Lhe universal concept of female beauty is now multi-ethnic. There are countless top models from Africa, the Middle East or Asia on the international beauty scene. However, black skin remains difficult for some to assume and the whitening fashion is still relevant. In a moving story where historical facts, testimonies and personal itineraries intertwine, Khadi Sy Bizet delivers an unprecedented version of this quest for “whiteness” which leads to an addiction from which it is difficult to wean oneself. The author once again sounds the alarm about the dangers of these lightening products that endanger health.
Khadi Sy Bizet is an aesthetic doctor, a specialist in black beauty. This document is the fruit of his professional experience and his personal commitment in the fight against the practice of black skin whitening.
Skin whitening: A social phenomenon that generates a number of fantasies, misunderstandings, emotions and enough interest for politicians and public authorities to decide to get involved today. Playing down this quest for whiteness with a touch of humor and preserving the sensitivity of the readers concerned or witnesses, the author once again sounds the alarm about the physical, health and psychological dangers of the practice of bleaching. If in fashion, white is messy and the little black dress the guarantee of chic elegance, why in all societies has fair complexion long been synonymous with purity and superiority and black complexion has does it have an inferior, impure connotation and is it synonymous with misfortune? Why, like India and the ancient European royal courts, is translucent skin still an outward sign of wealth in Africa? “Is there in the collective unconscious an ideal complexion to define feminine beauty? The reasons that drive the African woman to give in to the temptation of bleaching are complex and full of contradictions: The desire to "wash her complexion" to appear less "dirty" in the eyes of a potential husband is confronted with the shame of a practice that reveals a malaise. As for the man, who often buys the products from his wife, he realizes a fantasy because in his eyes a beautiful black woman is a black woman with a fair complexion. Under pressure from family, spouse or friends, it is much easier to give in to addiction than to give it up. Far from posing as a sociologist or psychologist, the author addresses this open letter to all those women in distress faced with the ravages of the practice on their bodies and in their lives in order to get them out of their isolation. They will recognize each other throughout the pages. Active or passive witnesses will learn not to judge but to lend a hand thanks to the many leads distilled by the author to put an end to this practice once and for all. Khadi Sy Bizet shatters a few received ideas: NO, the African woman does not try to look like the white woman. It is the African mestizo and the Afro-American celebrities that fascinate her. Between historical narrative, moving testimonies, funny anecdotes and autobiographical novel, the latest work of Dr. Khadi Sy Bizet offers an unprecedented and captivating internal vision of this social phenomenon. Educational and accessible to all, it leaves no one indifferent and can be read in one sitting. “These Bleached Black Beauties”, undoubtedly the necessary and acceptable trigger for those who are victims of this addiction and those around them. Respect for others depends on the positive opinion we have of ourselves. And no, black is not a genetic bug!
Dr. Khadi Sy Bizet is recognized for having made black beauty a vocation and skin whitening a struggle for more than 20 years.
