Self-Hating Africa…
I remember freaking out two days ago when I read that skin bleaching products, many containing mercury will make $31.2 billion in profits by 2024. I wasn’t surprised that the demand for these products was high in Asia and Africa…two continents that place whiteness at the apex of just about everything.
It’s no secret that Zimbos have been conditioned to value light skin. The advent of colonialism saw white people instilling their own values and norms in Zimbabwean society. These values unfortunately included European beauty standards which saw Zimbabweans assimilating the European beauty standards into their own culture. Notably, the preference of fair skin or light skin became a Zimbabwean or African cultural norm. These are the reasons why light skin is now the pinnacle of beauty in black society.
While racism gave birth to colourism, colourism gave birth to skin bleaching. Skin bleaching is a pandemic that isn’t addressed as much as it should be. The topic of skin bleaching is more nuanced than what society thinks because society lacks the ability to sympathise with people who take the route of skin bleaching in the first place. What’s more, people will ridicule dark-skinned women for being…well…dark, then proceed to be shocked and judgemental when said dark-skinned women choose to bleach their skin. Make it make sense Zimbabweans.
Unsurprisingly, women bleach their skin more than men do. Doctors have actually noted that women bleach their skin for economically strategic reasons more than they do for vanity reasons.
As far as I’m concerned, Zimbabweans have three attitudes when it comes to skin bleaching. A large part of the population has a disdain for people who choose to bleach their skin, the others are convinced that skin bleaching is normal and the rest just don’t care. That’s where the problem lies…the not caring part.
How skin bleaching works
Skin bleaching reduces the concentration of melanin in a person’s body. Melanin is a pigment produced by cells known as melanocytes. When one applies a skin-bleaching product to the skin such as hydroquinone, it decreases the number of melanocytes in your skin. This can result in light skin. YIKES!
Why people bleach their skin
Sadly, the beauty standard for black women not just here in Zimbabwe or Africa, but for black women around the world as a whole is fair skin or light skin. The lighter a woman is, the more attractive she is. The darker a black woman is, the more unattractive and unappealing she is to the rest of society. Dark-skinned women are usually subjected to bullying, harassment and even gross dehumanisation that none of us can even begin to comprehend. Of course, this harassment and cruelty stems from self-hating black people who pedestalise whiteness as the beauty standard everyone should aspire to attain. Since black women are subjected to ridicule and all sorts of harassment to the point where they believe that they are hideous, they are convinced that their saving grace is skin bleaching. Thus, in order to attain “beauty” or live up to the beauty standards society upholds or favours, they start bleaching their skin.
Light-skinned women are the preference in the dating world. Studies have shown that light-skinned women get into relationships easier than darker-skinned women. Light-skinned women are known to get married easily as they are deemed the most beautiful women. Africans value marriage more than anything else in the world and I’d say most African women aspire to marry. Unfortunately for darker-skinned women, getting married is no walk in the park because the majority of the men in their social circles prefer light-skinned women. So, some darker-skinned women bleach their skin to acquire a husband. After all, marriage often brings “honour” to women in patriarchal societies and it’s no different in Zimbabwe.
Society deems darker-skinned women as unattractive and thus they are labelled as unworthy of marriage or they simply aren’t marriage material. According to psychologists, darker-skinned women remind black men of their blackness and the fact that Africans were colonised and deemed inferior due to their skin colour. Therefore, marrying a darker-skinned black woman usually forces a self-hating black man to face their demons which include their skin colour, their inferiority complexes and the colonial regime’s ridicule.
Some women bleach their skin in order to acquire jobs. Unfortunately, humans are incredibly shallow, thus they place appearance above everything else and it’s no different when it comes to employment. It’s no secret that an employer will hire a light-skinned woman over a darker-skinned woman simply because he or she thinks the former is more appealing and will attract clients or customers to their businesses. What’s more, light-skinned women benefit from the halo-effect as society deems them pure, perfect and completely incapable of any wrongs or mistakes whereas dark-skinned women are associated with aggression, violence and other criminal offenses. My aunt is light-skinned and she always tell me how white people, mixed people amongst other races prefer asking her for assistance at the receptionist’s desk over her dark-skinned colleague who sits right next to her and offers the same services. Still think this issue isn’t such a big deal?
Indian women and South-African women are very vocal about the necessity of skin bleaching in their nations, especially in the entertainment industry. The lighter you are, the more opportunities you have in Bollywood, Nollywood, Hollywood and any other wood I may have left out. Celebrities like Khanyi Mbau from South-Africa have been unabashedly vocal about the importance of looking good in the entertainment industry and that they achieve the desired look through bleaching. Unfortunately, the global perception for looking good in South-Africa in this case is being light-skinned. Most African modelling jobs are often given to light-skinned women. Acting roles are also mostly given to light skinned women. Nigerian women have also come out with statements claiming that light-skinned women are favoured in the entertainment industry. So, it begs the question: how can one not be sympathetic to most of these women’s situations? They have to bleach just to earn a living or just to survive. Some dark-skinned women whether they are from the African continent or the Asian continent have no choice but to bleach if they want to chase their dreams in the entertainment industry.
