YELLOW FEVER - BRIEF THOUGHTS ON SKIN LIGHTENING IN NIGERIA
You dey bleach oh you dey bleach...
The song blasted from Ovie’s mini speakers as she got into
the shower, thanks to her parents, she listened to a lot of Fela growing up.
This particular song had always been comical rather to her. As children, she and her brother always looked at one another and snicker at the line;
“You get your double colour, your nyash go black like e
coal.”
It had been an hour since she read an article about Nigerians being the number one consumers of Bleaching products, and so this time, as Ovie listened to
her favourite Fela record, the song became less comical, in
fact she felt a bit attacked by the song,
Wasn't it a bit extreme to compare Hay fever and Malaria to altering your skin tone, she thought.Especially since those that did it were in no way affecting
anyone, as a matter of fact, for as long as she can remember the good that
came skin lightening always outweighed the so called negatives.
Right from her high school days, she witnessed one of the
outcomes of skin lightening, watching her bunkmate Jessica empty a tube of Anti-inflammatory cream into her jar of lotion for its lightening side effects.
“It’ll help return me to my natural complexion” she would say.
University wasn’t any different, Ovie had friends who used
expensive products to lighten their skin. Once she had a friend tell her she
needed it to give her an edge in the labour market, especially at marketing jobs. That year she would've purchased the same products as her friend if it wasn't so expensive.
She had to wait three years till she secured a good job to afford for some of the products available.
As the music played, she recalled how at different points in
her life, she was convinced lighter was better, Like the time her baby sister
was born, and her uncles celebrated the fact she came out fair unlike her,
"You'll collect big bride price for this one oh," they said.
Or the numerous times she was entertained by the constant
online battle between Nigerians and Ghanaians, her side always led with jokes
about most of the opposition being extremely dark in complexion. She also remembered the times she spent hours playing in the sun and her mother scrubbed her down, and made her stay indoors
for days.
"I won't have you looking like coal," she would say.
Maybe Fela was right after all, maybe our obsessive adoration
for lighter skin could actually be likened to a fever, because just like every fever, it’s a
symptom to a bigger issue, an issue most people are aware of but would rather
not talk about because it puts us in a position of vulnerability.
She found it funny how since the dark is beautiful era caught
on, most people spend their time policing men and women who altered their skin
tone, rather than being more aware of how we on our own drive these people into
altering their skin. For one she had friends who still made snarly comments whenever
they saw dark babies, and then there are people she also knows, who
think scoring a white husband or wife will give them beautiful babies.
As the saxophone solo faded at the end of the record, Ovie
stared at her naked reflection in the bathroom mirror, it’s been years since got
self-aware, stopped using her products and became caramel tone again, and even
though she had become a champion on matters involving self-love, it was impossible
not to think about her level of guilt in the matter.
I'd like to your know your opinions on Ovie's thoughts on the issue of skin lightening in Nigeria, kindly do this by making use of the comments section below.
Don't forget to like and share ; )
2 comments
I really enjoy reading your blog. You have really good contents. I’m also proud that we have started seeing skin bleaching as a problem in Nigeria. Well done ����
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
Delete