The Skin Whitening Craze

What do Sammy Sosa, Shah Rukh, and Michael Jackson all have in common? Well, let me give you a couple hints. Michael was in denial about it. Sammy is currently in discussion to market it, and Shah Rukh is plain old capitalizing off of it. Yes, you guessed it. I’m talking about Skin Whitening Cream. This cream has made it possible to completely transform ones natural “dark” skin color and develop a lighter, brighter complexion. On top of all that, the Indian skin whitening campaigns promise to not only whiten skin, but make it healthier and smoother.

Of course, this skin whitening craze is not just an issue in India. A Dominican Republic Native, the former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa told the world on the show “Primer Impacto” that he uses a bleaching cream each night and that this cream whitens his skin. His blue contacts also had quite a dramatic effect on his appearance as he strutted his stuff down the carpet at the Latin Grammys and stunned the viewers with his brand new lighter complexion. This war of dark skin vs fair skin is universal, but it seems to be an ancient battle for India. One of the most known Bollywood hero’s Shah Rukh Khan has done what he does best. He danced and pranced his way into a Fair and Handsome Emami commercial. He proudly promotes the fact that men need no longer to feel ashamed by stealing women’s skin whitening creams since Emami has saved the day and created this product especially for men. And here’s the best part – it has “American Double Strength.” Wow. Every heard of it? Neither have I, but it sure sounds convincing! Oh, and about Michael, well let’s just say this isn’t the first time he hasn’t admitted to something.

When was the rejection of dark skin institutionalized in India? Unfortunately even today we do not have an answer, as many archeologists are caught in a heated debate – was it the dark skinned Dravidians or the fair skinned semi nomadic, central Asian migrants, the Aryans who built the Indus Vally Civilization over 5000 years ago? Who is “more” Indian? The Dravidians? Or the Aryans? The Aryans first appear in 2000 – 1500 BC in North India. The Rig Veda, the classic religious text which is highly respected till today in India contains what appear to be the first signs of the dark skinned indigineous Indians being subordinated by the fair skinned Aryan man. Is this where the origen of shunning the darker skin evolved into a cultural norm was born? Do modern day Indians think that modernity is somehow connected to being American, not just mentally but physically as well? Here’s a little history lesson. About 50 million years ago, India was part of the super continent of Pangea. The drifting tectonic plates lead the land mass of India to the coast of Asia. The resulting collion was so intense that it resulted in the spectacular Himalyan Mountans. Where was the Indian Subcontinent before it drifted across the ocean? It was connected to Africa. Where is the proof that this collision even took place? It’s at the top of Mount Everest, which just so happens to be the highest peak above sea level in the entire world. Scientist have found ancient marine fossiles at the top. Doesn’t this mean that Indians should admire their African roots as much as their Aryan roots?

It is a known fact that the lighter the skin, the higher the caste (depending of course on the location in India). This makes it pretty impossible to escape the light vs dark skin battle when it comes to religion. It seems as if skin color is not just a physical characteristic one is born with. It is the equivalent of what a Bachelors degree is in the West. If you don’t go to college in the West, you have a tougher time of becoming successful, where as in India, if you have darker skin, you have a tougher time becoming successful, or earning a respectable living. Should skin color still matter to a society which is already divided and subdivided by ethnicity, language, caste,class and creed. Come on now it is 2010 lets escape the light vs dark skin battle. Bollywood its your turn to set a new trend, and yes Shah Rukh I am speaking about you!

The Difference Between the Nice Guy vs A MAN Who Actually Respects You

I didn’t think there was a difference, actually. But then after speaking with way too many Women, hearing their stories, and using my own judgments and experiences, it dawned on me. We all at some point in our life claimed we wanted the bad boy (I’ll admit to it too!), then we grew up and realized we just wanted a nice guy who always did nice things. Well, some of us never got to that mentality, and we either grew jealous of our girlfriends who had that guy who always did those nice, sweet things, why couldn’t we get one of those?! Fast forward a couple years down the line, yup, there it is, us, with Mr. Nice. Fast forward some more…apparently he had a name change, he is no longer Mr. Nice. We have all met him, go ahead, fill it in Mr. ___________.

