Hi Mafy,
It is nice to have you back and your piece has
proved the insensibility of a true Jammeh supporter. You want to inform us of
what Malian women are doing to themselves but you ignore the fact that a
Gambian woman, who deputised for your idol, had ordered her troops to shoot and
kill innocent children. As far as Gambians are concerned that woman, who also
bleaches her skin, is more cancerous than all Malian skin bleachers. Never
before in the history of Africa, and the world for that matter, has a woman
leader been so heartless and unmotherly to her helpless citizens.
As a staunch Jammeh supporter, one expects you to
come up with some explanations as to why defenceless kids were
cold-bloodedly gunned down by a regime you so tirelessly defend. Once more
it is nice to have you back in the fold and try to be a little sensitive to
what has happened in the Gambia.
Prince Coker
P.S.
Skin bleaching can wait.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2000 11:54
PM
Subject: Skin bleach, do our men really
prefer pale women?
From the BBC
Malian women have been warned to avoid the
skin lighteners
By Joan Baxter
The use of bleaching creams to
lighten complexions seems to have reached epidemic proportions in Mali,
despite widespread education campaigns.
Women who refuse to bleach
often find themselves regarded as second class citizens.
A woman who
did not bleach her skin said she is often not offered a chair at baptisms, and
is asked to make herself scarce when group photographs are taken at
marriages.
A quick survey shows there are more than 100 bleaching
products available on the market in the capital, Bamako.
Sold under
brand names such as Marie-Claire or Diana, the products come from Morocco,
Nigeria, the United States or Saudi Arabia.
Pain
Dermatologists
estimate that more than half the women in Mali are now using these creams to
lighten their skin. These products are costly and often cause pain and
blemishes.
So why are so many women in Mali using them? The answer is
simple, according to one Malian woman singer: The creams make her white, and
impart a certain charm.
But Malian physician Dr Ali Gindo finds
bleached skin anything but charming.
"They are just burning
themselves," he says. "It's painful and it's awful."
Dr Gindo says
bleaching can cause skin cancer and the poorest people are the most at risk,
because the cheaper the product, the more dangerous it is.
But he says
it is not just poor women are bleaching their skin.
Role
models
"We have also people who are well educated like lawyers, writers
or professors, or people on the TV - and this is a real problem because if
people who are leaders of opinion bleach themselves, you can imagine how deep
the problem is."
Many of the women who use these products told me they
do so because Malian men prefer women with bleached skin.
But male
musician Al Hassan Soumali disagrees.
"I don't think Malian men like
bleached women," he says. "It's better for Malian women to change their
minds."
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