Althouse: "It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some. It’s a cream that I have, that I use to soften..."

November 11, 2017

"It’s a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some. It’s a cream that I have, that I use to soften..."

"... but has bleached me some. I’m not a racist, I live my life happily. What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright TV lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don’t think I look like Michael Jackson."

Said Sammy Sosa, whose new look has astounded a lot of people (NY Post).

46 comments:

robother said...: Someone needs to tell Sammy: it's OK to be White.; 11/11/17, 8:16 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.; 11/11/17, 8:18 AM
traditionalguy said...: Where can I get some of that stuff? I always wanted to be white, after a life of being pink in the winter and red in the summer.

But the content of my character is what counts. Which is a whole other problem.; 11/11/17, 8:20 AM
Clyde said...: Well, his nose hasn't fallen off yet, so that's something.

I think that people should just be who they are. Don't try to be something you aren't. It seems like many people who try to do that end up being really miserable, no longer being either what they really are or what they wanted to become.; 11/11/17, 8:28 AM
Fritz said...: AReasonableMan said...
If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.

Then tanning beds and liquid tan are reliable indicators of brown privilege.; 11/11/17, 8:31 AM
Buck Narked said...: ARM said

If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.

Therefore, nothing is.; 11/11/17, 8:33 AM
Sally327 said...: Sammy of the corked bat and the PEDs and now the unnaturally whitened skin. There's probably some deep psychological story there. Or not, who knows?; 11/11/17, 8:35 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: White people who tan look like white people who tan, not brown people. Tanning was, until relatively recently, a sign of wealth because it indicated abundant leisure time. Now it is a sign of stupidity because the risks of skin cancer are broadly known.; 11/11/17, 8:37 AM
Wince said...: Hmm. Doesn't Sosa now look like Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit?; 11/11/17, 8:43 AM
Birches said...: Tanning was, until relatively recently, a sign of wealth because it indicated abundant leisure time.

I thought this was the opposite. White skin indicated one never had to work outside, like a proper aristocrat.

I really did not expect the picture when I clicked over. Shocking.; 11/11/17, 8:44 AM
Saint Croix said...: What's really weird is how the left seeks to normalize a "sex change" while changing your skin color "raises troubling questions".

There are two sexes, male and female, and that's how babies are made.

There are multiple races, so many we can't define them or group them. Sex and baby-making itself makes racial identity problematic.

The left flips these two realities on their head. We are instructed that there are a multiple of gender identities, and every one of them is normal and good. (Note that any number greater than 2 is antithetical to human reproduction!)

Meanwhile, race--which really is fluid--is treated as a permanent fixture.

The left, when it comes to race and sex, seems to be hostile to nature, in a war against it. I think many on the left are becoming hostile to sex, and sexual reproduction. And when it comes to race? Very, very tribal.; 11/11/17, 8:48 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Birches said...
White skin indicated one never had to work outside, like a proper aristocrat.

This was true until the sixties. It is still true in China.; 11/11/17, 8:50 AM
Oso Negro said...: Non-white people the world over will be clamoring to learn the name of the cream he uses.; 11/11/17, 8:53 AM
Oso Negro said...: @ARM, it's great to be white, isn't it? White people really are the best. It is no wonder that non-white people aspire to be like us. White women are the most desired in the world. And ARM, remember that it's ok to be white.; 11/11/17, 8:55 AM
Chuck said...: The cream that he used to hit more home run worked better.; 11/11/17, 8:55 AM
Fernandinande said...: Is his Dick White?; 11/11/17, 8:56 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Oso Negro said...
it's great to be white, isn't it?

I think so. I get to avoid working in the garden and I'm treated well by the cops.; 11/11/17, 9:01 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Think how much better off Rand Paul would be today if he had just embraced his whiteness.; 11/11/17, 9:05 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Is Sosa taking a knee in that picture? It looks like he's taking a knee.; 11/11/17, 9:11 AM
Curious George said...: "AReasonableMan said...
White people who tan look like white people who tan, not brown people. Tanning was, until relatively recently, a sign of wealth because it indicated abundant leisure time. Now it is a sign of stupidity because the risks of skin cancer are broadly known."

