Skin bleaching and skin toning is very prevalent in the
entertainment industry. Find out why.
Skin
bleaching has been prevalent in Nigeria since the 1970’s. Nigerian music legend Fela
Anikulapo-Kuti released
the record ‘Yellow Fever’ – a musical satire about black Nigerian
women bleaching their skin.
Today it is more prevalent than ever. In the Nigerian
entertainment scene there are tons of women who have bleached (or toned) their
skins to look lighter. The trend is at its highest level now with many female
celebrities believing that can’t be successful unless they have light skin.
A
music video director once told me that light skin people appear better on
camera than dark skin people. With this belief it is therefore not surprising
that a lot of video vixens bleach their skin to have more chances of appearing
in music videos.
A lot of women and some men in the movie industry also have
that mentality also. They have bleached their skins to get more roles. And
let’s face the fact, the global entertainment industry leans towards light skin
women. That is why Rihanna and Nicki
Minaj now look
considerably lighter now than when they first started.
While skin bleaching or toning was almost a taboo in the past
it is now a norm and even celebrated. Well that’s because it is referred to as
skin lightening these days. That’s the politically correct term.
Cameroonian
singer Dencia came out with her now famous cream ‘Whitenicious’ which is described as a dark
spot remover in 2013. In an interview with Ebony Magazine in
2014 Dencia said the purpose of her Whitenicious is to remove dark spots on
your skin and it does not bleach your skin unless you buy a crazy amount of the
product.
The product has gone on to be extremely popular. Last year
Dencia claimed she made twenty million dollars from the product.
Whitenicious has had its critics notably Oscar award winnerLupita Nyong’O. In 2014
Lupita name dropped Whitenicious in her speech about black beauty.
“I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty, Black
beauty, dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just
a small part of it with you: "Dear Lupita," it reads, "I think
you’re really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood
overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’ Whitenicious cream to lighten my
skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me” she said
during the speech.
Dencia didn’t like this and fired back at the actress.
While
the singer is making money from her cream, Ghanaian actress Ama
K Abebrese who
acted in ‘Beast of No Nation’ has launched a public health
campaign called 'Love Your Natural Skin Tone'.
The
campaign is meant to go against widespread bleaching in the West African
country of Ghana. Her campaign is a welcome development especially for a
sub-region that is known for bleaching. According to the World
Health Organization (WHO)
Nigerian women are first when it comes to skin bleaching.
The fact remains that skin bleaching or skin toning is very
common in Nigeria and especially in the entertainment industry. For the price
of fame and success many people are willing to wash away their skins.
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