Misconceptions About Beauty
I’d like to meet and then slap the person that started telling women in Senegal, and most likely throughout Africa, that lighter skin means more beautiful. There are attractive and unattractive people in every race and ethnic group around the world, but it has nothing to do with their skin color. I’m sure most people agree with me on this point; of course, excluding the many Senegalese women that bleach their skin in the name of beauty.
In my short time here, I’ve seen many otherwise beautiful Senegalese women with very unattractive scars and burn marks on their skin. Apparently, you run a high risk of massive scarring and burning when you bleach your skin. Go figure! For those lucky women that don’t get burnt or have scars, I’ll be the first to say that their new, “lighter” or reddish skin looks many things, none of which being natural.
During our training in Thies, the other volunteers and I had the opportunity to visit the beach on weekends and attend a weekend long softball tournament. Needless to say, I returned quite “sun-kissed” if you will, and my family in Tamba welcomed me back with many compliments about how beautiful and dark I looked. I found it especially interesting to receive these compliments from my newly married and newly skin bleached (for the second or third time!) aunt. I jumped at this opportunity for “cross-cultural exchange” and called my aunt out about her skin bleaching practices. I asked why I looked better because I was darker but she felt she needed to be lighter; and explained to her that I thought light and dark were equally beautiful and skin bleaching was bad/gross/stupid. It may not have been my most sensitive moment but this is an issue that really gets me heated.
Both my host mother and host aunt in Tamba have bleached their skin more than once and both have a great deal of scarring. I can’t help but look at them and get upset thinking about why women feel it is necessary to do this to themselves for beauty. Especially when dark is just as beautiful as light!
Also, thank you to Aunt Linda and Uncle Peter, Aunt Cleo, and Amo for your wonderful packages! I love you!
In my short time here, I’ve seen many otherwise beautiful Senegalese women with very unattractive scars and burn marks on their skin. Apparently, you run a high risk of massive scarring and burning when you bleach your skin. Go figure! For those lucky women that don’t get burnt or have scars, I’ll be the first to say that their new, “lighter” or reddish skin looks many things, none of which being natural.
During our training in Thies, the other volunteers and I had the opportunity to visit the beach on weekends and attend a weekend long softball tournament. Needless to say, I returned quite “sun-kissed” if you will, and my family in Tamba welcomed me back with many compliments about how beautiful and dark I looked. I found it especially interesting to receive these compliments from my newly married and newly skin bleached (for the second or third time!) aunt. I jumped at this opportunity for “cross-cultural exchange” and called my aunt out about her skin bleaching practices. I asked why I looked better because I was darker but she felt she needed to be lighter; and explained to her that I thought light and dark were equally beautiful and skin bleaching was bad/gross/stupid. It may not have been my most sensitive moment but this is an issue that really gets me heated.
Both my host mother and host aunt in Tamba have bleached their skin more than once and both have a great deal of scarring. I can’t help but look at them and get upset thinking about why women feel it is necessary to do this to themselves for beauty. Especially when dark is just as beautiful as light!
Also, thank you to Aunt Linda and Uncle Peter, Aunt Cleo, and Amo for your wonderful packages! I love you!
posted by Ashleigh | 2:21 PM
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