Nigeria

Kauneustutkimukseeni liittyen lueskelin tässä nigerialaisen naisen blogia, josta löytyi nigerialaiselta naiselta mielenkiintoinen mielipidekirjoitus brittiläiseltä Telegraph sivustolta poimittuna koskien ihonvärin vaalentamista. Poimin tuohon alle myös muutaman kommentin, mutta sieltä löytyy paljon lisää. Osa kommentoijista tuo esille kuinka heille ei ole ollut tummasta ihonväristä haittaa miesten huomion saamisessa, mutta olisiko näiden naisten osalta kyse ulkonäöstä, että vaikka tutkimusten perusteella miehet näyttävät yleisesti tykkäävän vaaleammasta ihonväristä naisella on kuitenkin esim. kauniit kasvonpiirteet tärkeämpiä. Tuota nigerialaista blogia on myös mielenkiintoista tarkastella kommenttien osalta, että vaikka on todennäköistä, etteivät eurooppalaiset miehet näe yleisemmin monia näistä nigerialaisista naisista kauniina, niin voi havaita nigerialaisten itse näkevän, joka on osoitus käyttäytymistieteellisestä tekijästä kuinka ihmiset tykkäävät enemmän samannäköisistä.

In Nigeria, where 77 per cent of women use skin lightening products, according to a recent World Health Organisation report, the mainstream African commentariat, which is mostly male-dominated, projects a strong bias against the practice. I myself am a dark skinned Nigerian woman who does not use whitening creams or soaps, but I feel that while there are valid health concerns as to the side-effects of skin lightening products, it should remain an individual's prerogative to be who or what they want to be.

Yes, black is beautiful, but so also is white, brown, yellow and the many shades in between.

When white people use tanning lotions, solariums and other methods to darken their skin, it is treated as par for the course and other white people don't feel the need to remind them that “white is beautiful”. In fact, such a statement would likely be regarded as racist by members of other races.

Yes, I understand that there was a specific historical context in the US and elsewhere which, at the time, necessitated the use of the “black is beautiful” slogan in order to boost black people’s sense of self-worth and identity, but this is 2014 and we should have gotten beyond that by now. Or are self-affirming slogans going to be needed by black people forever?

People’s desire to have a particular skin tone, be it a darker or lighter one, stems from them wanting to be more attractive and sometimes for others to take notice. And more often than not, in the case of an individual who has undergone skin lightening here in Africa, it works. The critics might be unwilling to concede this publicly, but the harsh truth is that in Africa, lighter skinned girls do get more attention and are more appreciated than darker skinned women.

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To me, the saying "black is beautiful" quite underscores complex and to some degree an inferior one....you don't see Caucasian women going around reminding themselves " white is beautiful". So let's face it black women singing it at the roof top is sign most don't consider them attractive. It's a fact. Darker skinned Black women are doomed ...the black men don't want you, nor do oyinbo men find you attractive. The lighter skinned black women have some exoticness to their looks that make them more attract active than the lupita looking types

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Nigerians can try all day to make bleaching seem like a preference or lifestyle choice all they want. Its an inferiority complex! There is no way to nicely package that. If you need to bleach your skin, wear colored contacts, or sew 30 inches of an Indian woman's hair to feel attractive, you are practicing self-hatred.

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