by Iroegbu Chinaemerem

Right by the railway tracks in Tejuosho Market, Yaba stands a convergence of makeshift shops made from colourful parasols, housing women of different ages, crouched on wooden benches, standing, or arranging beauty products on wooden shelves to capture the eyes of passing pedestrians. In one of these shops sits 20 year old Omawuni Sanni, an apprentice in a beauty shop, which specializes in manicures and homemade bleaching products. Every morning, for 2 years, Omawuni who dreams of becoming a hairdresser one day, has journeyed from the heart of Orile, to display these products under her blue parasol. She is just one of 10 women here who sell these products.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 77 percent of women in Nigeria use skin-lightening products, the highest percentage in the world, making Nigeria the biggest market for skin lighteners. These women in Tejuosho market serve our growing population’s discontent with their skin.

Tejuosho market is a shopping hub, for the predominantly lower class income earners and the middle class, where fashion items or household items, can be bought under a strict budget. At Omawunmi’s shop, the average cost of a bleaching product, is about one thousand naira, and a full bleaching beauty set, would cost only 10 thousand naira. Placed in transparent cans atop a wooden shelf are these nameless products arranged in no order of priority. In these cans, divergent in sizes, are soaps, cream, knuckle whitening lotions and a balm called ‘Pink lips’ (A product used to make the lips pink), all promising to give one the desirable result in a week. Omawunmi’s boss, is spread on a wooden bench with her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, but you could tell from the movements of her eyelid that she was apprehensive. Later, she voices her discontent at my inquiries, as she believes that I came to steal the recipe of the bleaching cream, which she makes herself.

According to a 2016 report from Global Industry Analysts, the global sending on lightening products will amount to $31.2billion by 2024. To understand this trend, a global theory has been formed that explains the compulsion of millions of people to bleach as the pursuit of beauty and whiteness due to skin hierarchy, imposed by colonialism. This skin hierarchy, which informed self-hate, made dark skinned people to purge out their darkness with chemicals, like it were a disease. Omawunmi, who receives 10-15 customers a day, does not agree. “People don’t hate their skin. If they did, they would not spend too much time or money caring for it?” In her apt disagreement, she exposes the ambiguity of bleaching. For some people, bleaching is not about the pursuit of whiteness, because they believe it is the apex of beauty. Bleaching to some is simply to gain power and be in included in social trends, without a political undertone. To them light skin is like an accessory; it is their source of confidence, their claim to relevance and the underpinning of self-hate as the basis of bleaching, stands as an affront to them.

Emmanuella, a light skinned girl in her 20s, who has been using bleaching products for 6 years, found the assumption that she bleaches because she hated her skin, or because she wanted to be white, simply ridiculous. Bubbling with the zest for life and the conviction of self, it was impossible for one not to recognize a girl who lived deliberately, on her own terms, without the fear of backlash. With every statement, Emma, mocked claims that bleaching was an affront to her skin or as a result of insecurities, when to her, it was simply a demonstration of the ownership of self.

“I have used light skinned products very well. I am the master. Hallelujah” she laughs heartily, her voice filling the silence at the other end of the telephone. “Its not like I don’t love my colour, of course I do, I am just trying to enhance it to look better. I love the attention it gives me. When you are light skinned, you are the  first person they notice”. To Emma, bleaching is in no way diminishing blackness; she is only enhancing her beauty, almost like wearing makeup or a new outfit.

“When I am dark, I am not pretty enough,  but when I am light skinned people notice me more.”

Colorism, is not a one way thing, information drives the trend. Information in this case is the billboards filled with light skinned girls, the shelves in supermarkets filled with lightening products, the preference of light skin by spouses, individuals, and employers.

Arinze a man in his late 20s, who describes himself as a sucker for pretty faces, could not explain the reason for his weird attraction to light skinned girls. “I just find myself attracted to them. They have the advantage of being eye catching.” He does not consider them to be prettier than dark skinned girls, however, according to him; “they have the advantage of being ‘head spinners’ because of the lightness of their skin tone”. Obafemi, who also prefers light skinned girls, explained his preference as a product which stems from having light skinned sisters “my sisters are light skinned and I think they are beautiful so my choice stems from the fact that beauty resonates with my sisters,” The compulsion to turn heads through being light skin, cannot be sustained if it did not actually turn heads in the first place.