What happened?! After weeks, possibly months, and hopefully not years, we realize it’s not us that’s the problem, it’s not us who needs to grow up and just understand “Men.” We realize that this guy was really not useful at all. He was just nice. Nothing else. Those are the worse kind of guys, so beware and spare your time, Ladies.

There is a huge difference in between the Nice Guy, and the MAN who respects you. The one who respects your Womaness, the one who respects how Independent and Educated you are. The one who understands what a real woman is, not the one who only thinks real women are those naive bimbos you see on TV.

Usually Nice Guys come in simple packages. They have simple lives, little intellect, they follow most of societies norms, they come off as decent on the top layer. They like to do nice things, but theres nothing behind those actions, they probably saw it in a movie and are re-inacting it, some of them like to do nice things over and over…its pretty story like. Movies, dinners, events. But pay close attention during these festivities, notice how typical he is in his views, how much he adds to the conversation, and how creative his ideas are. It can be distracting, going out all the time can sometimes cover up the truth due to the distraction of actually doing something. But in time it fades. We can blame ourself, we can blame him, we can think that he only liked us because we were hard to get and all guys love a catch…but why don’t we just be realistic. It wore off, not for a reason in particular, but because all he is comes down to a simple minded nice guy. He doesn’t have the motivation, he never had the motivation to watch you and him grow. He doesn’t know how to respect your relationship with him, which means he is clueless as to how to respect you.

Respect, ladies. I don’t need to define it. We all know what it is. Unfortunately some of us have seldom felt it. But we can snif it from a mile away. It captivates us. Respect comes with a natural sense of admiration, and we melt in it’s arms. The guy who respects you might not always do the nice things. He might not always surprise you with a date night. He might not always bring you flowers (why do we get so happy when we get flowers? It is hands down the easiest most non-sensical most typical brainless action on the part of a guy. Go to a garden and pick me some damn roses if you are dying to give me flowers. Don’t call 1800 Flowers and expect to get lucky tonight when any Tom Dick or Harry can do the exact same thing. Show us you care, and do it differently then every other guys we have met. I got flowers in highschool from the guys who used to crush on me, I don’t need the potential long term boyfriend or husband to show me the same things as a boy in highschool). Guys who respect you are going against the norm. It’s not normal for a man to respect a woman in todays sick society. That’s the truth. If you beg to differ look at the statistics. Men still earn more money then women. Men STILL prefer a woman to stay at home and build their dumb guy-egos. Check out the music videos, a place where a loser off the street can live out his fantasy with money cash and “hoes.” Most guys out there will find it very difficult to respect you. There are Men however, who do know how to respect women. Before you thank them, thank their Mothers.

This is when I have to type the cliche…”when you know, you just know.” That is because as women, we thrive off of respect. There’s no way around it. When we are disrespected (by those close to us) we fall into deep depressions, things turn meaningless, and hopefully we can make it out intact, and hopefully we won’t be bitter. But when we are in a healthy respectable environment, we grow. We accomplish, we break boundries, most importanly, we love ourselves. We need respect. We don’t need the nice guy.

Websites to be visited each day.

Facebook, myspace, worldstarhiphop, nicolebitchy, whatever these crazed social dot coms may be, you really don’t need to know your friends or your ex’s or your highschool buddies status updates. They mean nothing. Begin to frequent more useful websites such as

http://www.cnn.com
http://www.economist.com
http://www.weather.com

Let’s begin with why you should even go to weather.com each morning. Ladies you need to know how it’s going to be outside so you can be prepared with either an umbrella or a sweater.  There is nothing more annoying then to see a woman slipping and sliding on the road in some heels when the rain is pouring down, if she only had a pair of rain boots she could avoid the humiliation…did I even have to mention this? Even though most of us have this feature on our phone, we seldom use it. Be prepared.

