Beauty. Fashion. Acceptance.
These are a few world ideals that are largely impacted by the way you look, especially your skin tone. In today’s society, your skin tone could determine just how far you go in life in terms of career success, social upward mobility. Sometimes, it could be the determining factor whether you live or die, as in the case of many young black men, who may still be alive today if they had a different skin tone.
The conversation goes even deeper than that, for many, women especially, their skin tone could determine just how pretty they perceive themselves to be, or how attractive they are considered by the opposite sex. While this has some extremities across the globe in India and other parts of Asia, in some parts of Africa, women go as far as to bleach their infants in a bid to wash them off of future potential stigma, the bleaching industry remains one of the most lucrative industries in the world. The World Economic Forum reports that the sales of skin-lightening products are projected to reach $8.9 billion by 2024
The tendency to discriminate against people based on their skin tone is called Colourism. Wikipedia defines it as a form of prejudice and/or discrimination in which people who share similar ethnicity traits or perceived race are treated differently based on the social implications that come with the cultural meanings that are attached to skin colour.
Darker skin tones have had it much worse than other shades. Also, the perception of beauty as white and consequent lack of adequate representation by dark-skinned persons have done sometimes even more damage than good. Women with darker skin have reported being discriminated against when seeking roles in the fashion or movie industry.
Many young women today, with darker skin tones, suffer low self-esteem and associate lighter skin with acceptance and the defacto beauty standard. But these women, however, have done undeniably well to promote inclusivity when it comes to beauty, challenging the norms while promoting the dar skin narrative.
Lupita Amondi Nyong’o
Mexican-born Hollywood Actress from Kenyan descent who suffered the same stigma herself as a child now uses her platform as an Academy Award-winning actress to inspire black children globally especially girls that Black can be Beautiful and Acceptable. She went viral in a move called the Lupita Effect which had people with different skin tones, embracing their uniqueness more.
Lupita, who first shot to the spotlight with her striking role in 12 Years A Slave, claimed that even though she faced no discrimination at home, the image projected by the media was enough to make her feel less as a child. She eventually shook it off looking up to Oprah and Whoopi Goldberg in the movie – ‘The Color Purple’. Her book, Sulwe continues to inspire young children across the world to embrace themselves wholly as there is no singular definition of beauty.
“Seeing Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah in ‘The Color Purple,’ it dawned on me: ‘Oh — I could be an actress!’ We plant the seed of possibility.”
Lupita Nyong’o
Robyn Rihanna Fenty
While the multibillionaire musician continues to inspire fashion looks with her legendary locs and afro-Caribbean looks, nothing spoke louder for persons with darker skin tones when she released a line of beauty products for every shade of brown for people with darker skin tones. It had always been a challenge for many women looking to find beauty products that catered to them, and when she launched Fenty Beauty. It was indeed a dream come true for many dark-skinned girls seeking representation and acceptance.
I can only try my best to encourage girls and women to respect their uniqueness and be 100 percent true to themselves.
Rihanna
Beverly Ifunanya Bassey
Award-winning Nigerian actress, Beverly Naya also came out to bring to the spotlight the ills behind bleaching, which is a direct consequence of Colourism in an award-winning documentary titled ‘Skin.’ The documentary takes us through the lives of several who have either been given privileges based on their skin tones and others who have been shunned. Ultimately she discusses with women who have engaged in bleaching and how they feel in retrospect to help women, especially the younger generation understand how colorism began at least in Africa and to embrace the beautiful dark skin.
“I want people to become more aware of colorism and its negative effects on society causing them to think deeply on how they can be better role models for the younger generation,”
Beverly Naya