Doubling down on stupid I see. A brown person using whitening cream looks like a brown person using whitening cream, not a brown person.; 11/11/17, 9:13 AM
Bob Boyd said...: "Is his Dick White?"

Some say it's bright pink. Others say it's more of a tropical pink.; 11/11/17, 9:14 AM
Gahrie said...: If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.

"In India, the sales of skin lightening creams in 2012 totaled around 258 tons and in 2013 sales were about $300 million.[118][119] As of 2013 the global market for skin lighteners was projected to reach US$19.8 billion by 2018 based on sales growth primarily in Asia, Africa and the Middle East"; 11/11/17, 9:32 AM
James Graham said...: Portrait photographers know people with black faces are difficult to photograph.

Some whitening products have been used by blacks since forever.

Makeup for whites is basically a darkening agent.

It too has been used forever.; 11/11/17, 9:46 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: The next big internet debate:

Is it a black guy with a blue scarf, or a white guy with a gold scarf?; 11/11/17, 9:51 AM
Phil 314 said...: Sammy Sosa has always lived by the motto

"Better living through chemistry"; 11/11/17, 10:08 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: He's got to be using it on more than his face because his hands are lighter too. Is the rest of his body lighter or does he have tan lines in reverse? It strikes me that once you start down this path you've got to go all in.; 11/11/17, 10:09 AM
Trumpit said...: I once bought a Barack Obama Needlepoint Kit (https://www.pepitaneedlepoint.com/product/kits-canvas/barack-obama), and paid a dark-complected lady from the Caribbean to stitch it and frame it. I didn't say anything, but I was appalled that she lightened his skin by using a light tan thread instead of the brown thread that the kit came with. If I'm payin' for "my nigga, Barry" goddamn it I want my nigga, Barry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ze7MiLp5A

She said that she didn't like the brown-colored yarn that came with the kit, so she used a yarn of own. Fool, don't mess with the kit because you don't like dark people like yourself. I like brown skin even if you don't, and it was "unnatural."

The smiling portrait of Obama hangs in my office forever looking over me, and reminding to accept, and love myself for who, and what, I am. I still hate it, however, because it's paler than even milk chocolate.; 11/11/17, 10:22 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Everyone's White in My Eyes

https://youtu.be/-ogSHrgQxmM; 11/11/17, 10:38 AM
Howard said...: Now he looks like a white schlub child molester. He just needs to drive around in an old white windowless van; 11/11/17, 10:57 AM
MadisonMan said...: I suspect some of that in the picture is glare from a flash.

Who really cares what Sammy Sosa looks like is a better question.; 11/11/17, 11:05 AM
mezzrow said...: This is old news to Cubs fans. It takes a whole lot of medicine to pretend that you're somebody else.; 11/11/17, 11:09 AM
Anonymous said...: ARM: If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.

Finding lighter skin more attractive (especially in women) is found among humans everywhere, even in naturally very dark-skinned people, and before any exposure to Europeans.

Being white is so awesome that you can oppress other people with your privilege not only when they've never seen you, but even when they aren't even aware of your existence.; 11/11/17, 11:13 AM
Molly said...: Sammy was just trying to get all the free drinks on public transport, documented in this secretly recorded video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViM_TtVrFUc; 11/11/17, 11:22 AM
eddie willers said...: He's trying to look like Mark McGwire.; 11/11/17, 12:18 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: ARM,

White people who tan look like white people who tan, not brown people. Tanning was, until relatively recently, a sign of wealth because it indicated abundant leisure time. Now it is a sign of stupidity because the risks of skin cancer are broadly known.

(1) You need to read up on Vitamin D.
(2) You need to read up on something that isn't skin cancer.
(3) If you can tell instantly whether someone is an actual brown-skinned person, as opposed to a Rachel Dolezal, do , please, let us in on the secret,; 11/11/17, 12:19 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: ARM: If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is.