In Uyo, the southern part of Nigeria, where Emma resides, light skinned girls are called ‘Mbakara’, a term used to describe white, and being called this according to Emma, “makes her head swell”. The terms used to describe light skinned people, is not just synonymous to Uyo, around Nigeria, there are different languages used to describe them. These names which were originally a description of their skin tone “light skinned” have now been reworked into endearing praise terms.  In the Eastern part of Nigeria, light skinned girls are called Nwanyi Ocha or Nwa Bekee, meaning white woman, in the North, they are called Farin yarinya and in the West, they are called, Omo pupa, but the endearing terms for dark skinned girls aren’t as popular neither have they been immersed into general culture like the terms for light skin.

“Black beauty” which is the only endearing term for dark skinned people that has gained popularity is more problematic than it is a representation for inclusion in beauty.  Not a general description for all dark skin people, like the terms for light skin, Black beauty, which is really an affront to dark skinned people camouflaged as a compliment, can be easily translated as “you are beautiful for a black girl” because this term is only given to people who pass the societal standard for beauty. Dark skinned, yet beautiful.

In a way, bleaching could be likened to expropriation. Someone taking an ugly notion, that light skin is the right skin and turning it into a legitimate movement of power and beauty. Emma’s definition of beauty transcends because she has immersed the potent conditioning of skin hierarchy and turned it into her own weapon to achieve splendour, societal acceptance and security. To her, black is beautiful and so is light skinned. And she has stayed true to this for 6 years.

We are products of a society and what we consider as the true authenticity of self has been informed by the things we read or see.  If at some point it wasn’t suggested to her that light skin was the right skin she couldn’t have conceived nor appropriated it into her definition of self. After the longest conversation with her, I became convinced that some users of bleaching cream are not ridden by low self – esteem. They have the currency which society trades in so why should they? Google defines insecurity as “uncertainty or anxiety about oneself; lack of confidence” in her light skin, Emma feels the most confident, and most powerful. How do we then argue that she is ridden with low sense of self?

“I have used light skinned products because I want to be lighter; I love the attention it gives me. I love it!” she screams to reaffirm her stance. “Nobody can tell me that they don’t love attention. I am a sucker for it” Emma doesn’t just get attention; she also gets affirmation from the society and from herself who she considers as the apex of beauty. For confidence to remain, even for us, it needs a conscious dose of nurturing and these chemicals used in whitening her skin is the way she has chosen to nurture her confidence. The expression of bleaching, just like the rail way tracks that stood before Omawunmi’s shop, is not a one way journey.

A container of bleaching cream which costs 2 thousand naira in Omawunmi’s shop, contains a strong bleaching agent known as Citro clear Oil which costs only 500 naira in retail shops. “We take any kind of cream, and mix it with half bottle or full bottle of Citro, so that it would be harsh and bleach the skin to any colour you  prefer” Citro clear oil, according to Omawunmi, cannot be used on the skin alone, because it is so harsh that it has the ability to burn the skin.

Citro Clear oil, a 50ml sized bottle contains ingredients like Kojic Acid, a bleaching agent known to penetrate the layers of the skin and stop the production of melanin. Sodium Metabisulfite acid, another bleaching agent used in textile, pulp and paper industries. And Propylene Glycol, a humectant (hydrating) and delivery ingredient used in small amounts to keep products from melting in high heat or from freezing and to enable active ingredients, which in this case are Kojic Acid and Sodium Metabisulfite acid, to penetrate into the skin. Omawunmi, a dark skinned girl who is comfortable in her dark skin, claims that people bleach for two reasons, because they like the light skin colour, and because they want to be white. But this pursuit for perfection comes at a cost.

According to a senior researcher at the University of Cape Town, Dr Lester Davids, the dangers associated with the use of some of these bleaching products, include blood cancers such as leukaemia and cancers of the liver and kidneys, as well as a severe skin condition called ochronosis, a form of hyper-pigmentation which causes the skin to turn a dark purple shade.  Some users, are aware of the health issues they expose themselves to, but this knowledge does not stop most them, because to them the goal is worth the price.

