by B. R. GOWANI
The World Health Organization’s June 2012 report lists the harmful effects the skin lightening products have on the users: “The main adverse effect of the inorganic mercury contained in skin lightening soaps and creams is kidney damage. Mercury in skin lightening products may also cause skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring, as well as a reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections. Other effects include anxiety, depression or psychosis and peripheral neuropathy” PHOTO/Nigeria Films and TEXT/WHO
Racism, prejudice, claims of superiority or righteousness, etc are not the prerogative of any one racial, religious, or ethnic group. Most groups have been infected with these evils, albeit to varying degrees. Serious problems arise, however, when one particular group uses these traits on others to cause devastating effects and drastically mess up the victims’ thinking and their lives.
Historically, the Caucasians have ruled the blacks and browns for a long time, and have made them suffer many humiliations and degradations in very systematic ways. The resulting inferiority complex among the victims has led many to hate their own skin color (besides other things) and fall in love with the skin tone of their once-masters.
Skin whitening has become so commonplace among women, that even big cosmetics firms like L’Oreal have been accused of making its models look paler – as is suggested to be the case with this Freida Pinto advert (left). PHOTO/Daily Mail
The tragedy is compounded when, within the same racial group, people face discrimination based on the shades (lighter or darker) of their skin tone. The victims mostly are darker tone people. Author Alice Walker has termed this type of prejudice as “colorism.” This trend has also been observed within religious and ethnic groups. The preference for white or light skin is a global phenomenon.
One website for Asian women in Hong Kong declares, “Flawlessly milky skin is to die for.” Many take precautionary measures to avoid their skin from getting darker–such as avoiding the sunlight. Many take precautionary measures to avoid their skin from getting darker (such as avoiding the sunlight.) Many years back, I had read an article in a Gujarati magazine (either Chitralekha or Abhyan) that many women keep their children away from eating various foods, including jambu, a black purplish berry-like fruit, fearing that these may make the children dark skinned. This is also seen in films, where we notice that villains have darker complexions and the heroes tend to have fairer skin. In Mali, where a great number of women use whitening creams, unbleached women are treated like second class citizens. Seventy Seven percent of the Nigerian women regularly use skin-lightening products, while in South Africa, Senegal, Mali, and Togo the proportions are 35%, 27%, 25%, and 59%, respectively. In China, Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the percentage of women using these products is approximately 40%. The dermatological market share for skin lightening products in India stands at 61%. (All the figures are from WHO.)
In Mexico, the first question a relative asks about a newborn is related to her/his color. The Latin America is witnessing an expansion in marketing of skin lightening products by the multinational companies. One just has to watch Spanish TV to find out the domination of light skinned people. Malin Falu, is associated with the Spanish-language radio in New York. But she has failed to find work with Spanish TV stations. “Professionally, there is no other reason for me not to be hired” than my brown skin.
In India, with Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador, the Enami group’s Fair and Handsome cream for men had sales of $13 million in 2008-2009!
Adverse effect on Health
“One study indicated a large proportion of nephrotic syndrome among African women using ammoniated mercuric chloride–containing skin lightening creams for periods ranging from one month to three years. Over three quarters of the women who stopped using the creams went into remission.”
Besides health, the preference of employers, advertisers, and others for light skin, damages the psyche of those rejected because of their darker complexion. Colorism is widely prevalent in Mexico, Indonesia, Pakistan, the US, and many other places.
Besides health, the preference of employers, advertisers, and others for light skin, damages the psyche of those rejected because of thie darker complexion. Colorism is widely prevalent in Mexico, Indonesia, Pakistan, the US, and many other places.
Jamaican Mikeisha Simpson is not worried about the side effects. “She believes a fairer skin could be her ticket to a better life.”
“Pigmentocracy”
Although the term “pigmentocracy” was introduced a couple of decades ago by social scientists, Trudier Harris points out that pigmentocracy has existed on US soil since blacks set foot on this land.
The white Europeans’ second most repugnant offense, after the usurping of Native American land, was to bring black Africans to the US as slaves. Slavery was a racist act. The slave master introduced further divisiveness with racist undertones when light-skinned slaves were assigned as house slaves and the darker ones were made to work in the fields. Historically, in the US, “Blacker blacks were viewed as unattractive, indeed ugly, and generally considered of lesser value.”
South Asians
The inhabitants of South Asia are a mixture of various shades and colors (somewhat like Latin America) as a result of numerous invasions, including that of Alexander the Great. They are fair, wheatish, dusky, dark, etc. In South Asia, often, in the same family you can find all of the above hues. The Indian advertising industry’s philosophy has been to introduce the “fair” colored girl to the parents for possible marriage, whereas the “dark” girl (considered “exotic”) is good for the “hotel” room for a good time. Even in the slums, the craze for light skin is quite pervasive.
This state of affairs has prevailed for generations now and has shown little sign of relenting.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com