Sammy Sosa suffers double standard backlash on complexion

By April MacIntyre Nov 16, 2009, 16:23 GMT

Leave Sammy alone! - Sammy Sosa and Sonia Sosa - 2009 Person of the Year Honoring Juan Gabriel - Arrivals - Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino - Las Vegas, NV, USA © PRN / PR Photos

Some people like their complexions to look lighter.  Some prefer to go darker.  Ex baseballer Sammy Sosa is paying a public price in a weird backlash that condemns some for going brighter in skintone, and says absolutely nothing when others deepen their complexions.

Even to the point of Oompa Loompa orange hues that defy any normalcy.

The choice is purely personal, and to slam Sammy Sosa for lightening his skin is a bizarre move.  Where is the outrage over bodybuilders, Playboy models, Dancing with the Stars contestants and 95% of all celebrities who get Mystic Tans to deeply darken their hides?

Is there something wrong with a paler complexion?  A memo that I missed in the "what's acceptable" for looks?  

The media is having a field day throwing stones at Sosa, who like many people in the public eye, is trying to manage his looks before his AARP card arrives in the mail.

If you remember, poor bright white Ty Murray was bullied onto darkening his skin last season on "Dancing with the Stars;" he resisted until the very end.  No one made much noise about that.

The famous former baseball player garnered media attention when a photograph surfaced that showed a much lighter-skinned man than the public remembered.

And?

Sosa finally made some public remarks - attributing the change to a face cream, reports examiner.com.

He said he has been using a bleaching cream that softens his skin, but affects his pigmentation. He then felt he needed to calm the "deeply worried" down and say he was not going down the Michael Jackson path.

Many cultures around the world feel that cultivating a pallor is a desirable thing to do. 

Blame "Twilight."