非洲掀起“女性美白風”

South Africa is marketed to the world as Mandela's rainbow nation, where everyone is proud of their race and heritage. But for some black South Africans there is such a thing as being too black.

A recent study by the University of Cape Town suggests that one woman in three in South Africa bleaches her skin. The reasons for this are as varied as the cultures in this country but most people say they use skin-lighteners because they want "white skin".

Local dermatologists say they are seeing more and more patients whose skin has been damaged by years of bleaching - most of the time irreversibly.

In many parts of Africa and Asia, lighter-skinned woman are considered more beautiful, are believed to be more successful and more likely to find marriage.

The origin of this belief in Africa is not clear, but researchers have linked it to Africa's colonial history where white skin was the epitome of beauty.

Some have also suggested that people from "brown nations" around the world tended to look down upon dark-skinned people.

The World Health Organization has reported that Nigerians are the highest users of such products: 77% of Nigerian women use the products on a regular basis. They are followed by Togo with 59%; South Africa with 35%; and Mali at 25%.

South Africa banned products containing more than 2% of hydroquinone - the most common active ingredient in the 1980s. But it is easy to see creams and lotions containing the chemical on the stalls here. Some creams contain harmful steroids and others mercury.

Psychologists say there are also underlying reasons why people bleach their skin - but low self-esteem and, to some degree self-hate, are a common thread.

But skin-lightening is not just a fascination and obsession of women. Congolese hair stylist Jackson Marcelle says he has been using special injections to bleach his skin for the past 10 years. Each injection lasts for six months.

Entrenched in the minds of many Africans from a young age is the adage "if it's white, it's all right", a belief that has chipped away at the self-esteem of millions.

Until this changes, no amount of official bans or public information campaigns will stop people risking serious damage to their health in the pursuit of what they think is beauty.南非以“彩虹之國”著稱，這也是曼德拉對該國的稱呼。這裏每個人都以自己的種族和文化遺產自豪。但對於某些南非黑人來說，膚色太黑卻成爲他們的困擾。

開普敦大學最新研究表明，1/3的南非女性會漂白皮膚，原因就像該國的文化一樣多種多樣，但大多數女性表示使用美白產品是因爲想要“膚色白皙”。

當地皮膚科醫生說，越來越多的病人因爲長年漂白皮膚而導致皮膚受損，很多時候這種損害是不可逆的。

在非洲和亞洲的許多地區，人們認爲膚色白皙的女性更漂亮，更加成功，也更容易嫁得如意郎君。

非洲人有如此想法的根源還不清楚，但研究人員認爲這與非洲的殖民史有關，在非洲，白皮膚被認爲是美麗的象徵。

還有人表示，來自全球“棕色皮膚國家”的人會看不起黑色皮膚的人。

根據世界衛生組織的報告，在非洲，尼日利亞人使用美白產品的比例最高：77%的尼日利亞女性經常使用美白產品。排在其後的是多哥（59%）；南非（35%）和馬裏（25%）。

南非禁止製造出售對苯二酚含量超過2%的化妝品，對苯二酚在上世紀80年代是化妝品中最常見的成分。但在南非的櫃檯上，含有這種化學成分的面霜和護膚液隨處可見。一些面霜甚至含有有害的類固醇甚至水銀。

心理學家表示，人們漂白皮膚有潛在的原因，但常見的心理因素是自卑，甚至在某些程度上自怨自艾。

並不只有女性才熱衷美白皮膚。剛果髮型師傑克遜-馬塞爾說，他在過去10年一直注射美白針來美白皮膚。每針的有效期達半年。

很多非洲人自幼就有“膚白就貌美”的想法，這一想法也削弱了數百萬非洲人的自尊心。

如果不改變這種觀念，就算有再多的政府禁令、公開進行再多的信息宣傳，都無法阻止人們冒着損害健康的風險來追求他們所認爲的美麗。