Editing Human skin color (section)

=== Skin whitening ===
{{Main|Skin whitening}}

[[File:Skin Bleaching is everywhere.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Skin whitening|Skin lightening]] soaps]]
In South Asia, society regards fair skin as more attractive and associates dark skin with lower class status. This results in a massive market for [[skin-whitening]] creams.<ref>{{cite news |last= Sidner |first= Sara |title= Skin whitener advertisements labeled racist |publisher= CNN |date= 9 September 2009 |url= http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/09/india.skin/index.html |quote= 'We always have a complex towards a white skin, towards foreign skin or foreign hair,' Jawed Habib says. Habib should know. He owns a chain of 140 salons located in India and across the world. 'We Indian people, we Asian people are more darker, so we want to look more fair.' … A marketing study found sales for skin whitening creams have jumped more than 100 percent in rural India and sales for male grooming products are increasing 20 percent annually. |access-date= 2009-09-11 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090912195424/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/09/india.skin/index.html |archive-date= 12 September 2009 }}</ref> Fairer skin-tones also correlate to higher [[Caste system in India|caste-status]] in the Hindu social order—although the system is not based on skin tone.<ref>{{cite news |title= Caste: Racism in all but name? |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-26/special-report/28005708_1_caste-based-discrimination-caste-discrimination-dalit-human-rights |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130522205451/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-26/special-report/28005708_1_caste-based-discrimination-caste-discrimination-dalit-human-rights |url-status= dead |archive-date= 22 May 2013 |location= New Delhi |first= Shobhan |last= Saxena |date= 26 April 2009 |work= [[The Times of India]] |access-date= 2012-09-20}}</ref> Actors and actresses in Indian cinema tend to have light skin tones, and Indian cinematographers have used graphics and intense lighting to achieve more "desirable" skin tones.<ref>{{cite news |title= Has skin whitening in India gone too far? |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18268914 |work= BBC News |location= London |first= Rajini |last= Vaidyanathan |date= 5 June 2012 |access-date= 2012-09-20 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120906041844/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18268914 |archive-date= 6 September 2012 }}</ref> Fair skin tones are advertised as an asset in Indian marketing.<ref>{{cite news |title= In India's Huge Marketplace, Advertisers Find Fair Skin Sells |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601057.html |newspaper= Washington Post |location= Washington DC |first= Rama |last= Lakshmi |date= 27 January 2008 |access-date= 2012-09-20 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131010072059/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/26/AR2008012601057.html |archive-date= 10 October 2013 }}</ref>

In 2013, 77% of Nigerian women, 52% of Senegalese women, and 25% of Malian women were using lightening products.<ref name=":20">{{Cite news |last1=Fihlani |first1=Pumza |date=January 2013 |title=Africa: Where black is not really beautiful |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-20444798}}</ref><ref name=":21">{{Cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=Meagan |last2=Levine |first2=Susan |last3=Abney |first3=Kate |last4=Davids |first4=Lester |year=2016 |title=Fifty shades of African lightness: A bio-psychosocial review of the global phenomenon of skin lightening practices |journal=Journal of Public Health in Africa |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=552 |doi=10.4081/jphia.2016.552 |pmc=5345401 |pmid=28299156}}</ref> In 2020, ''[[Der Spiegel (website)|Der Spiegel]]'' reported that in Ghana, "When You Are Light-Skinned, You Earn More", and that "[s]ome pregnant women take tablets in the hopes that it will lead their child to be born with fair skin. Some apply bleaching lotion [...] to their babies, in the hopes that it will improve their child's chances."<ref name="BackhausOkunmwendia">{{cite web |surname=Backhaus |given=Anne |date=2020-06-16 |title=Skin Bleaching in Ghana: "When You Are Light-Skinned, You Earn More" |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/skin-bleaching-in-ghana-when-you-are-light-skinned-you-earn-more-a-3a46c628-23b2-4d05-9d32-6cb6deeb4a5a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001234949/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/skin-bleaching-in-ghana-when-you-are-light-skinned-you-earn-more-a-3a46c628-23b2-4d05-9d32-6cb6deeb4a5a-amp |archive-date=2020-10-01 |website=[[Spiegel International]] |publisher=[[Der Spiegel (website)|Der Spiegel]] |surname2=Okunmwendia |given2=Ella |department=Global Societies}}</ref>

