Paris cracks down on sales of skin whitening creams
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Billboard ad for a skin whitener. Nickgraywfu (CC)
Paris, France has declared war on the illegal sale of skin whitening creams said to present health risks.
Several shopkeepers in the XVIII district of Paris have been given suspended prison sentences and hefty fines for selling various skin whitening creams which are illegal in France because of their alleged toxicity. More cases dealing with the illegal sales are expected to be decided in coming days. The products are said to be imported mainly from African countries.
City hall in Paris has also launched an internet information site on the creams in an effort to inform the public of the health risks involved in their use. Figures quoted on the site estimate that over 20 percent of Parisian women of African origin are currently using them. Many of those women are said not to be aware of the risks they are taking. A poster campaign has also begun, using the slogan “Seducing is fine, destroying yourself isn’t.” Medical authorities are also implicated in the campaign.
The subject had been taboo for years in France’s immigrant community, and skin-whitening creams have already harmed many women.
One witness on the site, a young woman named Assyta who immigrated from Chad, says “White skin is a criteria of beauty for many men of African origin. I have already been told that ‘You would be more beautiful if you had whiter skin,’” She added that whitening creams are “very easy to find and are practically on sale openly. Women are using them at a younger age now too, and girls start to whiten their skin from as young as 13 years old, using home-made cocktails of various products.”
Dr. Antoine Petit, a dermatologist at the Saint-Louis hospital in Paris, said the creams are in widespread use all over the African continent, India, Indonesia and in the Caribbean. “But there is no such thing as a risk-free miracle skin-whitening product,” said Petit.
“Related problems constitute 57 percent of dermatology consultations in Dakar, Senegal alone,” he said, adding that women should avoid cheap and imported skin-whitening creams and product mixing.
Many illegal creams, which are also being sold over the internet, contain potentially harmful products and many users are known to have developed acne, skin burning, patchy skin color, hair growth and diabetes as a direct result of using compounds which can be dangerous when used outside of a strictly medical context.
One of those products is hydroquinone - C6H4(OH)2. An organic compound, it is also known as benzene-1,4 or quinol. Its unauthorized use can lead to eczema, permanent white skin patches and irritability, and has also been found to cause leukemia in laboratory mice, according to the city’s web site.
Another often used ingredient is cortisone - C21H28O5, a steroid hormone that can lead to hypertension, ulcers, psychiatric troubles, melamine destruction and sight loss if used over long periods without medical supervision.
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Artificially lightening and darkening the skin are both harmful.
It's fascinating how many Americans of Scandinavian descent now keep dark tans year round, despite months of sub-freezing temps and weeks of no sunshine.
Apart from the "appealing to black men" issue, another problem for African and other immigrant women here is that they perceive themselves to be victimised because of their race and colour, which means a diminished possibility of getting a job and "social standing" which they see as being reserved for whites. There is obviously some truth there too in my view.
And, to be brutally honest, the fact that many women of African descent are seen as chattel by "their" men, who still have archaic views on what a woman should be in society (ie. not much), means they are often under a lot of pressure in one way or another.
Young men of Muslim/Maghreb origin (North African countries Morocco, Algeria and Tunisa) have slightly lighter skin to other Africans and they too prefer white skins. Their preference for white "French" girls is manifest, although, paradoxically, they have been known to "honour-kill" their "own" women if they go out with white "French" men.
I who am white had a Maghrebin girlfriend once. She (and us together) would often be insulted by younger Maghrebin males.
This is a complex issue, and there are no easy outs. THat's because it's not just a health problem, far from it. It's fraught with issues of deep-rooted cultural practices and attitudes and male domination.
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