By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, August 22, 2008
CAIRO: Marwa wants a paler face and is willing to try a whole range of
lightening creams that promise beauty, love and success to Arab women.
Such products have been slammed as "racism in a bottle."
The 19-year-old Egyptian works for a hairdresser in the poor Cairo
district of Bulaq al-Dakrur, and is spoilt for choice as cheap blends
share shelf space with brand-name products that have now found a niche
in the Arab world.
Skin-whitening using home-made or store-bought products has long been
a tradition in Asia and Africa, but has taken off commercially in the
Middle East with Dutch-British company Unilever leading the market
with its "Fair and Lovely" brand.
As women in the West compete for a year-round copper glow and pages in
lifestyle magazines are devoted to self-tanning lotions, in much of
the Arab world beauty is defined by the paleness of a woman's skin.
While beaches may be teeming during the summer months, many women go
to great lengths to shade themselves from the sun, particularly in
Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.
They cover their bodies up for weeks on end before a wedding, for
example, striving for what is deemed to be an ideal alabaster
skin-tone.
"What is rare is expensive," according to Hassan Ahmed, a professor of
sociology at Cairo's Ain Shams University. "Since in Egypt, like in
the rest of the Arab world, olive skin is the most common, we prefer
white skin."
"White skin is the dream of all women, especially in the Gulf," added
a blonde television presenter of a shopping program on the Saudi-owned
satellite channel MBC4. People, she said, "suffer" from olive skin.
The Middle East and North Africa market was a godsend for Unilever,
which recognized the enormous potential in those countries mainly
because of a growing young population. Sales of heir product have
risen by 15 percent a year in the region since 2005, with an 18
percent peak in 2007.
Television ads for the cream deliver a simple message - that whiter
skin is the key to a more successful life. Each ad has a similar
theme: whether she wants to be a dancer or a doctor, a young woman's
olive skin is an obstacle. After using the cream she clinches her
dream job, earns the recognition of her peers or gains the attention
of the man she wants.
The ads have been criticized as racist. Two groups on the social
networking Internet site Facebook condemn the brand, some humorously.
"Fair and Lovely Cream is racist," one group writes, "but I still use
it."
"Ban Fair and Lovely," another writes, "racism in a bottle."
Habiba Hamid, who created one of the Facebook groups, said whitening
creams "exacerbate and capitalize on the kind of racism which
privileges lighter skin over darker. If the products themselves aren't
banned, any form of advertising for them should be. They are clearly
racist adverts."
Unilever defends itself, saying that the product responds to a market
need. "The desire to change/modify skin tone is universal," the
company wrote by e-mail. "Depending on the notion of beauty prevalent
in a particular society, this may be manifested either as lightening
or darkening the existing skin tone. This desire cuts across cultures,
income levels, educational levels and gender. Given the above there is
nothing to suggest that the marketing of Fair and Lovely or its
position of skin lightening is therefore imperialist, racist or
exploitative."
The attraction of white skin cuts across class lines in the Middle East.
Salwa comes from a wealthy family and is educated, well-traveled and
sharing many Western values. Her boyfriend told her, "I love you
despite the fact that you have olive skin."
Lightening creams are available in many forms, from unregulated,
unbranded bottles to prescription creams aimed at treating acne scars
and removing blemishes.
Dermatologist Rihab Sobhi says she has had to treat damage caused by
the use of non-prescription skin products, including everything from
marks and scars or even burns.
Some creams contain bleaching agents that are dangerous if used
"incorrectly," at high levels or too often, said Magda Abdel Samie, a
Cairo beautician.
"Some of these creams are very cheap. They are found everywhere and
are very easy to buy," Sobhi said. "The problem is young girls want to
use them all the time, which is very dangerous." - AFP
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