Who Knew BAND-AIDs Could Be a Symbol of Systematic Racism?

Hi and welcome to the first official blog post for Fifty Shades of Nude!!

I'm not sure whether people weren't aware about the lack of representation of skin color when it comes to BAND-AIDs or didn't think that this issue was important enough to address until recently. The recent BLM movement has enlightened people about a lot of things that a majority of the American public, especially white Americans, has not been previously brought to peoples attention before. Like the lack of variation of skin tones when it comes to buying BAND-AIDs. This is a HUGE form of white privilege because people of color have to go to the store to buy BAND-AIDs and have to settle for a bandage that will stand out on their skin instead of masking the area of concern where white people just put the BAND-AID on and the job is fulfilled and the area of concern is completely covered. What kind of message is that sending to people of color? It further marginalizes people of color, making them feel different and unaccepted.

Let me pose a question... who uses BAND-AIDs the most? Kids.

Having this notion that there is only one socially accepted skin color to cover up your "boo-boo's" can be a lot more damaging to children than some would anticipate. The whole purpose of BAND-AIDs is to cover up imperfections (cuts, scabs, pimples, etc.), well when there is only one tone of BAND-AID to match all of their customer's skin tones just implies that their skin, like the imperfection intended to cover up, is not good enough for society. This could potentially influence kids to grow up associating their skin as not being good enough and in turn making them as individuals not feel good enough.

I personally believe that it is absolutely absurd that there was only one "nude" tone of BAND-AID. It simply does not make sense in my head that people could be so close-minded and exclusive about something as simple as adhesive bandage... This idea that there is one acceptable shade of nude is a simple form of systematic racism, but racism nonetheless. However as the Black Lives Matter movement has gained a lot more attention and momentum in the United States, BAND-AID revealed adhesive bandages with darker tones (its 2020... about time). Johnson & Johnson's BAND-AID went to instagram with this post (See Below) saying "We see you. We hear you. We're listening to you."

This is a step in the right direction for sure, but was way too long overdue. BAND-AID got some criticism, but hey had good intentions and did what they believed was right for their company and their customers.

In conclusion, Johnson and Johnson's BAND-AID made a long overdue step in the right direction but there are still things that they could do to be even more inclusive. What do you think about the actions BAND-AID took in order to make their brand more inclusive? Could they have done more sooner? Should they continue to add more variations of skin tones? Let me know! No matter what the color of your skin is, you are beautiful! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

-HV