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CHANGE: Vybz Kartel is famous for bleaching his skin

IN A land inhabited mostly by the descendants of enslaved Africans, there is a phenomenon that is raging as wild-fire in a cane field, through the length and breadth, nooks and crannies of this 'fair' isle.

More and more Jamaicans are literally burning the black pigment from their skin. They are bleaching to be brown.

These 'bleachers' believe a brown or light skin will make them more acceptable and desirable, and present better opportunities, such as job offers and spousal relationships, for them. They are convinced their dark or black skin is ugly and unsexy. Bleaching then, is the solution. They are bleaching to be embraced.

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Professor Errol Miller, former head of the Institute of Education at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, who did his MA thesis on body image and concept of beauty in Jamaica, in a 1999 letter to the editor of The Gleaner, said, "Some people bemoan the fact that many people with typical African features consider these features ugly."

But this 'ugliness' is not primarily about the facial features. It is rooted and grounded in the black skin. This is evident in the sense of pride that brown-skinned Jamaicans with typical African features exhibit. It is hardly surprising, taking into consideration the hierarchical structure on the plantations where brown-skinned slaves were more highly favoured than the black-skinned ones, who were made to feel inferior and homely.

Inferiority and ugliness

This feeling of inferiority and ugliness is not confined mainly to women, as in days gone by. Nowadays, Jamaican males, especially schoolboys, and led by dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel, are heads and shoulders with them. They are saying some girls prefer brown-skinned boys with "tall hair", and the 'chrome' (bleached brown) skin is a mark of "respect and ratings". This seems contrary to years ago when the black skin to many women was the epitome of male sexual allure.

BLEACH BOYS: Young man poses with skin lightening cream

Now, the bleached-brown "pretty boy" is the one to have and to hold. And the boys know it. And so, they are bleaching to be a 'brown bomber', according to 'Caramel' and 'Reds', two 18-year-old schoolboy bleachers, living in Kingston's inner cities. "When you do have a lighter skin in Jamaica, you are more acceptable because, as teens, girls like when you are brown ... As a party person, when you are in the party and the video light turns on you, the people see that you are well brown, and it attracts them," Reds says.

Yet, one would think that with Emancipation, Independence and the black power movement of the 1960s and '70s and the great accomplishments of many black-skinned people, Jamaicans would be proud of the black skin and embrace it. Of course, many are, and will defend it to the death. But others are still beset by a deep-seated hatred for the black skin, even their very own. They live in a country where there are still daily pejorative remarks against the black skin, which is sometimes the basis of ridicule and name-calling.

The bigoted utterances and attitudes of the slave masters, and the names, Blackie, Blacka, Blacks, Tar Baby, Blacky Tutus, Blackie Best, of their psychologically damaged foreparents and parents, are still echoing in their heads. "We discriminate against ourselves, without a cause. Even some of the parents in Jamaica have the saying, "anything black no good". What does that leave the children to do, but to change their complexion?" Reds asked while rubbing his 'bleaching-in-progress' face.

Media influence

Images in the local and international media are not helping them either. The skin colour of people they see in the media, the news anchors and reporters, dancers, singers, etc, is not significantly, if any at all, representative of theirs. They are told they are not ready for the video light, they said.

This situation is more predominant among working-class inner-city people, many of whom are either unemployable or not employed. In dire poverty, most of them exist with no money, no jobs, no education, no training. It's a hard-knock life, full of hustling to stay alive. Sidewalk vending, and hawking and peddling are the main ways of eking out a living.

BEFORE AND AFTER: Vybz Kartel before and after he started bleaching

Co-existing with their daily frustrations is low self-esteem. They have 'nothing' to be proud of, 'nothing' to boast about. Bleaching to get a fairer skin, then, is a response to these socio-economic and psychosocial challenges. They are bleaching to be proud and 'boasy'.

And while some bleach for acceptance and to prop up their low self-esteem, others are just following the fashion. They will tell you they are doing it because everybody around them is. If you are not bleaching, then you are not in vogue. So, on any given day, you see people going around proudly with the bleaching portions daubed on their faces.

"All my friends, brothers and cousin bleach their whole bodies. I am around them and I got caught up with it," Reds said, "I was happy, because I felt more accepted. When we are going out, everybody look brown and nice ... the girls call you 'browning', you know."

But Reds, whose skin is severely damaged by bleaching, said he had stopped because he couldn't afford to buy the agents anymore.