Beauty Is Skin Deep

There's an old expression, recently reinvigorated by Judge Judy, that "beauty fades, dumb is forever." The number of commercials that I see on satellite for fade creams simply reinforces this. I can understand seeking treatment for discoloring scars, but I just don't get the need or the desire to lighten one's skin. I scream every time I see the Fair & Lovely commercial in which the young woman gets her dream job on TV after she bleaches her skin. I'm even more irked by a commercial on CNN International in which a former Miss World or some other silly title-holder and current UN special rep for something (and also an African woman) touts fade cream. And most troubling, I was at a bazaar recently and a woman came up to me to hawk cream that could make my skin "white and beautiful." I was so shocked that I was absolutely speechless. And I was frightened by the "pink nipple cream." When people of color are the majority on this planet, why is there such a desire to lighten skin? What about the health ramifications? Most of the products contain mercury and other harmful ingredients and the damage they cause is irreversible.