Throughout history, women and men have gone to extreme lengths to look good many times at the expense of their health. Yet, the same quest for beauty exists today as skin bleaching is a thread that has come to stay despite its numerous health implications especially as part of African’s beauty regime, with a mind boggling statistics by World Health Organisation (WHO) that suggests that 77 per cent of Nigerian women bleach their skin— a statistics reputed to be the world’s highest percentage. Although men bleach their skin too, it is predominantly done by women. However, when engaging the subject of skin bleaching, it is important to realise that there are few places in the world where dark skin isn’t stigmatised, and on the other hand, being light-skinned is adored as a sign of beauty, superiority and socioeconomic status much as it tends to be linked to higher job opportunities.
Hence, from birth to childhood to adolescence and then adulthood, women are somewhat reminded that dark skin is inferior as western beauty ideals, including fair skin, dominate worldwide. While the fair skin bias was perpetuated and strongly reinforced by colonialism, it has to be stated that the mass media, through various channels, long after colonialism, continue to reinforce the image of light skin as beautiful and synonymous with success: a notion that has led many dark skin women to want to bleach their skin. But perhaps nowhere is the fair skin preference more ingrained than in our new generation corporate organisations classified adverts seeking for applicants in Nigeria. Along with requirements for the prospective position, profession and education, physical characteristics are listed too. It is the case now that someone described as dusky or black may be skipped in favour of one who is of a fairer complexion.
To be sure, skin bleaching has proven to be a beast entrapping men and especially women in Africa in a web of lies, unrealistic desires, self-hate, health complications, and so on. In fact, it would seem that keeping dark-skinned people, most especially women, in a perpetual state of insecurity is and will always be a big business for Europeans: a phenomenon an American psychologist, Webb, calls “race or ethnicity-based capitalism.”
By all measures, the chemicals contained in bleaching creams damage respiratory, kidney and reproductive systems, cause cancer, affect the nervous system as well as lead to deformity in unborn babies. Some of the physical damages include very dark knuckles, knees, elbows, ankles and toes, unsightly varicose parchment of veins, different shades of skin tone, dark burn-like marks on faces, especially along the cheekbones and around the contours of the eyes. In spite of the risks, authorities are struggling to control the bleaching innovations, which include a compound called glutathione, taken as injections or pills.
Then again, there have been attempts by governments in many African countries including Nigeria to discourage the use of skin bleaches through sales bans, but these have been largely unsuccessful. The point often overlooked however is that you don’t treat an epidemic by eliminating the symptoms, we instead have to look into the root cause and address it accordingly. One thing on which researchers agree is that skin bleaching is probably the consequence of history.
In any case, African women don’t bleach their skin simply because they are vain, it’s more of a response to hundreds of years of colonial indoctrination that has been passed down through socialisation since independence, and they end up lightening their skin because fair skin is too often seen as more attractive and provides them with an economic advantage, and so banning the product would not stop them from getting it through other illegal means.
In the long run, skin lightening is about following standards that are dictated by Eurocentrism, thus the change needs to be led by the mass media that are constantly promoting the light skin bias via movies, television programmes, music videos and especially advertisements. It’s about time we opened up a conversation around skin colour and beauty and the media, particularly the fashion media, should be featuring other types of beauty beyond the western ideal to end this color bias. There needs to be more government pressure on fast fashion and entertainment industries with rigorous checks to ensure they have no choice but to slow down their subtle fair skin bias especially in choosing their models. This is because without sustained work to change this perception, we will only be treating the symptoms, but never actually confronting and seeking to cure the disease. We’re all beautiful in our own way. There is no real hierarchy of beauty and skin nor should there be one since no one’s beauty or skin is inherently better than another’s. It’s important to embrace and, at the very least, respect the vast variety of human appearance and skin colour. Only then will skin bleaching products be less patronised, much as consumption will gradually decrease, with sustainable alternatives quickly becoming the more healthy choice.
Yakubu is of the Department of Mass Communication, Kogi State University, Anyigba.
