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Health
Fatally White
by Andrée-Marie Dussault
"28 yrs, veg wkg in Gulf as Mgr seeks fair, homely, b'ful girl"; "Wanted
fair educated lady for h'some 26/178 engineer"; "Fair professional women
with family value for grad. from Berkeley Univ. No dowry"...If caste is
less of a criterion for finding a life partner in contemporary India,
fairness of the skin - mostly women's - remains a sure value on the
marriage market, sometimes even more prized than professional skills or
wealth.
This may explain why so much effort is invested by women folk to lighten
their complexion. "In earlier times, queens and women from the ruling
classes applied pastes made out of natural products such as almonds,
pistachio, saffron and herbs on their faces, whilst others used whatever
they got their hands on: domestic cleaning products, vinegar, tooth
paste..." asserts Arun Singh (name changed), doctor and owner of a skin
clinic in Kochi, Kerala. "What is new today is that they purchase
chemical bleaching creams produced by local skin care companies and,
more recently, western beauty multinationals."
Indeed, this past decade or so, L'Oreal, Revlon, Shiseido, Clinique,
Yves Saint-Laurent and others are putting their "skin science" to the
use of women in the developing world suffering from a complex of being
"too dark". But mind you, this is no charity or social service they are
offering. In India alone, according to some estimates, the fairness
business represents the lion's share of a domestic skin care industry
weighing about US$ 300 million and enjoying a growth rate of 15 per cent
per year. Yes, skin bleaching is booming in India, and these American
and European beauty lords are ferociously fighting each other and the
local Indian beauty industry for their portion of this juicy market.
This fratricidal war has induced another recent phenomenon: the flooding
of the media by skin bleaching advertisements, leading to a sharp rise
in the level of consumption. Hindustan Lever Limited's (HLL) Fair &
Lovely advertisements are a case in point. The advertisements, which
clearly associate dark skin with romantic and professional failure, and
fair skin with success, had to be taken off air after protests by
activists and social groups.
"In the past 10 years, our hospital has seen a significant increase in
the number of consultations for skin disorders," says Dr Col. I S Parmar,
dermatologist at Prakash Hospital, Noida (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border).
The fact is that these bleaches are not only based on a sexist and
racist concept, they are also toxic!
President of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists
and Leprologists (IADVL) in Delhi, Anil Gangoo witnesses everyday the
health hazards caused by these products. Some of his clients have
encountered unwanted secondary effects or didn't obtain the desired
results. He shares his concern: "These products are dangerous and what
is most worrying is that at least half the young urban girls are using
them, influenced as they are by ads promoting the idea that a fair
complexion is worthier than a dark one."
Pramila Pandhe knows a thing or two about ads promoting a lighter skin.
Vice-president of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA),
which counts a membership of 7.6 million women, in 2002, she lead a
one-year campaign against an HLL advertisement. "The ad showed a father
whining because he has a daughter instead of a son, and on top of it,
she's jobless. Next sequence, she applies a skin whitener, becomes fair
and beautiful, and for this reason, she is hired as an air hostess."
relates Pandhe. Feminist organizations say the ad is not only sexist but
also dishonest: "If these products worked, 90 per cent of the Indian
girls would be white!" argues Pandhe, who admits to being concerned by
the trend.
A trend that is all the more alarming because the Indian cosmetic market
looks like the Wild West, observes Gangoo: "Nothing is controlled;
producers are not compelled to indicate the content of their bleachers
on the label. And if they do so, neither the quantity nor the proportion
needs to be specified." In fact, many of these 'cosmetics', harmless in
appearance, contain products deriving from such substances as
corticoids, mercury or hydroquinone, which if absorbed in big quantities
can prove fatal. According to the eminent Jamaican dermatologist, Neil
Persadsingh, author of 'Acne in Black Women' (1999), certain whitening
products even contain steroids! Besides, the principle of most creams
consists in eliminating the melanin present in the skin, which does not
only give the skin its colour but also protects it from ultra-violet
rays, responsible for skin cancer.
IADVL says the current situation is unacceptable, and condemns the lack
of a law to regulate sale to whoever wants a bleach, be it a five year
old. "Actually, these are drugs," says Gangoo, "that are sold as
cosmetics, to avoid legal control." His association has tried many a
time to draw the government's attention to this issue. The authorities
promise to look into it, but never move an inch. "The cosmetic lobbies
are very powerful," explains Gangoo.
Nevertheless, the problem is certainly one of public concern. Despite
sexy packaging and spicy slogans, bleaching products can lead to many
health hazards, which are sometimes irreversible. Savor a few potential
consequences listed by several dermatology departments in France,
Senegal, Togo and Burkina Faso: diabetes, hypertension, acne, bone
problems, hyper hairiness, renal insufficiency, skin cancer, disturbance
of the menstrual cycle, premature ageing of the skin, eczema,
cardio-vascular and respiratory problems, pimples, mycoses and other
skin infections. None of which are mentioned on the label. The creams
are absorbed by the skin, and then enter the bloodstream, reaching the
organs - thus creating hormonal disorders and other problems, as if you
were eating poison.
The irony of the story is that some users have complained that when they
stopped applying the cream, their skin became darker than it was before
starting the treatment. That's what happened to Sima, a beautiful
25-year-old secretary from Delhi who "had always wished to have a
lighter complexion to increase my chances of finding a good husband".
Unaware of the risk she was taking, a year after she began using a
whitening cream, her face started to become multicolored. When she
stopped applying the cream, her face darkened all of a sudden, and she
began to get pimples...
Of course, with it's billion plus population, India represents a
destination of choice for the whitening industry. But she isn't the only
one. In most non-white countries - more than three-quarters of the
planet - skin care companies are making their presence felt. Allen
Counter can testify. Professor of neurology and neuro-psychology at
Harvard University, he is also an expert on mercury effects. His
research led him to surprising findings: by studying mercury poisoning,
he discovered that women from regions as different and as far from one
another as Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania, were
showing similar symptoms of mercury poisoning. After further
examinations, he found out about the common practice at the root of
their health problem: the use of whitening creams.
January 22,
2005
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Health
The Week of January 22, 2006
Middle Class Heroes by Rajinder Puri
Hamas Treads the Political Path by Sujata
Ashwarya Cheema
Power, Pelf, Torture & Terror by Gaurang Bhatt,
MD
Indian Prime
Minister's Image Takes A Beating by Dr. Subhash Kapila
The Chemistry of Romance by Rajgopal
Nidamboor
Nation Building by Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi
Hypocrisy by J. Ajithkumar
No Chicken by Manjula Waldron
Unforgettable Times: Indo
English Poetry in the Seventies by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
The Art and Bliss of Sexual Union by Meena
Iyer
Growing up Girls by Nitin Jugran Bahuguna
Model for Safer Motherhood by Tripat Kaur
Aditi in Wonderland by R Uma Maheshwari
Fatally White by Andrée-Marie Dussault
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