Reports from Amman Jordan
by Samah Sabawi
| Part XXIV - Whitening
the Arab World: Reinforcing the Arab inferiority complex |
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Comments from Readers
May 3, 2005 Whitening creams and soaps are a popular trend all over the world. However, while ad campaigns for these products in countries like Canada focus on erasing a lifetime of damaged skin by whitening dark spots and blemishes, the marketing campaigns for the same products sold here in the Arab World have taken a more aggressive and racist approach, focusing solely on the product's ability to whiten dark skin and promoting the idea that having whiter skin can lead to a happier, more successful life. The Arabic ad for Hindustan Lever’s "Fair and Lovely" - the largest-selling skin lightening cream in the world - tells the story of a teenager who sits alone in her room and dreams of being a TV reporter. She walks over to the mirror and stares sadly at her dull, dark reflection. Her mother comes in and hands her a tube of Fair & Lovely whitening cream and the two embrace. The girl uses the cream, becomes several shades lighter and, sure enough, her career dreams come true. The message is clear – fair skin equals success. What is even more shocking than such racist ads on Arab TV has been the reaction of the Arab audience: total acceptance. Hindustan Lever generated a storm of criticism in India for its promotional campaigns, and one of its Fair & Lovely ads was banned by Parliament, yet here in the Arab World similar ads continue to be aired without protest. In fact, it would appear that most Arabs see nothing wrong with wanting lighter skin. While there is certainly nothing shameful in wanting one’s skin to be a shade or two lighter or darker, it must be made clear that grave danger lurks behind the suggestion that only fair-skinned people deserve and can achieve success, love and happiness. By carelessly subscribing to the ideas promoted in this type of product advertising, we unwittingly incite and reinforce racial prejudice. Here in the Arab World, music clips and fashion magazines are rife with white models, many with blond hair, who certainly are not reflective of their predominantly olive skinned audiences. Many TV anchor women either have white skin and blond hair, or are white wannabes with layers of cosmetic foundation and powder piled on their faces to conceal their true colour. Egypt’s daily newspaper Al-Ahram took note of this trend: “...an ever increasing number of well-heeled Egyptian women are desperately resorting to skin-lightening creams, light tinted contact lenses and hair bleaching dyes in an often farcical attempt to attain the golden-locked look. The whitening of Egypt has become a lucrative industry.” Al-Ahram 14 August 2002 issue 598. Al-Ahram blamed the desire to be white on “shadism”, a colour hierarchy imprinted in our psyches through centuries of white colonial supremacy. “Darker is uncouth, unpolished, crude and common. Lighter is, accordingly, more desirable, preferred, simply superior.” The truth is: both here in the Arab World and across Asia and Africa, our societies are guilty of shadism. They adhere to a Eurocentric image of beauty and to the notion that white culture is superior, therefore we as a nation of darker colours and shades are inferior. My 14 year old, dark-skinned daughter's reaction to the Fair & Lovely ad says it all: "They are telling us that dark skin is for losers." Unfortunately it does not stop there. In Amman's high society, many prefer to speak English despite the fact that they were born and raised here. The use of English is intended to reflect their intellect and their high educational status. So not only dark skin is "for losers", but so is the Arabic language. Black people in the US were empowered in the 1960s to transform how they viewed themselves. Inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement they began to view their skin colour as part of their identity and not as something to be ashamed of. The cry “Black is Beautiful” was born to reinforce their pride in who they are. The Arab World is in need of such an awakening. We are guilty of pressuring our young, dark-skinned girls into feeling ashamed of their appearance. We are guilty of allowing cosmetic manufacturers to manipulate the worst prejudices in our societies, turning them into advertising campaigns. We are guilty of accepting and even supporting the invisibility of the darker skinned people who are the majority amongst us yet who can't earn a place in fashion magazines or on television unless they are willing to lighten their skin. Can there be anything more racist than to treat something so fundamental to our personal identity as the colour of our skin as if it were a layer of dirt, and to suggest that we should wash it off and live happily ever whiter? Samah Sabawi, originally from Gaza and whose permanent residence is now Ottawa, is a writer, playwright and well-known activist. Her articles appear in several popular online journals. Her Palestinian Diary is exclusive to YayaCanada. YayaCanada Boycott Israeli Apartheid
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