The Grass is always greener on the other side (the skin is always darker/lighter in the other country)

If you turn on any T.V. in America most likely you will see, at some point, an advertisement for tanning lotion or oil. On the ad there will be some super hot babe or some super buff dude lathering themselves up with tanning lotion. Or they will be sliding themselves into tanning beds. Or going to Florida and tanning in the sun. The upshot is they are too white and they need to be darker.

OK, now jump on a plane and fly a couple thousand miles, land in Bombay, India, rent a cheap hotel room, and flip on the T.V. Invariably, at some point in your viewing experience, you will see an advertisement for some skin lightening product. Wait a minute. They are dark. Why would they want to be lighter? Don't they love being dark?

I guess not. The first time I went swimming with some Indian guys I met I was a bit embarrassed. I figured they would secretly be laughing at my silly white American ass. I was wrong. Instead they told me I looked like a movie star.

So, there it is. I want to be darker and they want to be lighter. In fact in India darker skinned people are usually the lower caste. All the billboard advertisements I've seen have very fair skinned 'Indian' women on them. The fact is they very well could be Western women with a good tan.

So, I guess the saying the grass is greener on the other side is apt. Except we're aren't talking about grass, we're talking about skin color. And as far as I know neither Westerners or Easterners want green skin. Although many Indians do like yellow skin.

What? Yeah. The first time I saw a woman with a yellowish face I though she was diseased. I figured she had some nasty vitamin deficiency or gangrene or something. Well it turned out yellow faces are considered attractive in women. They cover their faces in some sort of yellow paint or dust or something. Personally I think it's weird. But hey, whatever floats your boat, turns your crank or revs your engine.

So, I guess the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder is apt. Except we aren't talking about eyes. We're talking about faces.