My “Story behind a picture” series contains posts, where I present one photo only, and a commentary to explain the context and what is happening there. All of these mini stories are either interesting, shocking, nice, extraordinary, or perhaps typical for a given community or place, but strange for visitors from elsewhere. Or they are simply interesting from some other point of view. Anyway, I will try to keep them short. (And sweet? – we will see.)
These are bars of soap in a supermarket in Padang, Indonesia. As you can see on the box, it has the magical power of whitening your skin (besides moisturizing it).
If you are from Europe or North America, then chances are you are a “white skinned” person (hopefully not really white, but let’s put this aside for a moment), and you may wonder: just why on earth would someone want to whiten her skin???
The reason is of course the same as the reason for visiting a tanning salon: you are not satisfied with the skin colour that you were born with. In Europe, this will make millions of people to fry themselves on the sun in the hope of a nice suntan. But in Asia, this will make millions of people cover their skin whenever they walk in the streets.
Beach time in most Asian countries is not what you are used to on the beaches of the Cote D’Azur. People will walk up and down the beach fully clothed, or sit in the shade of a tree. The best time for the beach is when it is cloudy. Should the sun suddenly appear, people will rush in terror to the nearest shade.
In Vietnam, women have a special apron, which they use when they are riding a motorbike – and they of course do that a lot. The apron covers all of their body including their feet, their arms and even their faces. You of course see a lot of Asian people, especially women, holding an umbrella when they walk in the streets in the sunshine. You may first think that it is to protect them from the heat of the scorching sun, but you would be wrong! This is to protect them from getting a suntan, of course.
Who understands that? If you have beautiful brown skin, you wish you had white skin, and you do everything to make it happen. If you have white skin, you wish you had a nice brown skin, and you do everything to make it happen.
Check out some more of my Story Behind the Picture posts:
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence
How to avoid electoral fraud – with ink
Always remember the face of those you depend on
Waiter in Laos shares his food with me
The Kindness of Indonesian people
