Identity in social science means the personality, beliefs, and looks that make a particular individual or group. There are many factors affect the identity of a person. These elements include social class, ethnicity, or gender. According to research, self-identity develops from an early stage of childhood, and this shapes up how an individual perceives him or herself in the society (Miville and Ferguson 5). Ethnicity plays a crucial role in how people identify others in the community. For example, a Hispanic person is associated with Latin America while black ethnic groups are considered to originate from Africa. Most people associate Africans with dark skin and afro-textured hair (Miville and Ferguson 7). For the minority ethnic groups in a specific country, it may be difficult to express cultural identity fully due to various limitations. These confines are as a result of the way most dominant groups treat the minority populations. For instance, from the early 15th century, the white majority in Europe invaded most of the countries in search of resources for their factories and labor (Bonds and Inwood 720). This invasion was known as colonization, and the African continent was also affected by this process. A significant number of Africans were sold to other continents as slaves to attend to farms dominated by the white majority. Slavery of the blacks resulted in the notion that the white majority were superior while the Africans were an inferior race (Bonds and Inwood 722). Despite that this concept was false and has been abolished, some people or businesses may tend to portray light skin as the dominant race. Media influence has resulted in some of the dark-skinned people feeling the need to use skin-whitening beauty products to “fit” in society (Scharrer and Ramasubramanian 175). For example, the beauty industry has been accused of using racism on several occasions to market products geared towards lightening dark skins. During marketing, some adverts portray dark-skinned people using the products to attain “fairness” (Motseki and Oyedemi). Whitening creams sold by beauty companies should be considered a form of racism since they emphasize light skin as better than dark or colored skins.
Whitening Products Case Studies
Beauty businesses that have been accused of using racist advertisements to market their products include Unilever and Beiersdorf AG, which are the parent companies of Dove and Nivea respectively. Additionally, some of the none-beauty products organizations have occasionally been criticized for portraying light tones as dominant. For example, Heineken, a beer company, was earlier this year accused of racism after claiming that “sometimes lighter is better” in one of its adverts (Chokshi). While most of the adverts regarded as racist may seem innocent, they are likely to be interpreted differently by various communities. Additionally, some people may be inclined to think that such claims are correct in all aspects, including identity. Thus, it is essential that such businesses take time to assess their adverts and consider all the possible interpretations that could be elicited by a particular claim.
Nivea Case Study
Nivea is a beauty brand owned by a Beiersdorf AG, a German multinational organization. Due to the popularity of the brand in various regions, it has a significant influence on beauty products. Hence, its popularity attracts much attention, from both the consumers and activists. In 2017, the Nivea brand launched a product in West Africa called Natural Fairness moisturizer (Kerr). The new product targeted the black women in this region with the aim of assisting them to achieve a fair skin. Natural Fairness was marketed on social media and TV channels to ensure maximum views and thus better sales. In the advert, black models were shown using the Natural Fairness product and becoming lighter in the process (Kerr). However, the advert was not received well by the viewers, and it was criticized for fueling racist agenda among women.
Nivea was forced to pull down the adverts and apologize for claiming to lighten dark skins to look fair and beautiful. Many of the people launched campaigns against Nivea by asking consumers to stop buying the brand’s products. For example, one of the social media users asked others to “Tag the Nivea branch from your country, so they understand how foolish this is!” (Kerr). Nivea was also accused for releasing an advert that claimed “white is purity” that offended many consumers. Despite that the deodorant was not aimed at lightening dark skins, the marketing slogan depicted the inferiority of dark colors. Thus, being a beauty brand, the advert was referred to as inappropriate and offensive to its dark-skinned consumers (Kerr). Even though the company is still in operation in Africa, it joined Dove as part of the beauty brands portraying white dominance.
Dove Case Study
Dove is a beauty brand owned by Unilever, a British-Dutch consumer goods corporation. Dove has been accused of racist marketing campaign twice this decade, in 2011 and 2017. In 2011, Dove released an advertisement featuring three women models; two white and one black (Astor). The advert aimed at illustrating the benefits of using Dove soap across diversity. In the advert, Dove put signs showing before and after the use of the product. However, the “before” sign was positioned behind the black model while the “after” post was behind the white woman (Astor). The third woman with light skin and dark hair was positioned in the middle of the two posts.
According to Dove, the women represented diversity, and the posts represented the benefits of the beauty product to skins (Astor). To clarify, “before” sign was portrayed with a cracked background, and the “after” post was in a smooth background. While the supposed intention of Dove’s advert was to show that its products were suitable to all races, the placement of the models was seen as inappropriate by many.
On October 2017, Dove was accused a second time of fueling racism through its beauty products campaign. In the advert, Dove showed a series of models, each appearing after the other by removing shirts (Astor). The first woman to appear in the advert was a black model, who transitions to white after removing her shirt. Social media users who saw the adverts were irritated by the fact that the black woman transitioned to white, rather than making the process random (Astor). Additionally, many believed that Dove intentionally placed the women in that order to put across a racist message since it was also involved in a similar scandal before.