Economist. Its a very useful news web-journal. Its from the UK, so the news is fairly unbiased. There are some articles that require a subscription, but you can get the jist of what the latest stories are without joining, but it never hurts to actually join and get in depth knowledge of the critical events that shape everyone’s life.

CNN – America’s most trusted (and sometimes for the wrong reasons) news source. The latest news is updated by the moment, you can watch video, or read some very interesting articles.

I am not saying stop with your facebooking or myspace-ing, this isn’t a blog that renounces fun. Have fun. Us ladies know how to have fun. But at the same time, let’s open our minds and make sure we know what the hell is going on today.

The Independents – A place for real, Independent Women.

Who are The Independents? Feminists! NO. Lesbians! NO. Men Haters! NO. Women who are too concerned with themselves and their careers only! NO. Angry Women who are fed up with the way men run this world, who are just trying to get a peice of the pie! NO. Self proclaimed know it alls, those annoyingly educated women who don’t shut their mouth! No. An Independent woman is a woman who always pays for herself, or makes sure every payment is “50/50.” No. None of those categories, my dear friends, even begins to sum up the defintion of an Independent Woman. Here is MY definition of who a real Independent Woman is.  And here is my disclaimer: I quite frankly don’t give a damn what the dictionary says, or what you learned previously.  Here is the meaning: An Independent Woman is  a woman who uses her brain.  That means each action has an intelligent purpose behind it.  An Independent woman never prides off her Independence,  because if she does, that means she is looking for credit.  An Independent woman is CONFIDENT.  She doesn’t need the credit that others give her.  She doesn’t need recognition for her Independent acts, because, she is smart enough that she knows what she is doing, and what the purpose of her actions are.  An Independent woman does not rely on compliments and credit.  That means anyone can persuade her mentality at any given moment.  She stays humble, and she helps her sisters.  She also helps some of the confused brothers out there to recognize what an Independent Woman is. 

An Independent woman is aware of her surroundings, and is in constant competition with herself.  She must gain all the useful knowledge that she can.  She understands that accumulating a plethora of trivial information is as dangerous as soap and water was to the plague.   She has done enough research about her surroundings that she is her own manager, she is the advice giver, because she has earned that title.  She recognizes trouble, she can smell it a mile away.  She isn’t afraid to spit in troubles face, she isn’t afraid of what others think about her decisions. She never finds herself in the same mess twice.  She learns from her mistakes.

An Indepenent woman could be a house wife, and a mother.  As long as she understands the pros and the cons of her current predicament, and uses her money wisely (yes, HER MONEY, even if he is the one who gives it to her), she is an Independent Woman.  She will only give the privilige of her duties to the man who deserves it.  An Independent woman will never let just any loser off the street make her into his ideal housewife.  She understands the worth of woman, and knows that it cannot be given easily to a man.  She seeks love primarily, but understands it is not love that makes the world go round.  She is practical.  If she chooses to be a housewife, she understands she has entered not just a partnership, but a team.  She is not the dependent in this set up, and she makes this very clear to the man.  She makes sure to not step into the role of housewife if there is even one misunderstanding of who she is, what she wants, and expects.  Yes, expects.  Independent women have expectations.  To have no expectations means to have no goals and to never move forward.  One of the things an Independent Woman who chooses to be a housewife should expect is a constant flow of money in her bank account, if he can’t provide that, don’t provide yourself as an ideal housewife.  Get a job until you secure your financial future. 

An Independent Woman is a woman who always plays the upper hand.  She takes full control, but understands that not everyone will appreciate, and not everyone in this world is ready for to grace the presence of an Independent Woman. They cannot tolerate the profoundness of her attitude.  She must not make war with the simple minded.  She tries to open their eyes, and if she is met with resistance, she realizes there are bigger and better things in this world.

The purpose of this blog is to help women gain TRUE Independence, and to help refine our thoughts.  The words on this blog contain high amounts of social and political knowledge.  Feed it to your brains ladies, and then you can claim your Independence.

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