In the Eye of the Beholder
The season of sun is fully underway. Here in the Pacific Northwest we get so little sun the rest of the year, that when the first few sunny days arrive, you will see many people whose skin is lighter in color laying out, eager to darken their "winter" skin. I am one of the fairest skinned people I know-or grew up with. And as kids do, that was one of the things I got teased about. "You're so white you look dead". In high school I was laying out on the beach between two significantly darker skinned friends-and another classmate walked by and remarked that we looked like an oreo cookie.
Then I went to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Thailand. One of the things I noticed was that sometimes I would see women with white powder on their faces. I asked about it and they said they did it to make their skin lighter-more beautiful. I told them that in the United States fair skinned women were spending their time trying to get their skin to the same lovely shade as my Thai friends' skin. They didn't believe me. Another time I was riding the bus and a woman I didn't know, grabbed my arm and kept saying how beautiful my skin was.
Its funny that I had to travel to the other side of the world to fully accept my color and to realize just how silly this all is. I am not judging anyone for what they do or don't do regarding their bodies. But wouldn't it be nice if we always saw ourselves and each other as really, really, wonderful--just the way we are?
