Let's debate the health effects of bleaching

By Robert Lalah

With good reason, much of this morning's water-cooler talk will no doubt be centred on the ghastly (ghostly?) details of skin-bleaching techniques, presented in TVJ's 'All Angles' programme last week.

It was hard to watch that show, but the nationwide reaction to its interviews with unrepentant skin bleachers might just be the kick in the pants we needed to understand how pervasive the problem is. Of course, some of the interviewees' most chuckle-worthy sound bytes have already made their way into music mixes at parties and on the radio. "True or false? Through!" You aren't going to get away from that these days. In any event, I'm sure the creators of these punchy one-liners don't mind the extra attention one bit. Forgive the assumption. I just figure that if you wilfully walk around looking like a parched Vienna sausage, then surely some gentle ribbing won't bother you.

Hard to contain

Skin bleaching is one of those hard to understand, even harder to contain phenomena. It's been happening in different parts of the world longer than any of us has been alive and really shows no sign of disappearing anytime soon. So how do we deal with it?

One of the issues we face is that it's hard to predict who will become a skin bleacher. At high school, I knew two persons who decided to go the rubbing route. One was a girl I met in second form. She was shy, with a soft voice and an uneasy smile. She'd often struggle to maintain eye-contact and usually kept to herself. However, once she got to know you and felt comfortable, she was quite pleasant and had a lot to say. She had beautiful dark skin. It was smooth and without blemish, which, in a classroom full of teenagers should have been a treasured asset. Unfortunately though, her diffidence, coupled with her dark skin made her the target of heartless bullies who, without prompting, would launch all kinds of cruel taunts her way. They called her names I won't repeat here and over time her shyness got worse.

We started to see the change in her complexion by the time we got to fourth form. Her pretty dark skin started to get a washed-out look, and she would cover her face with a rag as she walked home in the afternoon sunshine. By the time graduation came around, she had a whole new complexion, a kind of burnt copper colour. She looked horrible, but oddly enough appeared happier than ever. The teasing had stopped and she now seemed proud and at ease. I certainly didn't understand it.

'Browning' bleaching, too

The other skin bleacher I knew at school was one of my best friends. He actually had fair complexion all his life but actively sought the 'bleached out' look that was all the rage in his community. The process for him started with almost an obsession with having a 'cool' face. There was to be absolutely no shine at any time on his face, so he'd bring a soap in his bag and head to the bathroom to have a wash four or five times per day. Then he started bringing creams and some rather strange-looking ointments that seemed like they'd be of better use treating haemorrhoids than going anywhere near the face. But that was what made him happy. I tried to convince him that it was stupid to attempt to change the colour of his skin in that way. But we were from different backgrounds and lived in different areas. He was sure I just didn't get it, and dismissed my concerns as suburban hogwash. To save the friendship, we both decided to accept that there were things we'd never understand about each other, and left it at that.

So now that skin bleaching is again part of the national conversation, what are we going to do about it? Should we just leave it alone? The bleachers are, for the most part, doing harm to only themselves. If they want to go through all that discomfort, dealing with different kinds of fungus, pain and medical bills to make themselves happy, why should we interfere? Rub away!

Then again, there are children living in the households of bleachers, and they should be protected. Plus, what of the long-term health effects of bleaching? We definitely need to, from a national perspective, be concerned about that. It will be an uncomfortable debate, but perhaps we should have it anyway and see if this time we can do something meaningful to counter this disturbing behaviour.

Robert Lalah is features editor and author of the popular 'Roving with Lalah'. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com