African women risk all in quest for lighter skin colour

NAIROBI - At a beauty shop in downtown Nairobi, shelves packed with so-called skin lightening creams in luxurious packets and names such as Fair & Lovely, Venus, Lady Diana and Fairever fill almost an entire aisle.

Jeanne, who is on a visit from Rwanda, is selecting a cream and notes they are very popular in her homeland as, “The women want to brighten their skin. Our men like light women.”

Jeanne has used skin-lightening creams for six years, and says she does not intend stopping the practice.

“My husband and other people give me compliments now”, she says, but admits that she sometimes gets blackspots on her face.

Skin-lightening cream is no ordinary facial cream. Some contain mercury, which is known to cause neurological and kidney damage, speech and hearing impairments, and can also lead to psychiatric disorders.

The other ingredients in skin-lightening creams include hydroquinone, which can cause blue-black discolourations and also lead to neuropathy, a disease of the nervous system.

Mercury poisoning

Numerous studies worldwide have shown that women using the creams have suffered mercury poisoning.

Modern lightening creams are somewhat milder, but can still bring unwanted results.

Patrick Munyiri, a cosmetician at a beauty centre and school in Nairobi, discourages his clients and students from using them.

“You can use it for a while, but after a few years you will see the repercussions. You get pimples, rashes or blackspots that turn into wounds. Often they don’t heal. You’re stuck with it”.

He says young girls know the creams are dangerous, but do not heed the warnings.

“They think the lighter your skin is the more beautiful you are.”

Patrick points out that although creams with mercury and hydroquinone are banned in Kenya, they can still be bought illegally.

Angelica, a customer at a downtown beauty shop, says she once tried a lightening cream.

“But my skin reacted very badly. Now I would not try it again. And I think it looks weird to have different colours in your face and on the rest of your body”.

Wish runs deep

The wish to look lighter runs deep in many African societies.

In Nigeria, where the use of skin-lightening creams is widespread, an estimated 77 per cent of women use them. In Senegal, the figure is 52 per cent, in South Africa 35 percent and in Mali 25 per cent.

Researchers in South Africa have pointed out that, “Society has a significant impact on the misuse of skin-lightening agents. It is known that during slavery years, light-skinned people were often given preferable treatment...and in modern times, studies have indicated that the majority of black men prefer light-skinned women as partners, girlfriends or wives.”

These opinions resound at shop floor level.

“Our men make us do it! Most girls and women know it’s dangerous, but they don’t care. If a lighter woman walks in to a room, she’ll get all the looks!”, says Macerlin, a beauty shop assistant.

Some researchers have pointed out that convincing black women to stop using skin-lightening creams is akin to telling white female women sun worshippers to stay out of sun as they risk contracting skin cancer - neither is an easy task.

DPA  

Photo courtesy: disa.nu.ac.za