South Africa Skin Bleaching March: 'I'm Black And I'm Beautiful'

#SkinBleaching A few messages aimed at creating awareness around skin lighteners Image source: Khatija Nxedlana ‏@its_KhaTija   

“Say no to skin bleaching and embrace dark skin”, this is the message being spread on the streets of the South Africa city of Durban by marchers calling for an end to the use of skin-lightening creams.

BBC Africa Live report continues:

The march, through the city centre, is organized by the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Department of Health. 

Its organizers are hoping it will help promote “self-love” among young people - who researchers say are most at risk of taking up the trend of lightening their skin.

The bleaching creams have become popular in South Africa where the quest to be “yellowbone”, a term used for light-skinned people, has some using creams believed to pose health risks, including cancer.

Skin lightening creams are popular in many parts of Africa

'I don't like black skin'

The World Health Organization has reported that Nigerians are the highest users of such products: 77% of Nigerian women use the products on a regular basis. They are followed by Togo with 59%; South Africa with 35%; and Mali at 25%.

South Africa banned products containing more than 2% of hydroquinone - the most common active ingredient in in the 1980s. But it is easy to see creams and lotions containing the chemical on the stalls here. Some creams contain harmful steroids and others mercury.

Studies have found that men are also 

beginning to bleach their skin

While skin-lightening creams have been used by some South Africans for many years, they have become more common recently with the influx of people from countries such as Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are even more widespread.

In a bustling African market in the centre of Yeoville in Johannesburg, it is skin lighteners galore.

Walking through this community is like walking through a mini-Africa: you can find someone from any part of the continent here.

I notice that many of the women have uncharacteristically light skin faces while the rest of their bodies are darker.

Some even have scabby burns on their cheeks from the harmful chemicals used to strip the skin of pigmentation.

They don't want to speak openly about why they bleach their skin, or even have their pictures taken.

Psychologists say there are also underlying reasons why people bleach their skin - but low self-esteem and, to some degree self-hate, are a common thread.

But skin-lightening is not just a fascination and obsession of women. Congolese hair stylist Jackson Marcelle says he has been using special injections to bleach his skin for the past 10 years. Each injection lasts for six months.

"I pray every day and I ask God, 'God why did you make me black?' I don't like being black. I don't like black skin," he tells me.