1. EssAYS of AfricaMAY 2015 78 EssAYS of Africa MAY 201579
WHO IS THE FAIREST
OF THEM ALL?
Skin lightening is a controversial issue,
not just in Africa but worldwide. We
look at how this phenomenon is more
than just skin deep.
“If people can change
their weight profile,
wear a weave, take it
out, grow their hair or
shave it, then what is
wrong with changing
their complexion?”WORDS:ZANELEMJI.IMAGES:©ISTOCK.COM,www.women24,tashasays.com,yabablay.com
health EOA
n every township I’ve visited, there’s a wedding song
that goes ‘Ngwana otshwana lele coloured’ (the
bride looks coloured) which refers to how the beautiful
the bride is because she is light-skinned. That’s the
description of a beauty,” says Neo Mabita, the co-
founder of The Yellowbone Factory in Sandton. She
and her partners founded the company in 2009, to offer
women a range of skin lightening, whitening and de-pigmentation
solutions. “There haven’t been a lot of options available to women
who would like to actively pursue that beauty ideal. In my travels
I noticed that options for contouring and altering what you were
born with are more available in other countries, but in South
Africa it’s quite taboo. Skin lightening products have traditionally
been black market and underground.”
Also known as bleaching, the use of chemical skin-lighteners
is commonplace across Africa, Europe and Asia. According to
a 2011 World Health Organization (WHO) report, 61 perhaps
of cosmetics on the market in India are for lightening skin. A
startling 77 percent of Nigerian, and 35 percent of South African
women are reported to regularly use whitening products. Such
statistics are alarming in the medical world because of the toxic
ingredients used in most affordable lightening creams sold by
cosmetics stores, markets and informal traders. Unregulated
amounts of hydroquinone, mercury and steroids strip the skin of
melanin and natural SPF, and have been proven to cause skin
cancer, organ failure and skeletal deterioration according to Dr
Ncoza Dlova, dermatologist and principal specialist at UKZN
dermatology department.
“We manufacture our own products that contain as many
organic ingredients as possible, such as retinol and Vitamin C. We
use no toxic ingredients. If people can change their weight profile,
wear a weave, take it out, grow their hair or shave it, then what is
wrong with changing their complexion?” asks Neo.
SELF-LOVE CRISIS
Beyond its medical dangers, skin lightening is a controversial and
sensitive issue for many black people. It’s also often problematised
as a symptom of deep psychological and social disorders that
manifest as colourism: the belief that
lighter skin tones are more attractive than
dark complexions. Old-world orders of
racism and slavery continue to manifest
themselves as a global cultural hierarchy
that promotes whiteness as superior
to blackness. Such ideas are projected
onto beauty trends that are produced
and re-produced worldwide by Western-
dominated media. The overwhelming
whiteness of the American entertainment
industry is tempered by the inclusion of
certain black superstars such as Diana Ross,
Beyoncé and Halle Berry who, with mixed
racial heritage and/or racially ambiguous
features, are celebrated as the pinnacles of
black beauty.
South Africa, with a history defined by
different limitations and allowances based
onskincolour,hasitsowndiscoursearound
complexion marked by certain words.
Umnyamane (black one), ‘dark dindi’
(dark beauty) ‘yellowbone’ are colloquial
terms used to describe women according to
their complexion. “I’m an ’80s baby and I
grew up with the term ‘yellowbone’ being
used very loosely to describe a beautiful
woman. I feel it’s only recently that it’s
been redefined to specifically mean that
she is light-skinned,” says Neo.
Like Neo, the Cameroonian/Nigerian
pop star and owner of Whitenicious
skincare line, Denicia has had to defend
her business pursuits against derision.
Though the product range is marketed
as ‘a 7-day fast acting spot remover’, and
before and after pictures of Denicia’s
transition from toffee-coloured to a milky
tone prompted allegations that she is
selling a skin bleach. Whitenicious sold
out within 24 hours of launching. Denicia
has also declared her range free of harsh
ingredients. But many feel that the harm
caused by Denicia’s endorsement of skin-
lightening goes beyond the physical and
that she is promoting black self-hatred.
Professor of sociology and specialist in
post-colonial race, ethnicity and gender,
Zine Magubane, says, “Even white women
pursue whiteness. Look at women like
Joan Rivers and Jennifer Aniston who are
descended from immigrant communities.
They lightened their hair and narrowed
their noses for a more Aryan look. And
white women who are born looking the
right way also starve themselves, elect
for surgery and fight ageing to stay that
way. It’s important to consider the skin-
lightening issue within the broader
context of the fact that all women have
been risking their health to be a certain
type of beautiful for a very long time.
It’s important not to pathologise black
people’s choices within a vacuum.”
She adds that a historical understanding
of current cultural practices can offer some
perspective. “The term ‘yellowbone’ is a
term that originated in slavery, used as a
descriptor for light-skinned slaves of mixed
racial descent. Because they were usually
descendants of the slave owner, they were
more eligible for certain privileges, such
as their freedom and land inheritance. In
South Africa, lighter-skinned black people
could sometimes ‘pass’ for coloured and
receive better education and opportunities.
It’s not as simple as saying that lightness is
more beautiful because of its proximity
to whiteness. It’s about the high value of
what proximity to whiteness could afford
disenfranchised black people.”
Mabita, who uses skin-lightening
products herself, says, “I don’t want to look
white. I want to look right in the eyes of
the world.” Professor Magubane believes
that more problematic than the pursuit
of a white aesthetic, is the stigmatisation
of blackness. “Remember in Good Hair
when Chris Rock tried to sell the Afro and
nobody wanted it?
That’s disappointing. Only black
woman can tackle this and fix our scars
internally. Just make the choice to refuse
to participate in a culture that tells you
you’re rotten for the way you came out
of your mother’s womb. Even the black
women whom these beauty standards
supposedly favour are in a gilded cage.
They are considered objects and trophies
by so many.”
PHYSICAL
CONSEQUENCES
While the mental health aspects that are
affected by skin lightening are alarming,
the physical damage caused by it is just as
alarming. Side effects of skin lightening
include skin cancer, thinning of the skin,
osteoporosis, neurological and kidney
CELEBS WHO
HAVE GONE THE
LIGHTENING ROUTE
Mshoza
Sorisha Naidoo
Denicia
damage due to high level of mercury used
in the creams, and birth defects among
other consequences.
There is a belief among many skin
lightening cream users that more expensive
products aren’t as harmful as those that
made the rounds in the 80s. Beauty
therapist,ZaneleMbense,disagrees.“Itreat
people often who have problems because
of these products. I try to explain to my
clients that we can work on removing dark
spots on the skin but we are not in the
business of lightening skin. Sometimes the
expensive products just take longer for the
consequences to show, but I still wouldn’t
advise people to use them,” she says.
When we ask if there is anything people
can do to lighten their skin safely, Mbense
says, “There are products that lighten your
skin a little bit; what they do is correct
pigmentation that might make you look
darker than you are. Chemical peels also
sometimes make people look lighter but
that’s because the pigmentation is fixed.
Sunscreen also helps prevent sunburn but
that’s about it. I don’t in my professional
capacity know of a product that can make
you four shades lighter in a safe manner,”
she warns. E