Skin-whitening products have remained popular over time, often due to historical beliefs and perceptions about fair skin. Sales of skin-whitening products across the world grew from $40 billion to $43 billion in 2008.<ref name="Northwestern University">{{cite news|url= http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=161243 |title= Bleaching Creams: Fade to Beautiful? |publisher= Northwestern University |date= 2010-03-10 |url-status= dead |access-date= 2014-03-23 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110720014201/http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=161243 |archive-date= July 20, 2011 }}</ref> In South and East Asian countries, people have traditionally seen light skin as more attractive, and a preference for lighter skin remains prevalent. In ancient China and Japan, for example, pale skin can be traced back to ancient drawings depicting women and goddesses with fair skin tones.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} In ancient China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, pale skin was seen as a sign of wealth. Thus skin-whitening cosmetic products are popular in East Asia.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/13/asia.whitening/|title= Skin Deep: Dying to be White|publisher= CNN|date= 2002-05-15|access-date= 2014-03-23|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100408132814/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/05/13/asia.whitening/|archive-date= 2010-04-08}}</ref> 

In 2010, four out of ten women surveyed in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea used a skin-whitening cream, and more than 60 companies globally compete for Asia's estimated $18 billion market.<ref>[http://www.pri.org/world/asia/skin-whitening-big-business-asia.html Skin whitening big business in Asia] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100726034953/http://www.pri.org/world/asia/skin-whitening-big-business-asia.html |date=2010-07-26 }}. Pri.Org. Retrieved 2011-02-27.</ref> Changes in regulations in the cosmetic industry led to skin-care companies introducing harm-free skin lighteners. In [[Japan]], the [[geisha]] have a reputation for their white-painted faces, and the appeal of the {{Nihongo|''bihaku''|美白}}, or "beautiful white", ideal leads many Japanese women to avoid any form of tanning.<ref>{{cite news |title= Japanese girls choose whiter shade of pale |url= https://www.theguardian.com/japan/story/0,7369,1185335,00.html |work= Guardian Unlimited |location= London |first= Nicole |last= Mowbray |date= 4 April 2004 |access-date= 2010-05-24}}</ref> 

There are exceptions to this, with Japanese fashion trends such as [[ganguro]] emphasizing tanned skin. Skin whitening is also not uncommon in [[Africa]],<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/718359.stm|title= The Heavy Cost of Light Skin|work= BBC News|date= 2000-04-18|access-date= 2014-03-23|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140323231534/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/718359.stm|archive-date= 2014-03-23}}</ref><ref>[http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/march/skinlightening.htm "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the FAIREST of them all?" Skin lightening] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100910013826/http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/march/skinlightening.htm |date=2010-09-10 }}. Scienceinafrica.co.za. Retrieved 2011-02-27.</ref> and several research projects have suggested a general preference for lighter skin in the African-American community.<ref>[https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-143164170/color-counts-it-is-evident-that-differing-color Color Counts: "... it is evident that differing color holds considerable importance within the black community and is measurably influencing self-esteem, prestige, and marital status." |USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education)] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140330120654/http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-143164170/color-counts-it-is-evident-that-differing-color |date=2014-03-30 }}. Retrieved 2012-09-25.</ref> In contrast, one study on men of the Bikosso tribe in Cameroon found no preference for attractiveness of females based on lighter skin color, bringing into question the universality of earlier studies that had exclusively focused on skin-color preferences among non-African populations.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi= 10.1007/s10508-006-9093-8|pmid= 17136587|title= Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness: Sexual Preferences of Men and Women in Bakossiland, Cameroon|journal= Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume= 36|issue= 3|pages= 369–75|year= 2006|last1= Dixson|first1= Barnaby J.|last2= Dixson|first2= Alan F.|last3= Morgan|first3= Bethan|last4= Anderson|first4= Matthew J.|s2cid= 40115821}}</ref>