Tanning Products
Tanning beauty products are popular among people with light skins and are used to accelerate the production of melanin. This process results in the skin looking darker. Research shows that the significances of tanning lotions include enhanced skin moisture content and better ultraviolet light absorption (Herrmann et al. 100). Despite that these products target the white and the light-skinned people, they have in some cases offended consumers through their adverts. According to the Business Insider Dove advertises its Summer Glow tanning lotion as for “normal to dark skin” (Taylor). According to the critics, the use of words by Dove are racist since they imply that only the light skin is normal (Taylor). Thus, a dark-skinned person may be inclined to think that he or she does not have normal skin.
Why Whitening Creams are Racist
According to the evolution, all humans were dark-skinned when homo sapiens evolved (Boyd and Silk). The dark skin was advantageous in sunny regions of Africa, which was the center of evolution. However, some of the modern humans moved out of Africa and settled in Europe which was cold and had less sunlight compared to the sunny latitudes (Boyd and Silk). Thus, to adapt to the new environment and assist in the better absorption of Vitamin D from the sun, the skins of humans in this group evolved and became pale.
The story of evolution shows that dark and light skins were as a result of the humans trying to adapt to various climates, and not due to superiority. However, many companies have tried to elevate light skin tone over the dark skin. For example, in the early 17th
century, a soap company called N.K Fairbank made an advert featuring white and black male kids (Astor). In the advert, the white child asked the black kid the reason her mother did not wash him with Fairy soap. While this advert was made at the time when slavery was at its peak in North America, it shows how long beauty companies have tried to portray light skin as better.
The misconception resulting from such marketing campaigns may lead to the young audience who view them thinking that they were born in the wrong place. To elaborate further, some of the adults may not misinterpret such adverts. However, children and teenagers, who are also some of the users of social media platforms may not be in a position to think about the main aim of the commercial. Therefore, these minors are likely to grow thinking that the standards of beauty include having light skin. The consequences of such notion are racism to people of color and lack of self-esteem among the victimized group. Thus, most of the misinformed people may result in using these products to look “fair” to the society.
According to research, some of the products used to whiten the skin may contain ingredients that are dangerous to humans (Herrmann et al. 103). These ingredients include hydroquinone and mercury which when used for an extended period causes kidney malfunction, skin damage, and poisoning. Additionally, use of corticosteroid, which is also an ingredient in most of the illegal whitening creams, causes the thinning of the skin and subsequently increases the chances of skin cancer. Therefore, when brands like Dove and Nivea misinform their consumers, they may also endanger the lives of many who will try to whiten their skins.
Conclusion
Skin whitening products have been around for some time due to their demand from the target groups. This demand is as a result of misleading information from beauty businesses around the world. For example, Nivea released a product in West Africa last year called Natural Fairness to assist black women to achieve a “fair” look. Dove, another beauty brand also made an advert in 2011 that depicted “before” and “after” the use of their product. Behind the “before” sign was a black woman while the white model was in front of the “after” post. While multinational corporations own these brands, they have been caught in such controversies at least twice this decade. Regardless of the original intentions of these businesses, the sale of whitening products shows that dark-skinned people are less beautiful compared to the light skins. The racism in these products is mostly portrayed on products that target African women. For example, the use of “normal to dark skin” slogan by Nivea on tanning products would be more appropriate if it was changed to “light or medium to dark skin tones” to show that all the skins are normal. Despite that all people have the freedom to change their skin color, the beauty companies should not market these products in a way that elevates white skin tone over dark skin color.
Works Cited
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Boyd, Robert, and Joan B Silk. How Humans Evolved. 7th ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.
Chokshi, Niraj. "Heineken Pulls ‘Lighter Is Better’ Ad After Outcry Over Racism". Nytimes, 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/business/media/heineken-racist-ad.html Accessed 23 Oct 2018.
Herrmann, Jennifer L. et al. "Tanning Accelerators: Prevalence, Predictors of Use, and Adverse Effects". Journal of The American Academy of Dermatology, vol. 72, no. 1, 2015, pp. 99-104. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2014.10.020.
Kerr, Chloe. "Nivea Faces Backlash for Racist Ad For ‘Lighter Skin’". Nypost, 2017, nypost.com/2017/10/18/nivea-faces-backlash-for-racist-ad-for-lighter-skin/ Accessed 23 Oct 2018.
Miville, Marie L., and Angela D. Ferguson. "Intersections of Race-Ethnicity and Gender on Identity Development and Social Roles". Handbook of Race-Ethnicity and Gender in Psychology, 2014, pp. 3-21. Springer New York, doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-8860-6_1.
Motseki, Mpho, and Toks Oyedemi. "Social Media and The Cultural Ideology of Beauty Among Young Black Women in South Africa". Communitas, vol. 22, no. 1, 2017. African Sun Media, doi:10.18820/24150525/comm.v22.11. Accessed 23 Oct 2018.
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Taylor, Kate. "Dove Is Facing Boycotts for an Ad Many People Say Is Racist — and It's Happened Before". Business Insider, 2017, www.businessinsider.com/doves-racist-ad-2017-10 Accessed 23 Oct 2018.
