Kabir, thanks for this thought-provoking forward. I hope after reading it, it will sink into us that it is not always true what others mean about you but what you make of your self. Biri. >From: Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Fwd: [Network Africa Sweden] Skin Bleaching >Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:16:17 +0100 > >Love the skin you’re in? Is it possible to be black and beautiful in >today’s society? > > > >In this feature Black Britain continues the debate on skin bleaching within >our communities looking in greater depth at the historical, cultural, >social and psychological reasons why some people are just not happy with >the skin they’re in. > > > >Where does the desire to be white stem from? > > > > Supermodel Alek Wek's dark skin and striking physical features are seen >as assets that have contributed to the success her of career, proving that >black can be regarded as beautiful in today's society. > > From a young age we are taught to worship all things white and beautiful, >so therefore anything black isn’t beautiful or desirable > > > >Dr Lez Henry, sociologist > > > >The Health Hazards of Skin Bleaching > >Historical Legacies based on religion > > > >According to sociologist Dr Lez Henry, who appeared in Dami Akinnusi’s >documentary: Bleach My Skin White, part of the desire to have a whiter skin >stems from a desire to be nearer to God. He told Black Britain: > > > >“From a young age we are taught to worship all things white and beautiful, >so therefore anything black isn’t beautiful or desirable. > > > >We are also taught that anyone in a position of real power is white, God is >white, and Jesus is white.” > > > >He describes such ideologies as Eurocentric and ethnocentric, because it >puts Caucasians, as an ethnic group at the centre of everything. > > > >“European standards and norms are the yardstick to measure everything, both >good and bad.” > > > >Dr Henry referred to Hinduism, the religion based on a caste system whereby >the darker your skin is the more cursed you are. He said: > > > >“According to the religion, you are not just cursed and damned in this >life; you are cursed and damned for all eternity, for being black.” > > > >However, this belief system was given to Hinduism by the Aryans who were a >tribe who moved into the Indus valley in India some time between 1750 to >1200 BCE from areas surrounding Russia and the Baltic. > > > >They introduced the varna system which is believed to be how Hinduism came >to be based on the caste system. > > > >The name Aryan means noble and therefore when the Aryans came to India they >established a class structure whereby they placed themselves at the top of >it and others below them. > > > >Therefore the belief among Asians that it is more desirable to be a lighter >complexion is based on the belief that this conveys a superior status in >society. > > > >“So this has a historical legacy [for Asian people] but for us [black >people] it is slightly different”, said Dr Henry. > > > >“During slavery, as Africans we were socialised into accepting that >everything white was virtuous, true, honest, master and mistress.” > > > >The images of Africans as negative were communicated to slaves through the >Bible, using certain scriptures to tell them that they were savages. > > > >Dr Henry told Black Britain: “It wasn’t by chance that all of a sudden >Europeans were telling us that Africans are savages.” > > > >This was written into European books and written into European >vocabularies: > > > >“They designed that to place us on the bottom rung of the ladder and >themselves on top.” > > > >The reason why these ideologies continue to pervade society is because >“nothing has been put in place for white people do deal with their own >racism and that system of white supremacy”, Dr Henry said. > > > >Dr Henry refers to these ideologies as “systems of power” which exist >“without black people realising that they are being socialised and educated >away from themselves. > > > >This is about socialising people to believe that they are inferior. Our >society teaches you to hate and not to trust anything that looks like you >if you are not white.” > > > >Social and psychological factors > > > > If you are someone with low self esteem who has experienced adversity in >your life then you are more likely to look at external factors to explain >your problems, such as the shade of your skin. > > > > > >Dr Dele Olajide is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the South London and >Maudsley NHS Trust who also appeared in Bleach My Skin White. > > > >He told Black Britain that the majority of people who bleach their skin are >women. However, it is not just black women from the UK but from south-east >Asia, Japan, the Middle East, the African continent, the Caribbean, south >and North America. > > > >In other words, what we have is a world wide phenomenon of people who are >not happy with the skin they are in. Dr Olajide told Black Britain: > > > >“The people who bleach are people of colour who do so because the role >model projected, the ideal women who are projected onto our TV screens are >light-skinned women.” > > > >Among the Indian population, women say that they lighten their skin because >if they are dark it doesn’t make them feel sexually attractive, it doesn’t >increase their dowry and they are mistaken as being lower class. > > > >Women are kept at home when they are young to keep them from too much >exposure to the sun so they don’t get too dark. > > > >This is well known among Asians although it is not openly discussed. Among >Arab women plastic surgery is common as Middle-eastern women are >restructuring their noses to look more European. Dr Olajide told Black >Britain: > > > >“When you look at how we, as black people have been colonized and enslaved, >over the years the value of the subjugated is to aspire towards the master >group.” > > > >Therefore people of African descent are more likely to feel that white >culture is superior to everything black, because that is what has been >pumped into them since very early on in childhood. > > > >A major disadvantage to black culture has been the lack of written African >history, according to Dr Olajide. > > > >Most African history is mainly oral and therefore most of the stories known >about African history are recent and based on the media and what white >people have written about black culture: > > > >“So basically history tells us that Africans are primitive and white people >are civilized.” > > > >Dr Olajide told Black Britain that in his opinion as a psychiatrist, the >people most likely to bleach are the more vulnerable members of our >communities: > > > >“The more fragile your ego is, the more likely you are to have low >self-esteem and the more likely you are to aspire to the attributes of the >superior race. > > > >Those of us who are not strong emotionally tend to believe that. This is >conditioned from a very early age.” > > > >In America an experiment was carried out whereby black children were asked >to choose between pink toys and black toys at the age of five and 70 per >cent of the children picked pink toys. > > > >Dr Olajide said: “Black children picked pink toys because that is what they >believed is a better colour to be, not black.” > > > >He said unless a child has a strong family to nurture them and give them >confidence in themselves as a black person, there is a risk of falling >victim to external mediums that portray black people in a negative light. > > > >Commenting on the portrayal of black women in music videos Dr Olajide >claims that darker skinned women are given the type of roles that flaunt >their sexuality, perpetuating the stereotype that darker skinned women are >sexual beasts. He asserts that the lighter skinned women are given more >graceful roles. > > > >Dr Olajide stated that as people tend not to watch television programmes >critically and analytically they fail to notice that generally the media >tends to perpetuate the same stereotypes over the years: > > > >“Black men are aggressive, virile and always ready and they are only >objects of desire because they are studs. They are not intelligent.” > > > >White men are portrayed as cerebral and intellectual but black men can be >as wild as possible. > > > >With black women, the darker they are the more they are seen as wild. There >is no question of dignity. We have bought into this even as black people >ourselves.” > > > > >--------------------------------- >How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE >with Yahoo! Photos. Get Yahoo! Photos > >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] >¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ _________________________________________________________________ Få alle de nye og sjove ikoner med MSN Messenger http://messenger.msn.dk/ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