Skin-whitening creams: worthy of anger?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

What does the difference between motivation and action have to do with "just accepting"? We judge by motivations all the time, for example trying to kill someone vs not trying.

So if I can be their friend, and I might not have the ability to solve their problems, that means I can accept them as people, flaws and all.

But this is just saying that you respect people as people even if they are flawed. We are talking about just accepting neuroses without disapproving (based on what you said). Probably you didn't mean that.

[Askthepizzaguy]

What does the difference between motivation and action have to do with "just accepting"?

I don't know where you're coming from, so it is difficult to know what you mean. I am trying though.

I can accept someone even if they are imperfect. I can use my own judgment and see that certain actions are necessarily harmful, and others are not. When a friend of mine (or anyone) is doing an action which is necessarily harmful to themselves, I do what I can, as most human beings would. Their motive for the action is less a concern for me. Their motive becomes important when it comes to murder, but for very few other circumstances. If someone robs a bank to pay for someone's kidney transplant, I highly doubt that charges wouldn't be pressed. Other than murder, or violent actions, I cannot think of too many instances where motive even matters to people. What I accept is that someone else wishes to do something which brings them something positive. I can also see that applying skin creme doesn't really have ill effects, or shouldn't necessarily have any. If it does, then that's more a problem with the manufacturer. If someone applied skin creme after every meal, I think it would be excessive, but it's not something I can change, and it still isn't necessarily harmful. If someone is anorexic that's when I have to intervene and say you need to get help immediately and stop it immediately. I can't force them to, but I can certainly step over the boundary of polite disagreement and be a little more aggressive in my persuasions, because it stops being none of my business and it becomes a necessarily harmful thing which you'd have to be unfeeling to ignore.

Again, I do not see the bridge you're trying to build between a simple act of putting on skin creme and an addictive, compulsive psychological disorder which results in failing health and death in extreme cases.

You have to build that bridge. Until then, I don't see where you're coming from at all.

But this is just saying that you respect people as people even if they are flawed.

Yes. And certain flaws are none of my business... I'd be an annoying busybody if I injected my judgment about their lives into every aspect I disagreed with.

Some flaws are exceptional, are necessarily harmful, and should be challenged if people care.

We are talking about just accepting neuroses without disapproving (based on what you said). Probably you didn't mean that.

I never said we should accept neuroses without disapproving.... we seem to be having two discussions or a misunderstanding.

I was talking about a person's right to apply skin lightening creme without being called racist, or the company which makes such a product being called racist.

[Reenk Roink]

The entire debate with anorexia analogy is pretty pointless, because I think it can be reduced to semantics.

If anorexia is defined in the medical way then there is a difference with most cases of skin whitening cream usage and it can only be effectively compared to some kind of hardcore case where the person is obsessed with white skin like the anorexic is obsessed with being thin and is likewise taking steps in the extreme to whiten their skin like the anorexic takes extreme steps to achieve thinness.

However, if 'anorexia' is defined in some non-technical, casual way with being preoccupied with your weight and reducing/even skipping meals here and there where it does not get into a medically problematic level, then it can be pretty easily compared to someone who is preoccupied with their skin color and uses the skin cream here and there.

Obviously, given the stigma attached to the word, you'd probably be better off using another word.