For Emma, who has had to her own share of skin deformity, the struggle to becoming light skinned, is unending until the goal is met “most of the products I used gave me dark knuckles a lot, and one gave me stretch marks on my arm, on my thigh and on my legs, but regardless the hustle is still real” her goal is to light up the room, and body ramifications, are a little price to pay. “It is not like I want to be Caucasian, I just wanna be light skinned, light skinned. I wanna light up the room when I step in. When I see light skinned girls like Monalisa Chinda, I’m like, that is my goal. That is my aim”. According, to Emma, the excess hydroquinone in these products is to be blamed for her body injuries.  For people who stop, the adverse effect of the chemical used in bleaching, becomes more pronounced, making some of them resume usage. As Omawunmi says, “If you stop the cream your skin will turn bad”.

Yellow fever does not discriminate. It affects light skinned girls, who like Emma, do not feel light enough, and dark skinned girls too. The skin colour is our identity, our heritage and history. It is the place we need to feel most wanted and accepted. When it is attacked, then our very essence of self, and ownership is at risk. For Emma, the expropriation of colorism became her demonstration of true self and power. Her insecurities have now been exchanged for social acceptance, and beauty which she flaunts like a green card.  But for Donnie, this ownership of self, void of insecurities is alien.  In a country where how dark the skin is supposed to be an affront, it is easy to see why. For Donnie, who started bleaching as early as 13, with drugstore products like Funbact A and Skinea, which contains, Betamethasone Dipropionate, a highly active steroid used to lighten the skin, light skin has always been her yardstick of beauty. At a very young age, she was exposed to the violent nature of colorism, displayed through constant name calling that blamed her dark skin for her supposed ugliness.

“People called me, black and ugly. It started in primary school. I thought my darkness was the reason for my ugliness, so I began to hate my skin”.

Donnie is full of life. You could tell that she deliberately wants you to feel comfortable around her. We spoke about books, boys, and beauty, a topic which she still affronted by. When she spoke of beauty the young girl, bustling with life, begun to shrink, to her, people with light skin are prettier, and have the advantage of being attractive. What concerned her however, was not the prevalence of Colorism, but the bipolar, nature of the society that castigated one after they ascribe to their beauty standards. “Society just wants you to aspire to their standard of beauty. They don’t see you as beautiful until you bend to their rules and when you do, they will call you names. You can’t satisfy them”

Donnie stopped using bleaching products when she was sixteen but she still believes that she is trapped in the wrong skin, and will only be happier if she becomes lighter.  Currently, she is suffering from body dysmorphia and depression. Colorism did this to her. The courage to love her skin, was lost, so was the ability to understand why people would be crazy enough to do the same.  “What was there to love about my skin?” a response to my compliment directed at her skin tone, which is breath-taking.  “You are the first person who is telling me that they like this kind of dark skin” she has a very high level of melanin.

In a world where diversity is reality, diversity is denied. Faith, a manicure specialist in Tejuosho market, blames this on peer pressure, and shop attendants that prescribe bleaching products to consumers who innocently want to clear our sun burns or even out their skin tone. What she describes is evident on Omawunmi’s dark skin, which wore yellow patches resembling eczema. Omawunmi, had gone to one of these shops to seek help for her uneven skin tone and a lightening product was prescribed to her.  But Chidinma, a beauty shop retailer denies this. In his shop stands an array of bleaching products, overshadowing the presence of the neutral ones. It looked exactly like most beauty shops who like the manufactures, are just seeking to gain from the demand of skin lightening products.

According to him, most of these products that have “lightening” or “whitening” inscribed on them do not actually bleach, but due to the demand of bleaching products, manufactures are forced to write “lightening” or “Whitening” on their products to capitalize on this trend and increase sales. To him, bleaching is a fashion trend “the world we live in moves with trend. If skinny jeans become trendy, the demand will rise, and it is the same for lightening products” However, he does not rule out insecurity as the reason for bleaching but for Faith’s allegations, he denies it squarely “we only give people what they want but sometimes, we prescribe cream based on the testimonies of customers and the popularity of the product.”

To some, bleaching is a response to insecurities, or hate. To others, it is a fashion trend. To Emma, it is her identity, and to some women we later spoke to at Yaba, “it is a matter of preference”. Whatever the reason, bleaching remains a dangerous past time. We just hope everyone who indulges is truly aware of the long term consequences.

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The opinons presented in this article are entirely the author’s own and do not represent the views of YNaija and Y!

Iroegbu Chinaemerem, studied International law and diplomacy at Babcock University, Nigeria. She is passionate about gender equality, regional and cross border violence, human rights and popular culture. Her work has been published on Ventures Africa, where she worked as a writer. She tweets @chinaemeremoti