So bleaching creams are something to do with white privilege, whereas tanning salons are nothing to do with black/brown privilege. Got it. Thanks.; 11/11/17, 12:26 PM
walter said...: So..hair straightener and coloring also?
Using a bleach cream to soften skin..right.
Does he reside in London? Trying to fit in at the pub?
Keep going..go full ginger.
Great Scot!; 11/11/17, 12:51 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Angel-Dyne said...
Finding lighter skin more attractive (especially in women) is found among humans everywhere, even in naturally very dark-skinned people, and before any exposure to Europeans.

Sexual selection is strongly tied to status seeking so difficult to separate the two causes. But, if the entire explanation was that there is an innate homo Sapien preference for lighter skin, this would give white, and asian, women a huge privilege relative to their darker hued competitors in the current global as opposed to prior local sexual marketplace. I doubt this is true. In cultures where everyone was very dark skinned I would guess the opposite. Certainly albinos are not revered in Africa but albinos are not prized here either so not a great test case.

The typical gracile build of asian women clearly gives them a competitive advantage relative to the generally more robust build of non-asian women in many western societies, yet some cultures prefer big butts and this is reflected in the physical appearance of women from these cultures.

Sexual selection even in nature is quite changeable over time. I doubt that there is any one single preference that has remained unchanged over the course of human evolution other than the basics: symmetry and proximity to the mean, which are both strong indicators of genetic and developmental health.; 11/11/17, 1:46 PM
Anonymous said...: ARM: But, if the entire explanation was that there is an innate homo Sapien preference for lighter skin, this would give white, and asian, women a huge privilege relative to their darker hued competitors in the current global as opposed to prior local sexual marketplace. I doubt this is true. In cultures where everyone was very dark skinned I would guess the opposite.

"I doubt". "I guess".

You could...look it up.

I doubt that there is any one single preference that has remained unchanged over the course of human evolution.

So do I. That's why I didn't claim that lighter skin preference had existed over the entire course of human evolution.

Wonder how long squirrel-spotting has been evolving as an adaptive trait among humans.; 11/11/17, 2:12 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "But, if the entire explanation was that there is an innate homo Sapien preference for lighter skin, this would give white, and asian, women a huge privilege relative to their darker hued competitors in the current global as opposed to prior local sexual marketplace."

Blonde women are valued just about everywhere and that has been true for a long time. The Muslim slave traders who plagued the Mediterranean until we ended in it with the Barbary wars ("To the shores of Tripoli...") especially prized blonde women, who fetched a high price in Arab slave markets. I noticed a long time ago that black men who date white women seem especially attracted to blondes, whether they are natural or bottle blondes. That is not because blonde hair is intrinsically more beautiful than any other hair color but because natural blondes are rare and men of other races consider it exotic.; 11/11/17, 2:32 PM
Bill said...: I was once served in a restaurant in Berkeley by a waitress with vivid green eyes and natural red hair. She made blonde look bland.; 11/11/17, 3:09 PM
Rosalyn C. said...: No offense to POC, but Barack Obama's skin color in his official portrait is lighter than most of the retired white people in South Florida. When I hear the phrase "African American" I think "mixed race" not African.; 11/11/17, 3:38 PM
roger said...: " If bleaching creams are not a reliable indicator of white privilege nothing is."

I am amused at the lengths that the Left will go to disparage perfectly ordinary people. People who go about their day trying to make a living and raising children and living dignified lives who have never once met Sammy Sosa nor Michael Jackson and furthermore do not care about them.

" Being white is so awesome that you can oppress other people with your privilege not only when they've never seen you, but even when they aren't even aware of your existence. "

Yes, indeed.; 11/11/17, 9:17 PM
Jane the Actuary said...: Y'know, some time ago I read that as black men age, they generally tend to end up with lighter skin. Don't know whether this factors into it in this case, though.; 11/11/17, 9:37 PM
Doug said...: mezzrow at 11:09 - Good Randy Newman reference there!; 11/12/17, 8:34 AM
richlb said...: He looks like Sean Austin from the new season of Stranger Things.; 11/12/17, 8:40 AM