o   The biggest surprise was learning where the light skin vs dark skin war began. That it was instilled in us by the slave traders on how they treated you. If you were light you worked indoors and if you were dark you worked in the fields. They though the lighter slaves to be more intelligent and eye pleasing which is why they brought them into the house. 

·        Provide a real-life example of how this topic is relevant or interesting for you. Relate the topic to your life in some way.

o   Being of a darker complexion I have watched many times as the lighter girl gets the guy both in film and real life. Social media portrays lighter skinned people as a higher form of beauty. The further you are from white the further from beauty. Whenever I travel to Jamaica that 'fair' ideal had plagued the mind of a friend of mine and sadly a family member. When I ask why they just tell me it's because they're too dark and no one wants them.
 It’s interesting to me because even knowing that complexion plays a large role until reading the last article about how the more attractive you are typically get paid more than someone of regular looks. When you think about it white actresses stand to make millions and it cannot be said about very many black ones. I’ve wanted to be a successful black actress and knowing my looks could prevent me from advancing too far in my career in disheartening. 

·        Which research did you find most interesting?  Why?

o   The further I looked into the complexion thing and realizing it wasn’t just in north America but all across the globe the higher it peaked my interest. Working in Walmart I witnessed a lot of middle eastern women purchase a product call Joglen which is a bleaching soap and never really thought that people outside of black race felt the need to be lighter. 

·        What are you most likely to remember from this research?

o   I’m most likely to remember the facts about slave traders instilling the light vs dark mentality. Which is how they used to justify their colonizing and slavery. Also the crazy statistic of how in India, skin lightening cream over 50% of the beauty sales and 60-65% use these products daily. Despite the risk these women will sacrifice perfectly healthy skin to feel beautiful. 

·        How has learning about this topic changed you? Discuss your attitude, practices, etc.

o   This topic has opened my eyes to the global struggle of self love, many people look in the mirror and feel inadequate for one reason or another. Complexion plays a larger role than I previously thought. I’ve since begun looking for beauty in ways I never did before. Where I once compared one woman to another, I’ve realized no 2 women’s beauty in the same and the standard is a bias placed in society to make those feel less of themselves so consumers continue to consume products to become their version of beautiful.