Shadeism from Shadeism on Vimeo.
Discussion Question: How does shadism impact us?
Questions to ponder:
1. Have you ever been praised or criticized for your skin tone?
2. What skin-whitening cream ads have you seen?
3. What do you remember of the images in the ads?
4. What do they usually say?
5. What facts do you know about bleaching cream?
6. Are you afraid to go out in the sun?
7. What do you feel about your own skin tone?
8. Do you feel happier if your skin is lighter?
9. What do you feel about the use of bleaching cream?
10. Do skin bleaching cream ads affect you, do you have any emotional reaction to them?
11. Does your family have a preference for skin color?
12. Does it affect your chances to find a boyfriend/girlfriend?
13. Does it affect your relationships with coworkers? Friends?
14. Does it affect your relationship with strangers? For example, do strangers like sales-people make pronouncements about your skin or hair?
15. What is the usual message of skin whitening commercials?
16. Do you think commercials on tv show more white-skinned women than dark?
17. Do you think magazines deliberately use photoshop to 'lighten' darker skinned people?
18. Is shadism a strong force in Taiwanese culture?
19. How do we move forward?
20. How do we love our own bodies?
21. How do we avoid criticizing others' bodies?
Is there a general cultural agreement in Taiwan about the following statements?
Darker = stupider, backwards, uncultured, uneducated
Lighter = modern, smarter, more leaderlike, more knowledgable
Statements made in the video:
We're told to stay away from the sun, to avoid going outside, to avoid letting our skin getting brown.
Fresh out of the womb, I was a light skinned wonder child. My family still talks about it. My family had a constant commentary on my skin color, and sometimes I would wonder, If I wasn't light skinned, would I still be loved?
Adult: "Why do you like her hair?"
4 y.o.: "Because she's so white!"
None of our skin tones are on television.
We represent Canada. We represent an international narrative of sorts. a collective 'her'story of women of color. we all share the issue of shadism, from within our own cultures.
