“Derrick, I’m going to get a tan this summer; I’m going to get dark. Oh, not so dark you can’t get a job, but dark enough!!!
- Derrick Cameron
I was still in mid-air, 30000 feet above ground, when Prince Williams and his lovely bride had their nuptials a few months ago. I usually shy away from watching any telecast to do with any Royalty; their ceremonies fraught with superfluous protocols and excessive formalities are not my usual cup of tea, but I make exceptions for weddings. Guess it is the little girl in me still hankering for soppy and gooey “Happily Ever After” fairy tale endings.
Anyway after hearing rave reviews of Pippa Middleton’s shapely derriere and complexion that even eclipsed Bin Laden’s death mask, I had no excuse but to catch up with the videos. I have to say I was a tad disappointed over the “bottom”, but then bootylicious is no longer the buzz word I hear. Duh, even Microsoft Word does not recognise it.
First, let me throw in my disclaimers before I continue. I have nothing against Pippa, God bless her, she has a charmingly impish face and so refreshing that it is no wonder that she has stolen the show. But my rant is all about the tanned skin.
There I was expecting a pale English Rose with just the perfect milky white complexion and I get instead a skin that I wake up to every morning. Since my days as a teen (which lately seems centuries ago), I have spent a fortune on all kinds of skin-lightening products and here is someone who probably had done the opposite and had the world wowed with her acquired complexion. What is it with people and their obsession to possess a skin colour that is foreign to them?
During my short stint in Europe a couple of years ago, I had observed some of my European friends, who in their attempts to get ready for their summers, had gone overboard on the tanning beds. They had actually ended up with quite some noticeable damage to their skin. But I guess that did not faze them the least and they still probably continue to line up for their periodic solarium visits once summer hits their towns.
To my dismay, however, melanin has been my best buddy at all times of the year, irrespective of sunshine or rain, summer or winter. Possessing a skin colour that constantly reminds one of some kind of coffee beverage, there are days when I have longed for more “cream in my coffee”. Summer usually finds me in protective layers of clothing or hiding indoors as I freak about turning a few shades darker. It has taken me years to get comfortable in my own skin although I have to confess I still indulge in the occasional buying of the odd fairness cream that is guaranteed to work a miracle.
Raised in a culture where fairer skin and lighter complexion were held in high esteem, I usually find it difficult to comprehend a society where women would long for the reverse. Most cultures around the world seem to express a penchant for fair female skin, whereas the modern Western world has attributed attractiveness and socio-economic status directly to tanning…..and I am definitely not talking about tanning beds and sunless tan sprays here, but the jet setting crowd that can afford the natural tanning fromwarm summer days in some picturesque resort.
It is indeed an irony that tanned skin can get you into elite circles in certain societies and elsewhere be still looked down upon. Well, it is definitely not my intention to raise the topic about melanin induced prejudices in this light-hearted banter, but yet it is something that cannot be completely swept under the carpet when we string “skin” and “colour” in the same sentence.There are still undercurrents of stigma associated with darker skin tones in almost every society and yet we allow the world to get away with such double standards when it comes to skin colour!!!!
However, despite my whinge, I have to say some of us would be more than willing to relinquish the label of “dusky damsels” to our western counterparts. Don’t you agree with me as well??
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