Final project: what is the role of the Media in popularising Skin lightening/whitening products among African women?

 Skin lightening products have increasingly become popular in many African countries especially among women. This is because white or lighter skin is seen as more attractive and is linked with higher status, privilege, and beauty. 40% of African women bleach their skin, in Nigeria- 77%, Togo- 59%, South Africa- 35%, Senegal- 27%, and Mali 25% use skin lighting products (According to the WHO, as of 2011).

The media has played a major role in promoting this perception of lighter skin as revered as beautiful compared to dark skin, on billboards, magazines, television commercials, music videos, films, products labels, digital adverts, and on the internet. All these platforms show images and videos, many photoshopped, airbrushed, and retouched to make lighter skin look more attractive and desirable.  I will look at Ads, movies and TV shows, and celebrities & music videos.

I will consider three forms of media including, ads, movies and Tv shows, and celebrities and music videos, and how the aspects of production, techniques are used, and how the public receives the media- reception.

Production

Commercial ad images and videos for skin lightening products are produced by big cosmetics manufacturing companies such as Chinese Nantong Tianlan Cosmetics Co., Ltd and German-owned Nivea among others.

These companies have enough money to bump into producing the best ads, billboards, Movies also present light women as more attractive than dark-skinned women, light women having opportunities to get jobs, considered at a higher status in society.  

    The cosmetics companies are huge contributors to government revenues and so governments tend not to interfere with their businesses even if these products they manufacture are damaging to the health of the population.

Technique

    Cosmetics ads on billboards and videos are airbrushed and retouched for greater appeal to women. The adverts carry words that praise the benefits of the lightening creams and how they can make users look like celebrities. Cosmetics products carry names such as fairness cream, fair and lovely. Anti-aging creams, etc which attract women.

    Companies use celebrities to promote their products, whatever products endorse, women are convinced to buy even when some of the celebrities do not actually use the products.

    Celebrities also own beauty product labels that promote products that nourish the skin eg Jeniffer Lopez's JLO Beauty, but celebrities have been criticized for not revealing the exact nature of the products they use versus what they sell.

    Films and documentaries portray lighter-skinned women as more beautiful and this influences black women who desire to look like the film actors and actresses. The same goes for music videos.

Beyonce Knowles father, Mathew Knowles for instance says her daughter success as a singer is because of her lighter skin, says she was accepted because her skin was lighter, and noted that “virtually no black popstars with darker skin had broken through in the past decade” (source: CNN. Health).

Reception

As I mentioned earlier, many black women have embraced skin lightening products as evidenced by the big percentages in usage in Nigeria, Togo, South Africa, Senegal, and Mali. This is an indication that the media is greatly influencing African women to use skin-lightening products.

Sources 

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-53275734
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2019-july-2019/paying-high-price-skin-bleaching

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/15/health/banning-bleaching-products-in-africa/index.html