Meet Amira Adawe: A Somali Activist on a Bold Mission to Combat Colourism
Amira Adawe first learned about the negative impacts of skin whitening products while studying in the US. Horrified by what she’d discovered, she couldn’t help but think about what some of her friends and family were doing to their skin back in her native Somalia.
According to CNN, the skin-lightening industry is an $8.6 billion market that targets women yearning for a lighter skin tone. Capitalizing on mainly Asian and African locations, skin-lightening creams and serums are common beauty products in many countries.
The issue is that the dangerous chemicals found in many skin-lightening products, such as hydroquinone and mercury, pose SERIOUS health risks. These substances can lead to skin irritation, thinning, or even cancer with prolonged use.
So what’s going on — and what is Amira doing about it?
The real cost of skin-lightening products
The skin-lightening industry is growing. Despite being a lucrative market it also harbors a sinister truth — many of these skin-lightening products contain hazardous substances like mercury, leading to severe health risks. One woman reportedly lost her peripheral vision as a result of the mercury in her beauty products — and it put her family at risk too.
An ongoing lack of regulation and oversight in the skin-lightening industry, especially in countries where these products are most popular, allows these harmful products to remain on shelves. If they’re on shelves, people will continue to buy them. As a result, 77% of women in Nigeria use lightening products, 44% of women and men surveyed in Ghana admitted to using skin-lightening products — and those are just two of the small handful of studies that I was able to find on this topic (which is alarming in itself).
This reality has led countries like Gabon, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka to agree to a joint $14-million project to eradicate the use of mercury in skin-lightening products. But that doesn’t seem to be enough.
But why is skin lightning on the rise?
Well, this is down to multiple reasons. Deep-rooted societal standards across various cultures often appear to align lighter skin with beauty, success, and social mobility, a phenomenon known as colorism. This has been further fuelled by the beauty industry, which frequently upholds light, flawless skin as the ideal.
The ongoing demand for skin-lightening products, driven by colorism, often leads to women overlooking the health risks associated with these products. And this is exactly what Amira is on a mission to change.
The thing is, colorism also has a stark emotional impact that Amira is also concerned about. She highlighted this in an interview on Beautywell when she spoke of a listener who was afraid for her marriage.
Amira explained: “I remember one day, a woman called and talked about how it’s so hard for her, when she’s cooking—that she can’t even cook anymore, because of how her skin has become so sensitive, by using this skin-lightening product, that her face becomes so red.
“And I told her, ‘Have you thought about any plan of stopping this, so you heal from this? Not only your skin, externally, but also internal?’ And she said—she said this in Somali—‘My biggest fear is that my husband might leave me for a lighter-skinned woman.’ And that really stayed with me. It was such a sad thing, for a human to risk their life using these toxic products, thinking that their spouse might one day leave them.”
Amira’s quest to combat colourism
Even when she was living in the United States, Amira tested and discovered multiple products that contained dangerous levels of toxic ingredients. Of course, by this point, she had enough and decided to do something about the skin-lightening market.
Inspired by her findings, Amira kickstarted a campaign to help spread awareness of what she knew. “I started with the Somali community because that was the culture I was familiar with,” she told the MinnPost. “The women I talked to told me what products they were using, how often they used them. I didn’t like to hear that so many women in my community were putting their health in danger to meet a false beauty standard.”
She then went on to found the Beautywell Project, a campaign to end skin-lightening practices and stop harmful chemicals being used in beauty products. The amazing project underscores the importance of embracing individual identity and culture and fostering a toxic-free environment to enhance the well-being of women, children, and families. While the initiative has many aims, it involves workshops, health education forums, and a place for people to seek information and get education about skincare.
The wider quest for shifting the beauty narrative
Amira’s efforts to bring more awareness to the skin lightening product industry deserve a round of applause. She also said something in an interview that really stood out to us: “We can’t address this issue without discussing beauty, what it means and ways to redefine beauty, as well as discussing and educating individuals about wellness.”
And there we have it, readers. Redefining beauty, in this case, could potentially help save people’s lives and stop them from using toxins on their skin.
By advocating for a redefinition of beauty standards, Amira challenges the norms fueling the demand for skin-lightening products. Through the Beautywell Project, Amira works to raise awareness about the harmful effects of these products, promoting a shift towards healthier beauty practices and self-acceptance.
Her call for discussion and education on beauty and wellness highlights the need for a community-centric approach to address the problem at its roots. These are the kinds of inspirational figures we love to celebrate at TIB.
WHATS UP NEXT …
