Some male artists in Zimbabwe have started bleaching their skin, in a trend that has swept the country, reports the Standard.
“A somewhat disturbing thing in Zimbabwe today is the increasingly widespread practice of skin bleaching, as we are bombarded with lightening celebrities and cheap creams on the shelves. First it was the Congolese musicians who came to this country with their bleached light skin bodies as they danced to rhumba grooves. We copied everything wholesale,” writes Fred Zindi on the Standard.
Skin bleaching is skin toning, brightening, lightening or whitening of the skin colour. Most of the artists mentioned for bleaching have refuted the allegations while some of them have avoided confirming or denying the allegations.
“Since I was born I have not even tried or used any chemicals to change the shade of my skin. People must understand how artists work. There is what we call makeup on set where one can apply face powder. The purpose of using face powder is to keep your face dry to avoid sweating, maybe that is what they are referring to as bleaching,” said Zimbabwean gospel musician Mathias Mhere.
Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa said bleaching is a harmful practice, warning those using the chemicals of the risk of suffering from different ailments such as kidney and heart problems in the near future.
“Most of those chemicals contain a substance called mercury and other heavy metals which affect the skin and cause heart problems in future,” said the Health Minister, adding “The effects are so devastating such that as a country, we have banned the importation of bleaching chemicals. It is unfortunate that the chemicals are being smuggled into the country from South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
“It is now known that chemical bleaching can lead to serious skin and health conditions, which include permanent skin bleaching, thinning of the skin, uneven colour loss, redness and intense irritation and skin cancer, but it is sad to note that despite evident side effects, people ignore the ban and glaring warnings against the use of these lightening drugs and creams,” a local pharmacologist told the Standard.
