Dear Editor,

The epidemic of bleaching stems from slavery days when the white master taught the blacks that they were ugly and the house slaves thought they were more superior due to the fact that they were closer in complexion to the white man.

Sadly, people are judged firstly by their skin colour, which many uneducated individuals think determines social standing as well as the standard of beauty. A person with a lighter hue might be the closest thing to ugly, but seldom will admit that the person is indeed unattractive because they are brown. Also, in arguments many Jamaicans will be quick to utter: “Yuh black and ugly,” as an insult.

Also,as it relates to certain jobs, there are many companies and individuals who specifically ask for brown or white ladies for their events, as well as the party photographers who flock to white or very light brown adolescents so that it makes their event look more uptown or “refined”. This used to be prevalent on Page 2.

It’s a very sad reality in this country. I’m strongly against bleaching of the skin, because I think it shows insecurity in one’s complexion, as well as the fact that the main ingredient in bleaching creams is hydroquinone, which has many severe health risks. The most shocking thing to me is the fact that most individuals who bleach their skin don’t look natural. When aspiring to be “beautiful”, one should try to look as natural as possible or else it defeats the purpose.

Personally, brown skin is not beauty. I believe that the overall package determines how attractive someone is. I have seen many unattractive brown individuals in my lifetime and many attractive ones as well. Instead of striving to be artificially brown, they should strive to improve their attractiveness in other ways. As it relates to the embedded colour prejudice in the country, I believe that it cannot be completely erased, but if more Jamaicans took a stand against colour prejudice, maybe one day the situation would be changed for the better.

Black and proud

St Catherine