In a great blow for common sense everywhere, the elegant gothic lolita community has banned the discussion of skin lightening products. In the deleted thread, I noted that I had been on a research team about skin bleaching in Africa, and noted the possible dangers(such as hyper pigmentation and nerve damage) of skin lightening creams. But, more importantly, it's stupid to try to match your body to a fashion. I like pretty dresses and petticoats as much as anyone else, but I'm not going to lighten my skin because some Japanese girls in a magazine are light to a woman. In Japan, they have their aesthetic, but we're in the West- we have our own standards, and more importantly, why should we be trying for a standard in the first place?

To me, the whole point of gothic lolita fashion is of decontextualized femininity. Have fun, wear a petticoat, without all the baggage of the patriarchy. However, if we start saying "but a lolita has to be short, thin, and light skinned", it takes the fun out of the fashion, instead of being a preserve of fashion that is just fun, it starts being another oppression- another standard to reach, another way to exclude women instead of celebrating them. If so, what's the point of having a separate subculture in the first place?