Azealia Banks and Skin Bleaching In Hollywood

Azealia Banks and Skin Bleaching In Hollywood

Let me preface this post by acknowledging that singer, Azealia Banks, lost all cool points with me the minute she decided to body shame a child (Read about is by clicking –>HERE). I’m not here for her. Never have been and never will be. That being said, I am willing not jump on the train of judgment in regards to her decision to bleach her skin.

Yes, she’s bleaching her skin and feels no qualms about it. You can hear her thoughts in this video:

Bleaching your skin is not the same thing as wearing a weave, but she tried it though, didn’t she? That aside, Banks is not the first skin bleacher and she  won’t be the last. This ain’t new. When I lived in the Bronx I got my hair done in a predominately Jamaican neighborhood (White Plains Rd and 223), and it was commonplace to see women with bleached skin.  Lil Kim’s skin bleaching, for example, is  perhaps the most drastic we’ve seen but it’s not new.

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Folks have done it and will continue to do it so long as our society continues to favor fair skin over dark skin. I can tell you firsthand that growing up as a dark skin black woman in America was not easy. No, bleaching my skin isn’t an option for me, but has it been presented to me as an option? You better believe it.  Take a look at this video to learn more about the practice in Jamaica:


In the last year or so I’ve seen more appreciation for dark skin people trending on social media, but I don’t know if any of it actually translates in the real world. We can all sit in judgement of women like Azeala Banks, but if you grow up in a home without love and you go out into the world and see that love is only granted to the fair, wouldn’t you hate yourself, too?

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