Skin Bleaching A Growing Problem for Women of Color

According to TheGrio.com "A 23-year-old resident of a Kingston ghetto hopes to transform her dark complexion to a cafe-au-lait-color common among Jamaica's elite and favored by many men in her neighborhood. She believes a fairer skin could be her ticket to a better life. So she spends her meager savings on cheap black-market concoctions that promise to lighten her pigment."  The articles states: "Most Jamaican bleachers use over-the-counter creams, many of them knockoffs imported from West Africa." West African women bleach their skin too.  Are you bleaching your skin to look lighter, if so, why?