[microarchitect]

It's definitely colonialism and the effect of modern western media.

I know this because I grew up seeing this change happen in India. Today in India everyone (obviously an unfair generalization but still) wants to conform to the white standards of beauty. This wasn't always the case. In south india, I gradually saw the change happen; each generation of film actors was more light-skinned than their predecessors.

And if you read the classics of Indian literature, a lot of the protagonists are dark skinned. The funny thing is even a lot of the Indian gods and mythological characters are portrayed as being dark skinned in the myths, but modern paintings, TV serials and movies portray these characters with light-skinned actors!

[JoeAltmaier]

My sister-in-law from the Philippines was amazed that our drug stores have an aisle dedicated to darkening your skin (Tanning). Back home, that aisle is full of skin-whitening products.