What’s with the new trend of changing your skin color?
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I feel like we are losing more and more of our sisters today than ever before. Although, they are not being lost to the ‘system’ and not lost to senseless violence. They are being lost at an alarming rate. I can recall the late nineties when there was this epidemic over in Haiti, how the young girls were going crazy over this new face cream. Some were called whitening creams and others bleach. No filter.
Black women going crazy over the idea of being able to ‘whiten’ their skin had me thinking, “Did these women and girls hate themselves that deeply?” So deeply, that they would resort to such drastic measures as to apply a cream that would cause them to resemble the very people that hated and oppressed them? Willfully applying this cream to change their exterior appearance to be more like that of the ‘other man.’
Wait. Before it sounds like I’m singling out our black women, brothers, some of you are tripping, too. That’s why this piece is not called ‘Is Bleach the New Black for Black Women’. It’s bigger than our sisters. It’s even bigger than our people, as a whole. It’s bigger than black people. It’s bigger than white people. It’s so much bigger.
I had the chance to interview a young woman who uses this cream to lighten her skin. Or as she puts it, ‘To stay competitive.’ Meet Ayesha. Her name has been changed to protect her past and present identities.
RW- First. Please. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Ayesha- My name is Ayesha. I’m originally from Haiti. But, don’t print that. Cuz everyone thinks I’m from England. I just lost my accent being in the States for so long.
RW- Interesting. England, huh? What? So, you don’t like being Haitian?
Ayesha– You wanna do this interview, you better put some respect on my name! Don’t call me that.
RW- Wow! Let me ask you something. The reason that I wanted to interview you is this. It’s no secret, you changed your appearance. I’m writing a piece about that and you came to mind. Elaborate, a little, please?
Ayesha– Well. If you’re talking about my hair, this is all me. Just some days, I color it cuz I don’t like it blonde all the time.
RW- No. Not that. I’m referring to your complexion. You’ve obviously gotten lighter over the years. Since I’ve first met you.
Ayesha- You don’t know me like that. The winter months make me lighter, cuz it’s not as much sun out. But when the summer is here, I look different than I do, now.
RW- Different how? Isn’t this different?
An awkward silence falls over the room and it lasts only thirty two seconds, but seems a lifetime. Ayesha is quiet. I’m speechless, because I don’t know what else to say. I offer her a glass of water. She doesn’t want it. She sits motionless for another five minutes. I’m looking around the room. The paint begins to slowly peel off the walls. The sun that was shining outside the window has now turned into dark gray clouds. I attempt to raise the dimmer on the light to the next point. No dice. It’s as high as it goes. But it’s so dark, right now. Then all of a sudden, Ayesha breaks her silence. Stands up and screams.
Ayesha- This is not what I intended!
RW- Please. Have a seat. Relax. Shall we continue?
Ayesha- It started way back in my early twenties. I was just trying to get rid of some dark spots on my face. Then one spot was removed and another spot needed to be treated. Before I knew it, I was treating my whole face. Blended my face in with the new lighter spots.
I wasn’t able to finish the interview. Ayesha stormed out. But not before calling me everything but a child of God. Her storm out just goes to show me there is so much more to this skin bleaching phenomenon. I mean, it’s gotta be. For a person to go to such extremes to keep up their hidden agenda. Just blows my mind.
Ladies. You are beautiful, just the way you are. Please, stop with the chemical peels and perms.
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Media and society will still have you believing that ‘White is Right’, and ‘If it’s black, send it back’. Media and society will still have you believing a person can’t be trusted if he or she is too dark. But, the flip side to that coin is, if you’re too light, black people don’t trust you. Ain’t that something. We can’t win for losing.
Is bleach the new black? As cliché as it may sound, it’s a valid question. Look around, Lil Kim has taken it so far, she looks like she does hair and nails somewhere in Times Square, NY. And we all know the story of the late, great Michael Jackson. Transforming from little black boy superstardom to grown middle aged white woman with a huge identity crisis. Right before our very eyes.
‘It don’t matter if you’re black or white.’ Really,Michael? Guess it don’t matter. Not when you have the money to make the desired change at your leisure. Matter of fact, Michel Jackson was the first celebrity I know of to make the transition. Somebody owes Mike an award.
It doesn’t stop there. America’s favorite singer, Beyoncé. Have you seen her lately? If that’s not skin whitening, I don’t know what is. She’s starting to look like Katy Perry. Does she really want to be ‘Becky with the good hair’? I think so. That’s a heavy competition. Almost every black woman has had to deal with competing with a white woman. Somewhere, somehow. She tried everything to keep Jay Z home. Had his baby, brings him on tour, gets his songs played on the radio station.
What about Rihanna? She used to be a pretty brown thing. Now she’s just an island girl with a light skinned fetish. She not only got rid of Chris Brown. She go rid of the crisp, brown skin tone she once had. I could go on and on. But, I don’t want to seem like I’m bleach bashing. I just got one more. Sammy Sosa. Lord. Somebody help that man. And with some of these celebrities, Sammy included, it doesn’t stop at the bleach. Then they get their nose done, their eyes done, their chin tucked. It’s crazy. They start looking like cartoon characters or people of a coloring book.
Just be happy with who you are. Black is beautiful. Brown is beautiful. Whatever color, creed or nationality you are. Embrace it. Love yourself like there’s no one else. Be you. Is easy to do and can’t no one do it better.
Which is very easy for individuals today. It’s more hip now than ever. There’s yoga, meditation, spin cycle classes, exercise and walking groups. You don’t have to do it alone. It’s so easy to get like minded individuals to workout with. It’s easy to get that mind and body in shape so that you can start loving you. Again. Because, I’m sure you used to.
I’m even sure you used to think it was a hippie thing to be healthy and in shape. Right? Now, it’s the hip thing. It’s fashionable. It’s fitting for yoga pants. Women in yoga pants, of course.
So, put down that bleach and pick up a gym membership. So many people joining the gyms today. They’re almost giving away memberships, now. I remember joining a gym was like a hundred and fifty dollars a month. Now. That covers the whole year. Get out and do something that’ll enhance your beauty naturally. You’ll thank me for it.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
Having attended the Chicago Art Inst back in the 70’s, I can honestly say that one of the most stunning women I was ever privileged to draw was a black women whose skin looked like silky milk chocolate. Her coloring was magnificent in that way her skin reflected light and shadow in ways i never realized could. I don’t think a lot of people see how beautiful the human body is, especially the female body. It’s been over 40 years now and I can see her in my mind as though it was yesterday. I don’t want to sound weird… Read more »