It always seemed to me that if a skin-bleaching process existed, then it would be more prominent in society. I dont mean that black people are dying to turn white, or anything like that, but wouldnt more people partake in such a procedure, if so inclined? Has anyone ever admitted to having a skin bleaching process? Because of the lack of information, I’m with Jacko when he says that it was a medical disorder that caused his change. It doesnt really answer my question as to how all his children are as white as snow, though. Surely his DNA would produce black kids, right?
Jackson has claimed to be suffering from Vitiligo, a form of progressive albinism. Most likely, it first appeared on his hand, hence his trademark through the eighties of wearing a single glove. “Skin-bleaching”, like a lot of stuff about Jackson, is tabloid trash.
Where I work there’s a fellow from Pakistan with vitiligo. His skin has gone from patchy, blotchy to completely white. You would no longer recognize him as someone from Pakistan, time alone has made him white.
Recent threads discussing this:
As I mentioned in one of the threads Exapno linked to, Snopes once dealt with this subject. They said that in the wake of his appearance at that trial, “Dermatologists also suggested that Jackson has probably undergone Botox injections in his forehead, has had plastic surgery on his eyes, had had his chin squared off, has lightened his skin using a hydroquinone compound (not legal in the U.S.), and has tattooed eyebrows and eyeliner.” I guess that’s possible, but it’s also true that you can get people to speculate about anything on TV.
Aren’t there laser treatments that lighten skin blemishes? Taken to a radical extreme if one had the time, money and crazy…
bubastis, recently, Jackson’s ex-wife revealed the kids are not his biologically-they were conceived via artificial insemination with donor sperm.
I’ve seen people with vitiligo… It does leave the skin initially patchy, blotchy. Through time, it turns the skin completley white. But I dont think any pictures of Jacko exist with blotchy skin… he just kept getting brighter and brighter. I’ve checked those other threads, and its just left me more confused… maybe because I feel that if skin bleaching was as simple as applying a cream over a period of time, it would be a more commonly known practice.
I guess that if he is applying a skin bleaching cream, the only way to tell would be to shave his head… a snow white Jacko with a black scalp for all to see?
I just threw up a bit.
A while back, a picture of Jacko and his daughter surfaced. The girl appears to be white (ie, caucasian). This caused quite a debate of the SDMB. Some Dopers insisted that it was theoretically possible that the girl might be Jacko’s biological daughter. Most of us, remembering what Jackson really looks like under all that cosmetic surgery, said “Like heck she is.”
Actually, such pictures exist, and the tabloids occasionally have run them. But foundation makeup can go a long way to smoothing over the colors of blotchy skin.
Not to mention the head-to-toe costuming. Back in the “Off the Wall” days I vaguely remember he’d appear in photographs with rolled-up sleeves, open collars and the like. Later he was dressing in those Vegas-military jackets that covered everything. That might have disguised the blotchiness…
I can’t find the old threads, but I have posted a lot about this in the past. Mr. singular has vitiligo, big-time. He is naturally pale, but the loss of pigment was still startling. The first treatment they used on him was chemotherapy - he would take medicine that increased his sensitivity to light (he’d have to wear those huge sunglasses that you wear over prescription glasses for the entire day of treatment), and spend 30 minutes standing nude in a light booth. This was supposed to stimulate regrowth of pigment, and all of his pigmentless blotches were monitored for the re-emergence of pigment. He has it all over his body, including scalp and one white eyebrow. It was a brutal regime, and after 3 months, there was very little new pigment. At this point (and this was in the late 80s), the dermotologist offered him, and I quote, the same bleaching cream Michael Jackson was using. It gradually fades the remaining pigment from the skin. Black people with vitiligo have it very rough - it’s a shocking sight, and pale would definately look better than blotchy. It does often show up on the hands first, so that could easily be the reason behind the white glove.
I don’t have much use for MJ, and I think he’s clearly nuts, but I’ve got to believe him on this one.
[hijack]By the way, Mr. singular is stil a pale little pinto, but markedly less blotchy than before. The remaing pigment has faded quite a bit with age, so he looks much better for it. Because, after all, this is all about me. 
[/hijack]
How do you know this detail about his medical treatments?
What? I used to work in service for skin care products by mail, made and sold in the U.S. We offered a skin lightening lotion (marketed for a reduction in acne scars, but nearly exclusively ordered by African-Americans). The active ingredient was hydroquinone (4%, I believe).
I have vitiligo. There are several different kinds. I don’t know what type Jacko has.
I do know, because my derm and I have talked about it–there is indeed bleaching cream that fades the stark contrast between patches and normal skin. Since I resembe Casper the ghost prior to all this, I declined to look like Casper, dead.
There is also UV light “therapy”. It is 1. expensive and not usually covered by insurance (treatment of vitiligo is considered “cosmetic” by health insurance-if this was in the Pit, you’d hear some language from me on that one), 2. it causes the normal skin to darken while attempting to re-stimulate the melanin producing cells in the splotches, so the contrast at first looks worse, 3. all the risks inherent in tanning beds exist for this treatment and lastly, 4. it may not work at all.
Needless to say, I invested in a bottle of Neutrogena self tanner and called it a day. Oh, and many many bottles of sun screen, SPF 40.
I can’t speak to any decisions Jacko may or may not have made. Since having this disease, I can tell you this: To have Jacko as the poster child for vitiligo doesn’t help make vitiligo any less “odd”. And to be constantly told that at least I’m not black (like that’s any compensation)–is not a supportive statement for anyone struggling with self esteem and body image issues due to this vile disease. Oh, and to be told that it isn’t fatal so be glad is another non-starter, but I digress.
There are 3 treatment options for vitiligo.
- Cover-up with special heavy-duty makeup
- Ultra violet therapy
- Skin bleaching
Skin bleaching is obviously going to be the best option if the unpigmented areas are greater than the pigmented ones, or are so large as to make cover up makeup impractical, or if UV treatment has been tried and has failed.
Vitiligo is primarily a cosmetic problem, and the aim of treatment is to achieve an even skin colour- which may or may not be the original skin colour of the patient. It may be better to be white all over than piebald, because becoming oe’s original colour all over may no longer be an option.
This might sound crazy, but if I was a pop star with a chocolate brown complexion and I developed vitelligo and went all spotty, I would go with the pinto look and play it up. I’d make it part of my image. I’d call my next album Apaloosa or something like that. People would call me Wacko JackoBut that’s just me, I’m weird that way.
Or become a Gerard Manley Hopkins fan. His poem means alot to me. (see his poem, “Pied Beauty”).
Just a note: the treatment of vitiligo may well be cosmetic, but the disease is anything but. This is not a badly placed mole or strawberry mark. I’ll quote the Merck Manual, “this may be devastating to the person.”
I am not much of a fan of MJ–I liked his music up to and including Thriller–but I can see that perhaps if he already had some psychological issues how this could tip him over into Neverland.
Apologies eleanorigby. What I meant to say was that the condition only affects skin pigmentation, there are no other physical problems associated with vitiligo (unlike other autoimmune conditions such as SLE where there may be a skin problem and also other problems).
I understand very well that psychologically the disease can be devestating, especially for people of colour who have to deal with issues of personal identity when faced with de-pigmentation.
In no way did I mean to imply that vitiligo was in any way a trivial condition. Sorry.
Well, the fact that he’s my husband and I was with him the dermatologist’s office made it pretty easy - if by “his”, you mean Mr. singular. I thought I made that pretty clear…