1. INTRODUCTION
1.2 The science of skin whitening
dangers of hazardous ingredients like mercury and hydroquinone. These ingredients are frequently added to many of the skin whitening products that are available on the market.
However, few researchers have explored the cultural aspects of this trend in Taiwan.
Traditionally a whiter skin tone has been associated with higher social status, wealth and beauty in Asia. The increase in skin-whitening practices around the world, especially in Asia, is a result of the merging between the old ideologies of colonialism, race, class, and new technologies (Hunter, 2005).
Asian women with lighter complexions are perceived by society to be from an higher social background, they are thought of as people who do not have to work outside in the fields. people who are not subjected to the sun’s harsh rays. Today, modern East Asian women are constantly bombarded with countless skin whitening products and marketing campaigns. Nearly all facial and body lotions sold in China and Taiwan contain chemicals that whitens the skin. As such, I felt it would be worthwhile to explore the cultural aspect of skin whitening in Taiwan.
1.2 The science of skin whitening
Huma skin contains, melanocytes, which is a melanin-producing neural that is responsible for the dark skin color. which can be found on the basal layer which separates the dermis and the epidermis. Around 36 keratinocytes surround the melanocyte (Walker et al., 2009). Together they form what is known as the epidermal melanin unit which then produce and stored melanin inside the melanocyte. Then the melanin moves the overlaying keratinocytes. The melanin pigments are a polymer which is generated inside the melanosomes and synthesized from the amino acid L-tyrosine that is open access (Walker et al., 2009). Then they are converted by the enzyme tyrosinase to dopaquinone. This reaction continues spontaneously via dopachrome to the
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monomeric diindolic precursors (5,6-dihydroxyindole and 5,6-dihydroxyindole 2-carboxylic acid) of the black-brown pigment eumelanin. Furthermore, some other enzymes, like the tyrosinase are related proteins (TRP-1 and dopachrome tautomerase (TRP-2) may play a vital role in melanogenesis in vivo (C Olivares, 2019) (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Enlarged plate sample of skin tissue layers (Source: Ronald A. Bergman, Ph.D., Adel)
After reacting with the cysteine, dopaquinone forms 2- or 5-S-cysteinyldopa that generates the benzothiazine precursors of the red/yellow pheomelanin polymer (Olivares, 2019). In general, a mixed type of pheon- and eumelanin polymer is made and placed into the melanosome matrix proteins. Considering the many color variations that can be seen in the skin and hair, it can be expected that the composition of the mixed melanin is regulated in many ways (Olivares, 2019).
However, altered production of cutaneous melanin may cause considerable problems of esthetic
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hyperpigmentation, freckles or lentigines. But also depigmenting conditions, like vitiligo,have a high impact on the quality of life of the patients (Santiago-Walker et al., 2009). “White skin” has emerged as a central desideratum of consumer culture in affluent Asia. Scholars talk about whiteness within anti-racist research through their self-reflection or awakening to privilege.
“Whiteness” or having white skin is considered an important element in constructing female beauty in Asian cultures (LI et al, 2008). Throughout Asia, pale skin has been considered as social markers of aristocratic lineage and class allegiance. “Dark skin is associated with labor and field work in the Sun.1 ‘White’ skin has a colonial notion of power and superiority” (Shankar and Subish, 2007).
Fig 3. Michael Jackson before and after his transformation.
“It doesn’t matter if you are black or white.” This line is probably one of Michael Jackson’s most famous musical lines. The late musical genius claimed to have suffered from vitiligo, a skin disease
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that causes depigmentation, resulting in patches of pure white skin. However, many believe that the musician purposefully underwent procedures to turn his skin from a darker brown to milky white to conform to individual perception of the ideal beauty standard in the U.S. (see Figure 3).
This concept of skin lightening, while apparent in the U.S. and this example in a male figure, is quite uncommon in comparisons to lightened skin lightening phenomenon in many Asian countries. Physical appearance tends to be a more critical status characteristic for women, rather than for men; although this expectation is becoming increasingly more important (Banner 1983, Ferguson 1985, Luciano 2001). Globally we see this impacting woman more often than men. For women, whiter skin color is associated with the definitions of beauty. The relationship between skin color and beauty is significant for women because beauty is a form of social capital. Skin-whitening is the practice of using artificially created chemical substances to physically lighten one’s skin tone by reducing the concentration of the primary determinant of skin color, melanin (Pan, 2014). It involves a cosmetic procedure that is aimed to lighten dark areas of skin to achieve a paler milkier skin tone. The brown-black pigments are found in melanocytes, skin cells located on the bottom layer of the skin’s epidermis. The dyes are from tyrosine, an amino acid that plays a massive role in the photosynthesis process to convert light energy into chemical energy for use within the body. Differences in skin color are due to the melanocyte’s activity levels, which are regulated by the body’s hormones.” The melanocytes in the epidermis are responsible for the intensity of skin color (Webb, 2013).
The number of melanocytes is the same in both fair and dark-skinned people. The amount of melanin produced by the melanocytes is partly determined by genetics and by the environment in which one is raised in (Pan, 2013). There are a few common active ingredients found in skin-whitening products. Hydroquinone and kojic acid and even harmful levels of mercury are infused
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in the cream. These chemical compounds lighten the skin by prohibiting melanocyte activity.
Much global beauty care and cosmetics companies outsource their chemical compound manufacturing processes to third-party contractors in China and East Asia, and these include the production of both hydroquinone and kojic acid for skin-whitening creams; which have been strongly warned against.
Nevertheless, the skincare industry is still a billion-dollar industry that is still very much thriving. Due to the result of severe health effects, medical researchers have conducted interview studies to determine how prevalent the practice of skin lightening is. Previous research focused on the medical and health aspect of the skin whitening phenomenon, and these researches have highlighted concerns about many skin whitening products which are not categorized as a pharmaceutical product, but some of the ingredients are very questionable. This research identified the dangers of harsh chemicals in the bleaching products, notably, mercury (Hg), hydroquinone, and steroids. These chemicals are associated with a variety of adverse health effects, such as Hg poisoning and exogenous ochronosis (Weldon, 2000).