Among the many fads in Nigeria today is the desire for instant transformation from "black" or "dark skinned" to "fair" or "light skinned" or yellow pawpaw as we say in pidgin happening and is alarming.
More than 70% of the female and about 50 % of male population are caught up in the "bleaching fad” and now we’re gradually all becoming whites.
Nobody wants to be black; nobody wants to be dark skinned and everyone wants to get noticed and what better way than to 'bleach’ your skin yellow. Infact we call the dark skinned amongst us ("the blacks" as we are called by the rest of the world) blacky, tinted, Dudu Osun and other names because of their blackness. Everyone wants to be noticed and I can't blame anyone entirely.
As El-Nathan a popular satirist says in his tweets, the term black beauty is not a positive term; it's negative because they don't expect you to be pretty so when you are, they marvel. So if a dark person manages to be pretty, she gets singled out for praise after all she’s too good to be true.
This fad was brought about by deep rooted issues such as discrimination, the preferential treatment and attention the lighted skinned individuals get and in some cases self-loathing. The white man's perception has long brainwashed us into thinking "white" is superior, finer & chic and we have embraced that thought so much so that we are willing to damage our skins with bleaching or toning creams and soaps as some of us like to call it.
So, yes we can be self-righteous and insult those who bleach especially ladies but we all reinforce the stereotype that fair is better. This open endorsement is visible in the media, runway, classrooms, streets and offices. Even in schools, teachers hardly flog yellow kids because they hold them in high esteem and don’t want to scar their “precious skin” but for us blackies, we are flogged without a second thought cos e no go even show for our body.
In musical videos dark girls are either back up dancers or good for the booty shots while the light girls are the trophy and likewise in offices and organizations.
So suffice to say that those who bleach are victims of a racist, colorist society and world, where white is more appreciated and admired. Not everyone can own their skin and be proud of it, say fuck it and not move with the trend. I know a lot of girls who held their own for a while but now they have all joined the band wagon of yellow sisis. The society ends up cracking some of us and we join the trend to blend. As my sister will say "don't you know light skinned people are finer or once you bleach you become finer than before"?! So for many women bleaching is a survival tactic, society hates their blackness (except they win an Oscar) and so they blend in by self-mutilation. Truth be told once you arrive this earth a dark person there are available remedies already to fix you, yet there is none for to darken people except those who tan. When the creams, soaps and injections to cure you from your blackness fail, you are advised to marry a fair person to help your generation. As far memory can serve me, being black has always being viewed as an epidemic that must be cured.
In my shop and hundreds others in the country, 70% of the soaps and creams are "skin lightening" "super whitening" etc and these products fly off the shelf, no sooner than its stocked.
Darkskin shaming in a country like Nigeria is on the increase and the men, media and ladies are all team "light skinned" Infact you get more toasters, friends and compliments when you are a yellow sisi. The men will claim they love dark skinned girls but will notice and be interested in one fair girl before the notice the 5 dark skinned girls that have been in front of them the whole time.
The subtle and overt discrimination blackies receive in our society is hurtful because to the rest of the world we are all blacks and yet we discriminate against those darker than us, while admiring and worshiping light skinned people. Some people come into my shop and say for a beauty regiment person I should be more yellow and I have to go I am ok the way I am, that's not to say I don't indulge in toning soaps and creams once in a while to maintain my color though,lol.
We have to be confident in our looks, appreciate, embrace and love it. It's hard despite all sorts of hype over the colour "yellow" trending now but we need to try because if we continue at this rate, there won't be a single dark skinned person left in Nigeria again.
Embrace your blackness, uniqueness and flaunt it don't let nobody tell you otherwise.
