Thanks Haruna for this piece. It is very sad to read. I wonder how blokes are able merry with skin bleaching women. I wonder! the self-loathing is not the only problem but the heavy perfumes to kill off the scent is polluting and dangerous.
suntou
I wrote some few comments on bleaching back in march:
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
SANDY FACE
I want to conduct a public-step by step piecing together of an article on 'bleaching'. I will refer to the act as sand papering. This is because, skin bleaching is nothing but removing the outer skin to expose the inner one.
Sand paper is use to smoothen a wooden material or rough things. The act is meant for non-living things. But when a living human with eyes, brain, five common sense, passion, etc engages in self-humiliation and public ridicule, no one should sympathise with such person.
The thinking behind 'sandy face':
Do you as a man have a sister or spouse who bleach?
What is your reaction to the act of bleaching?
The same question can be related to women. How would you react when your sister starts bleaching?
What is bleaching? A layman explanation will be, an act of applying creams to whiten one's body.
But then there can be more complicated definitions.
I for one is too young to know when the act of sand papering human body commences. But through personal observation, the act has been around for years now.
Why did it start? well, the sure answer would be low self-esteem and lacking confidence in the skin one is in. The emphasis on beauty being in the colour 'white' or 'light' complexion, black or dark skin people find ways to look white or lighter.
Like any thing that is demanded by the people, a market will arise for it sooner or later. The existence of demand for bleaching products trigger some entrepreneurs to produce creams that can medically remove the black skin and expose the lighter one.
This process is not as straight forward as I just state. Oh no, it involves a combinations of creams. some very dangerous and harmful to the human body. That is why, it burns the practitioners. This can be considered unnatural.
Why the 'sand papering'?
As stated earlier, beauty definition being in white or light, creates a natural tendency of non-white people doing their utmost to look like the character depicted beautiful.
The practice is done by mostly women from non-white background. This is more than a mere urge for women to look white at a very high cost but the male gender fuel the desire too.
Men are the engine behind the industry of skin bleaching.
A bold claim some will say. Ask yourself a simple question? Why do you look good? Who do you make the effort to look good for?
When you answer this simple questions, then you will find out that, women go to an extreme length in beautifying themselves for the male gender. This can be for a specific man or as a way of attracting attention. I will rush to say, some women look good only to be comfortable in themselves. the sad episoud is that some respectable brothers have spouses who bleach the day light of their skins, can we now refer to this people are 'black sahib'? Black in the outer but white in the inside.
I will tackle the social side of the discussion later.
Social
religious
Personal reputation
The overall effect on Black people
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com
--- On Sat, 13/6/09, Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Would you change your skin colour? Courtesy BBC news.
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Saturday, 13 June, 2009, 4:34 PM
I think Miss Carlene has other more significant considerations than her "complexion". If your feet take on a different hue than the rest of your friggin covered body, how about taking the cover off the rest of your body so you could have an even tone all over???? Or quit wearing flip-flops and wear full shoes instead? What idiots!!! Haruna. I had spots before I started bleaching my foot. Now you got cancer to pass on to your children unnecessarily. Spots or poison? What'll it be???
'Bleaching destroyed my skin'
Carlene as she looks now, after using skin lighteners
Carlene, 35, from Kingston, Jamaica, has been "bleaching" her skin for three years.
She uses skin lightening creams which are popular with many Afro-Caribbean, African and Asian people, despite repeated health warnings.
Some of the products contain toxic chem icals, such as hydroquinone, which may cause skin irritation, bleaching, or even infection, when applied in excessive quantities.
In a special joint broadcast by BBC Africa Have Your Say and BBC Caribbean, Carlene explains why she began "rubbing" and the effect it had on her skin.
I started bleaching my skin about three years ago.
I was trying to bring an even tone.
We live in a tropical country where the sun is always hot.
At some point, your face will become darker than the rest of your body.
I used to wear my pants and my feet were always browner than my body.
Sometimes I would see another girl and think: 'Oh, that's a nice tone, I would like to have that all in one look.'
'Barbie doll'
On a typical day, when I wake up, I use warm water and hair removing cream to bathe my skin.
Carlene (R) with her mum, before skin bleaching
Then I go and rub on my stuff, which is a mix of Bioclear oil with the cream.
I rub it on night and morning. No matter what hours I came up the road, I love to get my thing on.
Trust me. If you knew me then and now...
Some people who knew me before I started bleaching say I messed up myself.
Some people say: 'You look too fake!'
Some look at me like a Barbie doll because I wear a lot of make up and my face is just so pretty.
After three years bleaching, I have stopped.
The reason is that it gave me stretch marks on my hands and on some parts of my body - like my sides.
I didn't really want to destroy my skin.
But if you ask me: 'Would you still have stopped, if it hadn't done any harm?'
Trust me, no! Why would I stop?
Light touch
What's my advice, for people who never tried it before and think they want a nice tone?
I rub it on night and morning, no matter what hours I came up the road
I would say, go for something very mild.
Because what is really harsh in the bleaching cream is the hydroquinone.
I used to use a natural bleach without the hydroquinone.
But it was the gel that destroyed my skin. So for me I would say the gel is a no no.
Carlene, midway through her years of skin bleaching
You can always use something milder.
Am I more more beautiful now?
Come on, I'm beautiful whichever way, whether I'm black or white.
I just love myself, with or without. It's just me.
But sometimes in life you g o through different phases. You want a different flavour.
Where I live know, most people, they know me like this.
So when they see my skin goes dark, they say: "You get too black man, you need to start rubbing."
But people who knew me before would say I shouldn't bleach.
My mum would say: 'Carlene, why are you doing this to your skin?'
Because I always had nice skin, growing up. I had a nice complexion.
But it's just life - you want to try something new.
Black or brown?
I had an ex boyfriend, he met me when I was brown.
I asked him at one point: 'Do you prefer me black or brown?'
He would say: "Any way".
I wish I could wake up in the morning and look like I did before
But even though he doesn't say to me, I know he's attracted to me in brown. =0 D
But I also I had a relationship with someone else, when I was rubbing.
He said he wouldn't say hi to me again, until I stopped.
So, people prefer different strokes.
A lot of people look at skin browning [favourably]. But honestly, it's destroying your skin.
Sometimes I lie down at night and wish I could wake up in the morning and just look like I did before this process started.
My advice to people who are thinking of starting, is that you can use something mild.
Even though I've stopped bleaching, I still use something mild, to maintain my skin tone.
Because if I stop now, I'm going to look like I'm poison.
That's the effect it has on you.
-----Original Message-----
From: Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sat, Jun 13, 2009 11:20 am
Subject: Would you change your skin colour? Courtesy BBC news.
Skin lightening creams are popular with many African, Asian and Afro-Caribbean people, despite repeated health warnings.
Some of the products contain toxic chemicals which may cause skin irritation, bleaching, or even infection, say medics from west London's Ham mersmith Hospital.
Countries such as Nigeria, Gambia, Uganda and Kenya have banned the importation and manufacture of products containing skin lightening agents but local concoctions which may contain chlorine bleach, hair relaxer creams and lime juice are still being used in many instances.
Have you ever used skin lightening products? And were you happy with the outcome? Do lighter skinned people have better advantages in life? How common is this trend in your country? Send us your views.
Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips.造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造 To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] 造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造造
Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the grill. いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
|
