove removed the ad, it played into the racist history of skin whitening.
Skin whitening among women has long been commonplace, but now young Asian men too, are using a plethora of whitening products.
