Accidental Blogger

Widely used in several blemish/skin lightening creams in the US, the FDA has proposed to ban over-the-counter sales  (Thanks to Ruchira for the link and blog post idea!) of products containing hydroquinone, a drug that could be carcinogenic based on the results of tests in animals. The FDA says that the limited carcinogenicity of this ingredient in animal studies could imply that it could be carcinogenic in humans as well, and has invited comments on the proposal at this link.

What does this mean for the average consumer in US? There is bound to be an outcry from dermatologists who have been recommending or prescribing creams containing hydroquinone, since it was considered to be a GRASE (Generally Regarded As Safe and Effective) product by the FDA. Hydroquinone is not only in skin lightening/bleaching treatments but in a variety of hair coloring/bleaching/highlighting products and facial moisturizing products. Aside from the legions of women (men too??) who use creams and lotions to regain the lost glow of youth or just the right shade of frosting and highlights, will there be enough adverse comments to deter the FDA from going ahead with the proposed changes?

Globally, it’s a different story regarding the quest for fair skin , especially in the
Indian subcontinent . It’s a sad reflection (and a billion dollar business) on the
deeply ingrained cultural perception that fair skin is more desirable than dark.  African cultures are not immune either to the lure of lighter skin and there are several indications that the fairness craze has taken its share of victims there. The same cultural bias holds for the Far East and South East Asia, as is evident in the horror story of an unfortunate Thai waitress.

In my  earlier blog entry , I used a linguistic equivalent of denigrating ‘dark’ as in some way less desirable than light, without thinking of cultural implications, just using a cliched phrase. ‘Tamasoma jyotirgamaya’ – ‘From darkness to light..’, says the ancient Upanishadic hymn. Hmmmm, now here’s an interesting conjecture. By extolling the virtue of light over darkness, does it betray an inborn bias that is rooted in Indians since time immemorial. Why didn’t the opposite paradigm take hold- that of the growing embryo leaving the sweet, dark security of the womb for a world of light, chaos and physical separation from the mother. Would we have a hymn extolling the desirability of moving from the blinding light of ignorance to the dark depths of knowledge? Perhaps, we would have a darkness craze then, with companies scrambling to satisfy a culturally fuelled demand for skin darkening creams ( not quite the same as the tanning lotions, which promote a ‘sun bronzed’ look as opposed to blacker skin). Any comments?