美国国家公共电台 NPR 'You Have Dark Skin And You Are Beautiful': The Long Fight Against Skin Bleaching

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Around the world, skin bleaching² is popular, particularly in India, China and parts of Africa. Some immigrants have taken the tradition to the United States. In Minnesota, where the largest Somali community in the U.S. resides, one woman is now leading a movement to try and get people to stop using skin-bleaching products. Nancy Rosenbaum reports.

NANCY ROSENBAUM, BYLINE³: Amira Adawe grew up in Mogadishu and moved to the U.S. when she was 17. Both there and here in the U.S., she saw lots of Somali women using products to lighten their skin. And it made her wonder, what was in the creams? And how did they work so quickly? Once hired by St. Paul's County public health department, Adawe began to investigate the products.

AMIRA ADAWE: And that's what public health teaches you - finding a problem and solving it - yeah.

ROSENBAUM: The research found toxic⁴ levels of mercury in some of the creams - creams that women told her they slathered on their bodies, sometimes several times a day, even when they were pregnant or breastfeeding. Salma Ali is Somali-American and lives in the Twin Cities. She says that skin-bleaching products are pervasive⁵ in her community.

SALMA ALI: Across all cultures, darker-skinned people have, like, self-esteem issues. Like, the lighter⁶ you are, the more beautiful you are seen as.

ROSENBAUM: Ali is 19 and describes herself as dark-skinned. She says she's been pressured to bleach¹.

ALI: I've had, like, my aunts come up to me, telling me, like, Salma, you're not ugly. It's just that your skin is just a little dirty. You need to clean it up. I got some products from China. I'm going to hook you up.

(LAUGHTER)

ALI: And I'm like, how is my skin dirty? Like, I'm taking care of myself, you know? But because of the fact that I have darker skin, I'm just seen as ugly. And that's just part of, like, the way we've all been socialized.

ROSENBAUM: Ali says that socialization is embedded⁷ in Somali culture, even in the language.

ADAWE: Growing up, if somebody in my family was mad at me, they would call me koor madow, which means hey, darker skin. That's literally⁸ all it means. That's the definition. It's koor madow - koor meaning skin, madow meaning black - so dark skin. And it was an insult.

ROSENBAUM: Colorism and skin bleaching isn't just a Somali issue. It's a big business. According to research by the group Global Industry Analysts⁹, the market for skin-lightening products is huge and brings in tens of billions of dollars a year. Amira Adawe says that so long as lighter skin is viewed as more attractive, people will find a way to keep bleaching, sometimes even after they're aware of the health risks. That's why she's made it her mission to start a conversation to reimagine beauty. A few months ago, she started a weekly Somali radio program.

ADAWE: Six-12-353-5596...

ROSENBAUM: Even though skin bleaching is widespread in the Somali community, it's taboo¹⁰ to talk about it openly. So when Adawe got on the airwaves, she made it clear that people could call in anonymously¹¹.

ADAWE: Now women call, and men also call and talk about this issue openly. Nobody can tell their voice. And so they're - and they're not mentioning their name. And so that is really helpful.

ROSENBAUM: The show is in Somali and English. And today, Adawe's in-studio guest is another Somali health educator, Hibat Sharif.

HIBAT SHARIF: We're African (speaking Somali). We have dark skin. Our skin is melanated. It's pigmented. It provides us with a lot of benefits health-wise. So why are we telling our girls, oh, you'd look so much better if you were lighter?

ROSENBAUM: Amira Adawe's next step is to take this activism into the schools. She's writing a curriculum for teachers to raise the conversation about skin color and self-esteem. For NPR News, I'm Nancy Rosenbaum in Minneapolis.

(SOUNDBITE OF DANIJEL ZAMBO'S "SUNNY DAY")

1 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

2 bleaching   

漂白法，漂白

参考例句：

• Moderately weathered rock showed more intense bleaching and fissuring in the feldspars. 中等风化岩石则是指长石有更为强烈的变白现象和裂纹现象。
• Bleaching effects are very strong and show on air photos. 退色效应非常强烈，并且反映在航空象片上。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

11 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。