During the European colonial period, travelers in Africa emphasized and added to a European discourse of black womanhood that attributed a big body to all black women. This was a symbol of ‘otherness’, their inferior phenotype, and backward culture and intellect.
[45]
Although, today the thick Black female body is celebrated but it does not neglect the fact of white colonialist views and the prevalence of white beauty standards. “The voluptuous black female body is still perceived as unattractive, ugly, and grotesque—the opposite of beautiful—when seen through the prism of white supremacy.”
[45]
In some parts of
Africa, women with lighter skin are thought to be more beautiful and likely to find more success than women with darker skin tones.
[46] Often this barrier leads to women turning to
skin lightening treatments, many of which are harmful to the body.
[47]
Historically, the cause of skin lightening dates back to European colonialism, where individuals with lighter skin received greater privilege than those of darker tones.
[48] This built a racial hierarchy and color ranking within colonized African nations, leaving psychological effects on many of the darker skinned individuals.
[48][47]
Colorism affects both women and men in African countries, but it has taken hold of the beauty standards associated with a woman's ability to find success and marriage. The number of women across African countries using bleaching products have gone up with 77% of
Nigerian women, 52% of
Senegalese women, and 25% of
Malian women using lightening products.
[46][48] Der Spiegel reports that in Ghana, "When You Are Light-Skinned, You Earn More" and that, "Some pregnant women take tablets in the hopes that it will lead their child to be born with fair skin. Some apply bleaching lotion... to their babies, in the hopes that it will improve their child's chances."
[47]