Psychology of Beauty - skin bleaching in Tanzania
1) Bleach Me Beautiful: Why Tanzanian Women Practice Skin Bleaching
2) Tanzian women skin bleach to become more European-looking and to achieve higher socioeconomical status based off of historical references.
3) For decades, South African women have been engaging in the practice of skin bleaching. Despite how harmful the chemicals required to achieve a lighter skin tone are, the practice is becoming increasingly prevalent in the southern region. The question is: Why are South African women, especially Tanzanian women, still practicing skin bleaching although they are aware of the dangers of the chemicals? Based off some previous research, women feel pressured by European culture to be lighter because it is considered more beautiful and historically, blacks with lighter skin were often in a higher socioeconomical position. I propose an experiment should be done to determine if Tanzania women actually achieve higher statuses based off of the lightness of their skin or not and how they feel about themselves and their level of attractiveness by doing case studies and following women with bleached skin, their normal skin and women who go from having normal skin to caving into the pressure and bleaching their skin. Comparing different case studies of Tanzanian women can give some answers as to why these women still continue to bleach their skin. I think also doing surveys asking why women are still practicing this and their level of emotional help would also shed some light on the situation.
4) I feel like the idea that skin bleaching equals beauty has been a distorted view that has gone on for far too long and is ingrained in Tanzania women. I think society, especially western society, has pushed this idea on them for so long that it is now an expectation. For a long time, lighter skin meant wealth and separated the working class from upper class which is why I believe skin bleaching became a practice and was so desirable. In “Investigating motivations for women’s
2) Tanzian women skin bleach to become more European-looking and to achieve higher socioeconomical status based off of historical references.
3) For decades, South African women have been engaging in the practice of skin bleaching. Despite how harmful the chemicals required to achieve a lighter skin tone are, the practice is becoming increasingly prevalent in the southern region. The question is: Why are South African women, especially Tanzanian women, still practicing skin bleaching although they are aware of the dangers of the chemicals? Based off some previous research, women feel pressured by European culture to be lighter because it is considered more beautiful and historically, blacks with lighter skin were often in a higher socioeconomical position. I propose an experiment should be done to determine if Tanzania women actually achieve higher statuses based off of the lightness of their skin or not and how they feel about themselves and their level of attractiveness by doing case studies and following women with bleached skin, their normal skin and women who go from having normal skin to caving into the pressure and bleaching their skin. Comparing different case studies of Tanzanian women can give some answers as to why these women still continue to bleach their skin. I think also doing surveys asking why women are still practicing this and their level of emotional help would also shed some light on the situation.
4) I feel like the idea that skin bleaching equals beauty has been a distorted view that has gone on for far too long and is ingrained in Tanzania women. I think society, especially western society, has pushed this idea on them for so long that it is now an expectation. For a long time, lighter skin meant wealth and separated the working class from upper class which is why I believe skin bleaching became a practice and was so desirable. In “Investigating motivations for women’s
References: BBC News. (2004). Tanzania counts cost of White skin. Retrieved from http://www.news.bbc. co.uk/2/hi/africa/4032837.stm Blay, Y. A. (2009). Editorial:Struck by Lightening. Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studie, 10, 1-9. Coard, S. I., Breland, A. M., & Raskin, P. (2001). Perceptions of and Preferences for Skin Color, Black Racial Identity, and Self-Esteem Among African Americans. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(11), 2256-2274. De Souza, M. M. (2008). The concept of skin bleaching in Africa and its devastating health implications. Clinics in Dermatology, 26, 27–29 Hall, R. E. (1995). The Color Complex: The Bleaching Syndrome. Race, Gender, & Class, 2(2), 99-109. Hall, R. E. (2009). Implications of Eurocentrism for Social Work Education: Trivialization vis-Ã -vis Skin Color. Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 3(3), 175-186. Lewis, K. M., Robkin, N., Gaska, K., & Njoki, L. C. (2011). Investigating Motivations for Women 's Skin Bleaching in Tanzania. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(1), 29-37. Lewis, K. M., Gaska, K., Robkin, N., Martin, A., Andrews, E., & Williams, J. (2012). The Need for Interventions to Prevent Skin Bleaching: A Look at Tanzania. Journal of Black Studies, 43(7), 787-805. Lewis, K. M., Robkin, N., Gaska, K., Njoki, L. C., Andrews, E., & Jetha, K. (2009). The Tanzanian response to dangerous skin bleaching products and practices & the gendered politics involved: a critical analysis. Jenda: A Jornal of Culture and African Womens Studies, 10, 18-35. Mucherah, W., & Frazier, A. D. (2013). How deep is skin-deep? The relationship between skin color satisfaction, estimation of body image, and self-esteem among women of African descent. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(6), 1177-1184.