Bleachers Gonna Bleach

I’ve always wondered why people get so up in arms about bleaching, bleachers, and the whole “chillaligans” (in my Joseline Hernandez voice). Case in point… As long as I’ve been aware of the oh-so popular Toke Makinwa, I’ve also been much aware of the fact that she supposedly bleached her skin.  I mean, if Toke bleached skin in 1999, it’s 2015 and people will still not allow the girl to rest.
You see a post like “Toke stuns in new photoshoot” and one Ajayi will come and comment “ehnn, why is she hiding those dark knuckles?”, or “Toke at a charity event” and someone will say “She’s so fake with her over-bleached self”.  Me I just be observing  like make una free the girl abeg. She bleached and so what? Did it affect your own melanin or the lack of it? Let’s move all move onto other topics. Her yellow is here to stay. Shoot if you ask me sef, I think that if people are going to go the bleaching route then they need to even hit up Toke for her strategy. Her own bleaching job seems to be well executed. No coke and Fanta behavior per the pictures that I have observed of her.

But seriously sha, you go fear Naija people aka the Bleaching Police. Someone cannot come and be forming yellow and fresh without one other person coming at them with allegations of bleaching. I’ve read so many comments on blogs where the conversation would go like this:

Commenter 1:  Ehnn, isn’t this the same Mary that was so dark in Uni? Na wa oooo, awon bleachers, God is watching una o *insert judgmental rant*
Commenter 2: That’s a big fat lie. Mary has always been light skinned and she obviously lives in London now, so duhh the air there makes people’s complexions fresher.
Commenter 3: Tahhh, she bleached jare. Look at her knees and knuckles (apparently the quickest way to spot a bleacher is be peeping the knuckles)
Commenter 4: I’m light skinned and have dark knuckles and I’ve never touched a bottle of Jik in my life. You guys need to stop jumping to such conclusions, it’s ridiculous!

*debate ensues*

Me in the cut: *facepalm*
Side bar: Do people get as much in arms about other body modifications i.e. breast implants and such? I wonder.

I definitely will not drink Panadol ontop of what someone else chooses to his/her skin? You are an adult and you understand the potential repercussions abi? Okay, go ahead and do what makes you happy. The thing wey you dey chop no dey make me mess. My only plea to #TeamJik is, abeg do the job well and don’t assault us with eyesore color-blocking skin behavior. I dey beg una.

In the same vein, I’m not mad at people like Dencia who have chosen to profit from the bleaching/skin lightening industry with her Whitenicious line. That’s her hustle so she should go ahead and make that money. I know that she gets a lot of flack for brazenly promoting that line, but much as a lot of sanctimonious individuals choose to insult and criticize her, it seems that she is still doing very well in the business. Despite all said and done, the “Laiskin” industry seems to be trending, and a lot of folks want a piece of the action.

Now, if we drill down to the reasons for why people bleach…I think that a commonly stated assumption is that people who bleach are insecure. And they could very well be… who knows. Or they might be a Caitlyn Jenner* and claim that they’ve always felt like they were meant to be light skinned but were born in a dark skinned person’s body .  Again, who knows.
Everyone indeed has their reasons. Some may indeed be borne out of wanting be more attractive to the opposite sex i.e. “I want to be more attractive to men, because most men I meet say that they prefer a light skinned woman”, or some just might think that light is right, and they never want to be wrong.  Na only them sabi and in the end, despite all the outrage that some people express over in the matter, in the end, bleachers still gonna bleach and I won’t waste valuable Panadol ontop of their headache.

*On that Caitlyn Jenner matter, someone had a tweet that was the WORD during the whole uproar about Bruce/Caitlyn’s gender change. She asked why everyone was so accepting on Caitlyn, but would be the first to slang and haul all types of insults at people who bleach. So so true.
So, like I said…going forward I don’t want to hear any pim, pam, pom about the likes of Toke and co, ‘cos when it comes down to it, all na the same modification of self.

In the end, if you are comfortable with your skin color and not about that bleaching life then that’s truly what’s up. If you want to bleach for whatever reasons known to you, do you (be sure to research the implications and remember to keep it as flawless as possible #Saynotocokeandfanta). Like the boy Meek Mill said, "I aint judging though, they aint on trial", so no judgment from me. I have bigger fish to fry than worry my pretty head over what someone else chooses to do with his/her body.

And that is all she said.