Jessica Mitchell- CBI

http://www.latinpost.com/articles/8095/20140303/skin-color-politics-african-diaspora-latinos-in-america-latin-america-denouncement-of-ethnic-identity.htm

 

This is an article, posted in the Latin Post last week, focuses on a chemical cream that can make a person with darker skin appear to be lighter, and can also get rid of blemishes like birthmarks. It discusses the cream and how its affects can be seen in the drastic changes in the skin color of ex-Cubs baseball player, Sammy Sosa. It discusses some recent information learned about the cream that he used to change his skin color, and also asks if using this cream denounces a person’s ethnic identity.

Sosa, originally a medium-to-dark skin tone Dominican man has been noticed, ever since his retirement, in 2007, with progressively lighter skin. Sosa was previously thought to have a skin condition that caused a change in the pigmentation of his face. However, a very drastic change in his skin color was noticed when he appeared at the 2009 Latin Grammys in Las Vegas. The article states, “His usual medium-to-dark skin tone was suddenly a pasty alabaster, and he smiled as if he'd just won the World Series,” while fans were shocked at his transformation, calling him “downright vampiric”.

 

According to the article, “The application of melanin-concentrated chemical creams that strips away color, and otherwise whitens, lightens, brightens, or bleaches skin, is an emerging process that’s often marketed to remove blemishes, birthmarks, and moles, but historically and continuously used for the overall whitening of dark skin tones.”This is the same type of chemical cream that Sosa admitted to using in 2009. He said that he had been using for a long time and that the cream is the reason he appears lighter in color than he was. However, he claims that he used it solely to soften his skin, and that the lighter skin was just a side effect.

 

In the novel, we see in many instances that the characters are racially defined and judged by their body appearance, specifically their skin color. Amabelle is a servant, Sebastien, with “crisscrossed trails of furrowed scars on his shiny black face” (1), and his friends, Kongo, Yves, and many others, are cane workers- all these are jobs and labels that only those of darker skin have. They are looked at as the lower end of the totem pole solely based on their skin color. We can also see this general idea in Chapter 20 when Senor Pico was burying Rafi’s clothing, “He wanted to carry out the task himself, not allowing Luis to dig, as would have been expected,” (102). Based on the color of their skin they are expected to do certain things.

Also, we see a case of judgment, based on skin color, from Senor Pico in that same chapter. Senora Valencia invited Sebastien and Kongo, along with others, to have coffee with her, and as soon as she told Senor what she did, he reacted by using skin color for his reasoning. “…once he discovered that she had used their imported orchid-patterned tea set, he took the set out to the yard…he shattered the cups and saucers, one by one,” (116). Since we know that Senor Pico’s skin color is a bit darker than his wife’s, these actions may point to the fact that Senor Pico feels that he needs to set himself as far apart from those of color as he can, so that he not identified as one of them. We can also see this mind set of Senor Pico in his interactions with Rosalinda, in the many instances that he will not hold his daughter. She is of darker skin, and he does not want to have that connection to her.

Finally, Felice’s character has, “a hairy beet-colored birthmark like a mustache over her lip,” (61).  I noticed that this character is not a very prominent one, however, every time she is mentioned, so is her birthmark. For example, in chapter 22, we see that Kongo could not even talk about Felice, without out acknowledging a difference in her physical appearance when he says, “The one with the big mark under her nose, she is young, and the young do not stay young by keeping watch on the past,” (122). Again in chapter 26, Felice is mentioned right alongside the fact she has a unique birthmark. She was talking to Amabelle, “’Your face’ she asked, the birthmark rising and falling with every movement of her lips,” (162).  These are really the only three times the Felice is in the novel significantly and her birthmark is mentioned every time that she is.  

When thinking about this article and The Farming of Bones, I think that the fact that is now possible for someone today to take something that may be seen as an imperfection about their physical appearance, and change that for good is very interesting. The fact that people are willing to put themselves through such a thing (the chemical literally burns their skin) says something about how society still perceives those of color differently, as well as those with unusual markings on their skin. These perceptions are definitely seen in the novel on numerous occasions, and sadly they are still very prominent in our society today. The fact that Sammy Sosa felt that he would be happier being lighter skinned displays how darker skin color is still looked at as different. 

If this cream was around in the time of these characters, the novel would have the potential to be very different. The characters of color could have the opportunity to appear lighter and that could change the way that they are looked at in the social class. In the case, of Senor Pico, he could make his skin, and if he really wanted to, the skin of his daughter’s appear to be more the color of his wife, which I think would change a lot about the novel. The development of this cream is just very interesting in the possibilities that are out there concerning these issues that are seen in the novel, as well as in our society today.