Brown Skin in Kenya

Double X Agenda campaign My Black Is Beautiful photoshoot. Joanne Kuria the founder standing upfront.

Skin lightening is highly frowned upon in Africa because it spreads the stereotypes that dark skin is not beautiful, driving women and men to lighten their skin. The skin lightening cream is known as mkorogo. Mkorogo is a Swahili word meaning a mixture. Mkorogo is a mixture of several creams with lightening chemicals used to achieve fairer skin.) In Kenya, the issue is spoken in hushed tones, with the users very reluctant to admit to using them. So it came as a shock when Vera Sidika, a Kenyan socialite, confirmed on live a TV interview about skin lighting. She claimed to have spent 15 Million Kenyan shillings for the procedure. “Thank you for using the right word. I did skin lightening and not bleaching that is done at River road,” Vera said. 

Effie Joan works in a bank as an office assistant. Effie feels isolated when men claim they like light-skinned ladies because she has a dark skin tone. “Being light-skinned is a big advantage because most of these ladies are able to get jobs as a receptionist and also activation ladies in events,” says Effie.

 

Effie Joan running errands Nairobi CBD.

According to Effie, she has had mean comments made at her like albino, which they use in irony because they don't want to call me dark leaving her feeling miserable.  She has had friends who bleached to get jobs easily and some to enhance their beauty.

“If you want to know if you are dark just walk along River road, you will have sales ladies trying to get your attention to sell you oil, which in reality is bleaching cream.” She adds.

 

Jimmy Kitiro a journalist says that there are various reasons why people desire to lighten their skin. He understands that a lot of people suffer from low self-esteem and feel their skin tone hinders them. They believe that the only way to be beautiful is to lighten their skin tone. "Most of the time, lighter-toned girls are more noticeable, and their complexion pulls your attention immediately. I think this is also a factor that contributes a lot to bleaching. This affects ladies most because they are seeking acceptance from society. They will stop at nothing to make sure that they look good. They make an effort to fit into the image of what they think is preferred out there, " he adds. Jimmy has never thought of bleaching, but he knows a few people who have bleached. So far, he has not seen it affect them negatively.

Jimmy Kitiro on phone in Nairobi CBD.

Melissa Wandia works as a Communication Officer and believes some people try to alter their natural skin tone using chemicals to make it lighter. "I have never tried to bleach because I'm very comfortable with my skin tone. However, I've heard people tell me that lighter skin is beautiful," says Melissa. According to Melissa, being insecure in their appearance could be the reason many women bleach their skin. While others could be seeking validation, a few have no idea the products they are using have harmful chemicals that cause skin lightening. "Bleaching is more common with women than men because of the pressure by society to be more beautiful and men to be rich. I have never gotten any advantage over others because of my lighter skin. However, I have worked in an environment that favored light-skinned people, a media house, where most anchors are lighter-skinned. I prefer not to give names, but tune in at prime-time news and count the number of light-skinned anchors. We are in Africa, the cradle of melanin. There is no way that only light-skinned women apply for the job. This puts pressure on darker women who would like those jobs," she adds.

Melissa does not personally know anyone who has bleached, but she sees people with unnatural-looking skin tones around. "I guess some of those have bleached their skin," Melissa says.

Lillian Wambui works in a town as an accountant. Lilian is dark-skinned and has never been limited by her skin tone.

"People say that my dark skin is beautiful, though it has never given me an advantage over others. I have a friend who has bleached. She, however, keeps it a secret. Thankfully her bleaching was successful, it's hard to tell she has bleached," says Lillian.

Lillian says people bleach because they lack self-esteem, some are not content with the way they look, and bleaching helps them look better. Bleaching makes the skin sensitive hence they cannot walk out in the sun. The procedure may also cause red and black blemishes on the skin.

“I think bleaching may cause skin cancer. It's funny how the bleaching creams are sold. If you walk along River road you will hear ladies standing along the street asking passersby whether they want to buy "mafuta". Mafuta is a Swahili word which means oil," she says.

My Black is Beautiful

Joanne Kuria is the founder of Double X Agenda that ran a campaign in 2018, dubbed #myblackisbeautiful. The campaign highlights the discrimination faced by people with dark skin and chocolate skin.

"The campaign is important because we are trying to dismantle stereotypes and biases that exist in our society. This issue stems from colonial times where dark-skinned slaves were put to work on farms because they were viewed as stronger, while the lighter-skinned slaves worked in the house because they were seen as being delicate and more pleasant. When we started people did not think colorism was an issue because Kenya has a black population," says Joanne.

According to Joanne, at the beginning of the campaign after interviewing a few ladies she realized how skin tone was a big deal. The stories varied from one to the other i.e from dark-skinned ladies who only dated white men, not necessarily because they liked them, but so they could have mixed light babies.

"They don't want their babies to go through all the teasing and trauma they went through. One particular lady remembers in primary school being called ‘usiku’ a Swahili word meaning night, ‘Giza’ a Swahili word meaning darkness, and ‘Kiwi’ a brand of black shoe polish," she adds.

Joanne also remembers a lady who struggled with self-esteem issues and would visit River road to buy lightening products. Her dad had to request her to stop because they could no longer recognize her. She also spoke to a lady to an actress who can only get roles as house help for the rich light-skinned actress.

"For women, what is beautiful has been imposed by society. At some point, we're told beauty is being sized 6, then came Beyonce Knowles, and now we must have a bum to be beautiful. Most women will change with society, but we shouldn't. Beauty is a buffet that has variety and not A la carte where you only order what is on the menu." Joanne says.

In a society where a man is termed as good-looking by being tall, dark, and handsome: men can get away with a lot because beauty standards are not very high for them. For women tall, dark, and beautiful is not good enough. Joanne believes men news anchors only need to have a unique voice and be qualified but women news anchors need to have hips, light skin, and long weave.

"The beauty standards for women are very high. There is a discrepancy in how society views men and how it views women. This puts a lot of pressure on women to fit into society's expectations. We needed to celebrate every woman. And let them know they are all beautiful and have something to offer. " Joanne says.

 

According to Joanne, the most ridiculous comment she has ever received is, 'you are pretty… for a dark-skinned girl.' Initially, when she was young she would be very happy thinking this was a compliment. Now that she is grown she realizes this was an insult.

"I grew up with a light-skinned mum, she was beautiful. Other than our complexion we looked very alike, but everybody deemed her to be more beautiful because of her complexion." She adds.

"Light-skinned women are referred to as rangi ya thao because their skin looks like a thousand Bob. Rangi ya thao is a slang term meaning the color of Ksh 1000, and because it's the highest denominations, it means their value is higher," says Joanne. "I'm always joking that maybe I'm Ksh 500. I'm hoping to do more campaigns because the first got a lot of attention towards the end. Our hope and idea are to talk about this issue until people hear it and act on it. This issue doesn't only affect girls in Kenya, but the rest of Africa."

 

According to Joanne, women should be able to define their beauty standards for themselves. She hopes to continue talking about colorism, and with time cooperates, advertising agencies, and media houses will start acting. "Am hoping to see a relatable person on billboards, chocolate, and dark skin news anchors. I hope to get positive responses from decision-makers," she says finally.