Skin bleaching products have become widely used compared to times past, as a result of intense and growing media hype and the need to stand out by darker women. Despite its obvious health effects on the long run, this annual multi-million dollar business has gained tremendous access to women all over the world as a result of globalization, easy access to the internet and social media.
Products usually termed "white and perfect", "so white" and so on have spiked in sales all over the world. Not just Africans are to be looked upon as the regular users of this skin lightning products, it's popular in Asia, the middle east, south America and the caribeeans. Due to the social stigmatization that follows upon realization that a person uses this products to look lighter, product manufacturers have restructured the name of the bleaching creams to sound less invasive, calling it skin lightning or skin tones.
Everyday millions of women invade the internet to search for better ways to look fashionable and attractive . Half of these women add the term "lightning" to their search, to find out the newly released skin lightning products.
The history of this practice of preference dates back to the slavery era when even the light skinned slaves where treated more lightly that their darker counterparts.
But are men truly attracted to Lighter Women?
Society has deeply influenced this belief into the subconscious of people that to be light stands for positive, clean, good, without blemish while to be dark skinned represents everything negative, dirty, bad and filled with evil karma. A proven study stems from the University Of Toronto , their researchers;
analyzed over 2,000 photographs of men and women from advertisements and concluded that men are subconsciously attracted to women with lighter skin because they equate whiteness with "purity, innocence, modesty and goodness," according to the Press Trust Of India. Women, on the other hand, are attracted to swarthier men because "darker complexions are sex, virility and danger.This study gives more insight on why women especially African women feel the need to lighten up their complexion. Not just to look fashionable, but are pressured to doing so to attract the opposite sex who they feel won't find them attractive except they are of a lighter tone.
In May 2015, Ivory Coast took measures to ban all forms of skin lightning products as a result of the growing epidemic of patronization from women and even men in their country. The government also looked into the growing health problems that could emanate on the long run and thereby took measures to get rid of this products before it became a national health crisis
As reported by the BBC:
Asians and Indians are the next in line who among nations that have greatly patronized these lightning products. The fair completion have been widely stamped as the highest point of beauty and one can't climb the social ladder looking dark. Black people are viewed as dangerous, negative, and bad as tagged by society and in India, dark skinned people are grouped as belonging to the outlawed and low classed citizens and usually associated to menial work.
How Are Dark Women Pressured By This?
Despite the fact that black is the dominant complexion in Africa, black is not really beautiful and this opinion is accepted silently in the African society. Dark women are pressured to look lighter because their men patronize and have more liking for lighter women and the demand for these women is higher, not minding their initial complexion.
Why Do Men Go For These Light In Complexioned Women In Africa?
• Men have mentally generalized that light skin is more attractive to the sight.
• The need to have lighter skinned offspring
• The need to show off to friends and colleagues that they have exquisite taste in women.
• Light is seen as successful
• Black men are pressured into not marrying outside their own race so they see lighter skinned women in their own race as a suitable alternative.
Why Are Women Pressured Into Using These Products?
• To attract better men and not to be ignored.
• Climb the highest point of the achievement ladder which society can offer them
• To be more accepted by society as beautiful.
• Competition for men has become quiet high in Africa and the world.
• Illusive belief that it would drastically change their lives.
• The fear of social isolation
What Are The Side Effects?
Lots of women are totally unaware of the long term implications and health risks that can be incurred from using this products. Hydroquinone which is notoriously known to be the the most active chemical agent in these lightning products , inhibits the formation of menalin. It's over use causes irreversible skin damage and long term health consequences that are too numerous to mention such as:
• The risk of acquiring cancer as a long term effect,
•Very thin skin, which even make up might not stick effectively on such a skin
•Serious Allergy
• Untreatable skin discoloration
• Prolonged healing of the injuries, acne, and infections
• Premature Aging
When these risk finally compound on regular users and the effects are glaring, they usually have no one else to blame but themselves.
Is Racism The Cause Of The Overwhelming Patronizing Of These Products By Women?
The correct answer to this is an absolute "No" although some people might argue otherwise. In the past, racism could have been added as a major factor but the reasons why black women and even men bleach their skin in this modern era, goes far beyond racism.
Lots of dark celebrities who have more societal influence and who should be forerunners in advocating the need to quit lightning the skin are Infact on the road to looking as light as possible. There are lots of dark people who just don't like their complexion and when asked , would like to return to this world as a lighter individual.
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