From Michael Jackson to Nicki Minaj, many world-renowned pop stars have artificially lightened their skin. The amount of 18-29 year olds who use social networking sites in the US alone has grown over 80% in the past five years. Celebrities are by far the most followed on every website ranging from Facebook to Twitter with millions of fans, and their always flawless images are unhealthy for the viewers that look up to them as a role model or inspiration. Unfortunately, most young people would go to extreme lengths to be able to look like their rich and successful idols. One trend that is widespread amongst superstars of all ages is fair skin, no matter what part of the world they're from. Skin bleaching is turning into a trend amongst boys and girls of all different cultures and ethnicities. Instead of sending out the message that everyone is beautiful, social media and the perception of beauty has been proven to be flawed, from children choosing the white doll from the black to teens using chemicals ritually to alter their appearance.

The world is extremely diverse, and we cannot keep sending the message that one skin tone is more superior than the rest.

The Clark Doll Test, conducted by Dr. Kenneth Clark and his wife, Mamie Clark, focused on black children's perception on race and stereotypes by handing them both a dark and pale doll. The experiment found that the kids thought the white dolls to be more beautiful, and would play with them rather than the “ugly” or “bad” black one. It is shocking to find out that you don't even have to be in school to already be racially discriminating, especially when discriminating against your own race. A new study reveals that more than half of girls and one third of boys ranging from ages 11-16 claimed to look up to celebrities that they saw on TV and compared their bodies to them. This epidemic of unhealthy thinking and self-hate isn't recent.

People were seeking to change their natural appearances for thousands of years. Stemming back to ancient Japan and China, light skin was a symbol for beauty and nobility. This trend branched out to the middle east, then down to Africa where the natural complexions are much darker than other ethnicities. The fad continued and grew stronger rather than die out, with every area in the world using a different method made from the resources they had for the fashionable, paler look. Pop culture was filled to the brim with celebrities sporting porcelain white faces, with stars loved all over the world like Michael Jackson having his lightening process publicized and sometimes even glorifyed. But achieving this appearance was not as easy as it looked.

The trend is hitting hard on Caribbean islands that are quickly modernizing. Currently in Jamaica, you can't go out without hearing or seeing the effects of skin bleaching. It's as normal as going tanning for Americans is, and nobody feels it necessary to try and cease the harmful methods used ritually in order to achieve the same skin color, even said to be the “ticket to a better life.” In a recent documentary made by Vice magazine, Jamaican boys and girls were interviewed and all of them either bleach their skin or know somebody who does it. Walking into the black market, you'd find a huge, colorful variety of dangerous chemicals and bleach sitting in bright containers lacking any written ingredients available to anyone, meant to be used on the skin. Many of these contain mercury, a metal that blocks the production of melanin, which is known to be toxic. These white, sludgy creams are then applied to the skin habitually as much as three times a day. Most people wrap something around themselves to ease the irritating burns they experience.

Even with advocates and their health campaigns and famous reggae singers including the dangers of the popular practice in their hit songs, it is hard to convince the public that what they're doing can be lethal. The ministry director of health promotion and protection in Jamaica is creating many education programs to combat against the problem. It's very difficult considering that the predominantly black island of 2.8 million people are exposed to successful and happy fair-skinned people everywhere they go from commercials to newspapers. Famous rappers like Nicki Minaj and Vybz Kartel give boys and girls the idea that if they look like them, they'd be able to have a better life and be more socially accepted.

Almost everyone in the world is a victim of social media, and the truth is that wherever we go, we can't get away from it. Jamaica isn't the only area where it has become normal to self-harm in order to satisfy yourself and others. On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons to enhance their skin colors. This also carries a risk, skin cancer specifically. Even though there is a chance of fatal results, it is considered normal. It would be impossible to ban the media, and especially the bleaching practices. It's sad knowing that people aren't even doing it to look cool, but just want to live a better life and have more opportunities.

We urgently need healthier options provided for people who want to bleach their skin, and we need to get rid of the dangerous, mercury infused products that are sold and traded illegally. More and more people are beginning the process of bleaching their skin daily, and it's reaching younger kids and even has mothers applying it to their babies. The fact that people are dying from this cosmetic procedure is ridiculous and frightening. Only then will prejudice decrease and it will be finally considered beautiful to embrace your natural skin complexion. Save the bleach for clothes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/skin-bleaching-jamaica_n_847373.html
Skin Bleaching A Growing Concern In Jamaica (Huffington Post, April 2011); Interviews on Jamaican women, "Bleaching has gotten far worse and widespread in recent years," she said. "(Bleachers) want to be accepted within their circle of society. They want to be attractive to the opposite sex. They want career opportunities. But we are saying there are side effects and risks. It can disfigure your face."

http://www.experiment-resources.com/stereotypes.html
Stereotypes and the Clark Doll Test. Dr. Kenneth Clark, 2010. The study shows the stereotyping of black people as bad and white as nice and more desirable.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2011/11/28/children-obsessed-body-image-study/
Kids Are Becoming Obsessed With Body Image. (Hollywood Life). 8 out of 10 children between the ages of 11 to 16 were surveyed in the study, and it was discovered that more than half of girls and a third of boys claimed that they compared their bodies with those of celebrities they saw on TV. Also, they admitted that they would undergo plastic surgery to copy their idols.