Status and power go hand in hand when it comes to the issues of skin colour. Light-skinned women already benefit from the halo-effect, pretty-privilege and they are also deemed as originating from a highly-esteemed background. Due to this perception, they are treated with respect in society. Light-skinned women are accorded a protection and respect that dark-skinned women are deprived of…that’s why some dark-skinned women bleach, because they want a higher status in society that will accord them benefits.
Effects of skin bleaching.
Gosh, I don’t know where to even start, but I will say that there are MANY reasons why skin-bleaching products are banned and are illegal in many countries including Zimbabwe. The reality is that there are no safe or reliable ways of skin beaching or lightening because whether the method is an over-the counter cream or whatever, it still has risks that just aren’t worth it.
Ever hear of mercury poisoning? Well, it’s certainly not pretty. At all. Most, if not all skin lightening creams or products contain mercury. There was a study in 2014 of 549 skin lightening creams from online stores and nearly 12 percent of these creams contained mercury. According to healthline.com, prolonged use of skin-bleaching products leads to mercury poisoning. People with mercury poisoning acquire sensitivity to light, fatigue, high blood pressure, neurologic complications such as tremor and memory loss. Yes, my dude, you read that right; memory loss. Oh yeah, let’s not forget kidney failure. Terrified? Me too, bub.
Most skin-bleaching products contain dangerous concentrations of hydroquinone and topical steroids. These two compounds often lead to permanent discolouration of the skin, there’s typically gray, blue and purple spotting. Yep, you’ll get blue spots like Sulley from the Monsters Inc movie. Women are misled into believing that bleaching their skin is all temporary…but it will lead to permanent damage.
These skin lightening products can also cause weird rashes, acne and even thinning skin. Since skin-bleaching products are initially created to inhibit the production of melanin, your skin is left vulnerable to harmful U.V rays. Melanin helps protect one from said U.V rays and without it you have a greater risk of developing certain skin cancers and blood cancers like leukaemia.
I’m pretty sure skin bleaching HURTS! A popular South-African artist known as Mashoza was very popular for unabashedly bleaching her skin. During an interview a certain skin bleaching cream was being applied on her face and she admitted that the cream stings. What’s more, the skin lightening products she was advertising and promoting had no ingredients. That’s a major red flag. I’ve also seen videos of black women peeling off their skin after bleaching and it is horrifying.
People who bleach their skin become addicted to it. Bleaching becomes a fix and the high they get from it is gaining a type of “beauty” determined and worshipped by a society that hates itself. That addiction is dangerous to people’s health…it’s dangerous to your health black woman.
Conclusively, you might die. Chasing beauty standards of light skin as a result of cultural influences will lead you to a grave.
How to combat skin bleaching
Unfortunately, skin bleaching in Africa is persistent. Even and especially in countries where these products are banned. Dismantling the culture of skin bleaching in African societies starts in the mind. It’s easier said than done but people need to free themselves from idolising fair or white skin. That’s a journey that we can all help each other with through positive reinforcement, kindness and understanding. That is, accord dark-skinned black women positive words. Tell your dark-skinned baby sisters and brothers at home that they are perfect the way they are so that words and pressures of the world will never leave a wound that will fester and be “treated” or “remedied” with skin bleaching.
Here’s a cliché solution for you: education is key. People need to be conscientised about freeing themselves from European beauty standards. If we get rid of the European beauty standards plaguing our cultures…then we can slowly start to heal and step away from skin bleaching products.
Society should create safe spaces for dark-skinned women in all spheres. Imagine the impact we could create if we call out people who ridicule dark-skinned women, whether it’s at home, school or even work and social media. Imagine if African commercials, music videos, movies and modelling agencies were more inclusive of dark-skinned women? It would mean a lot to little dark-skinned girls who are constantly subjected to Western media and Western beauty standards.
Remember
Please refrain from being a menace to society who throws colourist slurs around irresponsibly. Your tongue can be poisonous, so I implore you all to be careful not to inject verbal poison into people’s hearts and minds. Battling skin-bleaching takes kindness, sympathy and understanding.
-The “Weird” Brown Girl.
SOURCES:
https://www.healthline.com/health/skin-bleaching#side-effects
Quite insightful and well articulated. I’ll have to stop portraying lightskinned women as the better of society. I have to say I’ve been guilty of that crime. Thanks for the eye opener, society at large needed to hear this.
Make it make sense Zimbabweans!! Girl, you tell them. And it really is high time that we as a nation actually sit each other down and talk about this publicly making sure to address all the nitty gritties because if not, we’re at high risk of losing an entire generation
I am light in complexion and I understand I don’t have the same struggles as darker skinned women but it’s always disgusted me when men approach me and use the term “light-skinned” as a compliment. To colourists, this is a compliment synonymous with “you’re beautiful”. It’s sickening that as black people we have internalised racism, so although we say we are ‘free’ ,the mental shackles from colonisation still exist within us. Zvakaoma.