I don't know why I just can't muster the courage to hate or outrightly disdain Nigerian ladies that bleach their skins.

Seriously.

I feel this overwhelming sympathy for them actually.

When I say 'bleaching',I do not mean the Lekki housewives married to billionaire CEOS of multinational corporations who send their wives overseas on private jets to scrub their skins with $15,000 bath salts and receive $2.8 million skin botox therapies monthly.

No.

The ones that tear at my soul and break my spirit are the 'Struggle-gerians'.

Now, in this part of the world,there is a fine difference between people LIVING in 'Nigeria',and people SURVIVING in 'Struggle-geria'.

So we are clear on this.

Good.


Like I was saying....

The ones that tear at my soul and break my spirit are the 'Struggle-gerians' that bleach their skins.

We meet these Struggle-gerian queens everywhere:

The market, as keke and danfo bus passengers, in our areas, our churches, on ATM queues--we even see a horde of them pitching tents all over our Instagram and Facebook posts and newsfeeds;contributing and posting over-filtered photos like their matrimonial destinies depend on it.

My Afang leaf seller in the market here in Lagos travelled back to her school for a month-- a dark skinned girl--to write her project.

---and returned looking like a strain of Naaman's leprosy was experimented on her face, fingers, neck and toes.

More disturbing was the fact that she fixed coloured hair, glued on a ton of rubber eyelashes and slam-dunked enough imitation foundation powder on her face to turn the Mediterranean sea a milky brown colour.

Her sharply contrasting knuckles even seemed to be screaming:''HIDE ME!!..HIDE ME'' each time the girl twirled them into view. Even half burnt stubs of St Morritz cigarettes didn't look nearly as worrisome.

A girl I used to idly admire before o. I couldn't even touch her or shake her hands like before as we conversed.

There are a lot of girls in my life that have taken this morbid road too.

Things between us just suddenly swung from fierce friendship and even romance--to a painful awkwardness and concerned pity.

I have a couple of female friends on here who suddenly noticed how 'mousy' I suddenly became around them.

The truth is that I don't know what to do,or how to relate with you or deal with the way my brain now identifies or relates with the physical idea of you in my sub-conscious.

A part of me wants to hug you so tight, then tie you in my basement for 3 months slapping coconut oil into your skin until all that nasty damage is reversed.

Another part of me just wants to swish a magic wand and reset your pigmentation naturally, so you would be evenly and NATURALLY fair--and wouldn't need to be a black lady rubbing corrosive concoctions into your skin--and end up looking like the peelings of a barbecued Cocoyam.

Then.....

I don't think it is really nice for people to stigmatize these ones with all those scornful and spiteful words.

A dark lady who bleaches her skin,but doesn't seem to notice how messy her ears, knuckles, elbows, knees, feet and toes look is not very emotionally oriented.

Such a lady isn't very happy.

What she needs is love, inspiration and direction.

Imagine the trauma an unemployed girl living in this 'Struggle-geria' must be experiencing having to scrape N600 every 3 weeks out of her old father or okada rider boyfriend to buy pirated Caro-white cream and 'perfect white serum' from the roadside to rub on her skin--only to end up jumping in and out of Oshodi buses in this blinding hot Lagos sun.

Sadly...the likes of Linda Ikeji, Genevieve Nnaji and DJ cuppy that can afford the luxury of outshining Michael Jackson's perfect bleaching future are not even messing with their skins the way our 'strugglegerian' girls do.

Love is the answer.

Show our girls love so they can in turn love their own skins.

As for the boys that bleach their skins, I have no words for you all yet.

Let me just stay calm because it's 2019.

faithfull18:
Lol, most look better in their natural state. Don't let any man deceive you, you are beautiful the way you are. If a man wants you lightskinned when you are naturally dark, let him leave you in peace and go for someone lightskinned.

I love this comment

Valerie47:
Its their body, so mind your business.

No let them suspect you oooo..... ....

DanDeeBoss:
No let them suspect you oooo..... ....

Valerie47:
They can say what they want, I'm dripping hot chocolate.

Alright...

Ishilove:
Ivan-Whyte Eagle Lawson is a Facebook user who uses his account to make very hilarious commentaries on societal trends. This one below had me braying laughter all over the place.


Stay black, stay proud.

Valerie47:
Its their body, so mind your business.

Valerie47:
They can say what they want, I'm dripping hot chocolate.

LordSaints:
if you are a dark skin lady,and you want my attention, you have be good looking or a stunner. if not,then go and bleach your skin or get da fvck away from me

Ishilove:
Ivan-Whyte Eagle Lawson is a Facebook user who uses his account to make very hilarious commentaries on societal trends. This one below had me braying laughter all over the place.


Stay black, stay proud.

ibkayee:
Nigerian logic

Insult darkskin and uplift lightskin as the ultimate paragon of beauty
Insult people for lightening their skin

Ishilove:
Ivan-Whyte Eagle Lawson is a Facebook user who uses his account to make very hilarious commentaries on societal trends. This one below had me braying laughter all over the place.


Stay black, stay proud.

sassysure:

Wise saying.
Talk is so cheap. For an average dark skinned girl whom 10 guys have asked out for a date in a year, the fair skinned girl must have gotten the same requests from 20 and counting.
Yet, they love dark skin. Add those that asked the dark girl out too.
Quite hypocritical.

sassysure:

Wise saying.
Talk is so cheap. For an average dark skinned girl whom 10 guys have asked out for a date in a year, the fair skinned girl must have gotten the same requests from 20 and counting.
Yet, they love dark skin. Add those that asked the dark girl out too.
Quite hypocritical.

Ishilove:
Ivan-Whyte Eagle Lawson is a Facebook user who uses his account to make very hilarious commentaries on societal trends. This one below had me braying laughter all over the place.


Stay black, stay proud.

faithfull18:
Lol, most look better in their natural state. Don't let any man deceive you, you are beautiful the way you are. If a man wants you lightskinned when you are naturally dark, let him leave you in peace and go for someone lightskinned.

A1PHA:

Open was giving good advice to prevent misguided people from making Grevious mistakes
Be mindful of yourself for it is not a good sign if someone giving another good advice upsets you

Hope you are not dripping hot chocolate after bleaching from charcoal black

Let not good words upset you

LordSaints:
if you are a dark skin lady,and you want my attention, you have be good looking or a stunner. if not,then go and bleach your skin or get da fvck away from me

lilmax:
where have you seen a man telling his woman to bleach?

most men go for mtn girls, non mtn girls are jealous, so they bleach their skin to attract men....

gerrit?

ibkayee:
Nigerian logic

Insult darkskin and uplift lightskin as an ultimate paragon of beauty
Insult people for lightening their skin

ibkayee:
Nigerian logic

Insult darkskin and uplift lightskin as an ultimate paragon of beauty
Insult people for lightening their skin