Battling The Barriers
With deep respect to my role model and idol- the late Michael Jackson- this post is only an honest attempt to educate millions of people worldwide who have developed a misconception about the pop icon’s change of color. Some people relate his change of skin color to his plastic surgery treatments, and believe he has changed the color of his body by undergoing plastic surgery from head-to-toe – a hearsay developed into a ubiquitous myth which is what this post aims to dispel.
So how did the legend turned white from black? Here is the truth: the pop icon was suffering from a rare skin ailment called vitilgo. Making assumptions about why or how a person’s skin color changed is “not malicious ignorance, but it is definitely ignorance. Vitiligo affects people of all races, but it is more visible in people with darker skin. The cause of the disorder is unknown, although family history plays a role. It affects approximately 1 percent of the world’s population, according to the American Vitiligo Research Foundation.
During scores of interviews, the singer denied changing his skin color for vanity reasons and repeatedly asserted that he had a disease called vitiligo, in which the immune system attacks cells that produce melanin, the pigment that determines skin color. The condition results in milky white spots. Those familiar with the skin condition said vitiligo is commonly misunderstood because of its rarity. Topical ointments such as corticosteroids and oral medicine combined with ultraviolet light therapies are used to restore pigment to the skin. These treatments often have side effects including abnormal hair growth, thinning and over-darkening of the skin. The problem with vitiligo is, you end up with two colors,” said Nordlund, a board member with the National Vitiligo Foundation. “Everyone stares, wonders what’s going on, and people ask if you had a burn. Kids ask what’s wrong with you. It takes a tough soul to deal with that and not be affected.”
From the mid-1980s it became clear that Jackson’s appearance was changing dramatically. His skin tone became lighter, his nose and facial shape changed, and he lost weight. The lighter skin tone was initially caused by vitiligo and lupus — with which Jackson was diagnosed in 1986—and his use of make-up to cover the blotched skin. Surgeons speculated he also had a rhinoplasty, a forehead lift, cheekbone surgery, and altered his lips. Those close to the singer say that, by 1990, he had undergone around ten procedures. Mental health experts said he had the mind of a regressed ten-year-old, while other physicians said he suffered from body dysmorphic disorder. Dr. Deepak Chopra, a friend of Jackson’s for 20 years, said: “What became his compulsion with cosmetic surgery was an expression of self-mutilation, a total lack of respect for himself.”
Vitiligo and Lupus, Treatments and Effects
Jackson’s skin was a medium-brown color throughout his youth, but, starting in the mid 1980s, his skin gradually grew more pale through what was widely considered to be skin bleaching and changing of his features to appear European. These changes gained widespread media coverage. According to J. Randy Taraborrelli’s biography, in 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus; the vitiligo partially lightened his skin, and the lupus was in remission; both illnesses made him sensitive to sunlight, which could have caused his lupus condition to recur.To treat these conditions, Jackson used Solaquin, Tretinoin and Benoquin. He also had hydroxychloroquine injected directly into his scalp regularly. The treatments he used for his condition further lightened his skin tone, and with the application of pancake makeup to even out his skin tone, he could appear very pale.
In February 1993, Jackson gave an unusually candid ninety-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey, his first televised interview since 1979. During this interview, he dismissed suggestions that he bleached his skin, declaring publicly for the first time that he suffered from vitiligo and that he used heavy makeup to even out his complexion. The interview was watched by 62 million Americans. It also started a public discourse on the topic of vitiligo, a relatively-unknown condition before then.
During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married his dermatologist’s nurse, Debbie Rowe. The pair first met in the mid-1980s, when Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo. She spent many years treating his illness as well as providing emotional support, and they built a strong friendship before becoming romantically involved. The couple divorced in 1999 and remained friends thereafter.
Cosmetic Procedures and Diet
The structure of his face changed too; several surgeons speculated that he had undergone multiple nasal surgeries, a forehead lift, thinned lips and a cheekbone surgery. In 1979, Jackson had his first rhinoplasty after breaking his nose during a complex dance routine. However, the surgery was not a complete success, and he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed his second rhinoplasty in 1980. Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk that, in addition to the two rhinoplasties, he also had a dimple created in his chin. From 1986 onward he was a regular client of Dr. Arnold Klein, who specializes in dermal filler injection, a non-surgical cosmetic procedure.
In his book, Jackson attributed the changes in the structure of his face to puberty, a strict vegetarian diet, weight loss, a change in hair style and stage lighting. Jackson denied allegations that he had altered his eyes. By 1990, the full extent of Jackson’s surgery was widely debated; those close to the singer estimated he had undergone ten operations on his face up to this point. In June 1992, the Daily Mirror ran a full, front page picture, allegedly of Jackson’s face, which they described as “hideously disfigured” by plastic surgery. Jackson sued the tabloid and in 1998 they agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Jackson. At the High Court, the paper’s former editor acknowledged that after meeting the singer in person, he believed that Jackson was neither hideously disfigured nor scarred. A Daily Mirror solicitor maintained that the publication did not tamper with the picture.
Michael Jackson and Oprah Winfrey
Jackson told Oprah Winfrey in a 1993 interview, “I’m a black American. I am proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race, and I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity of who I am. I have a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin. It’s something I cannot help. When people make up stories that I don’t like who I am, it hurts me,” Jackson told Winfrey.
RIP, Michael!
Resources: wikipedia.org, cnn.com, youtube.com
