DAKAR - Outraged by adverts urging women to bleach their skin, a spontaneous movement has emerged in Senegal arguing that black is beautiful -- and to act otherwise is to risk one's health.
The campaign sprang up in response to advertisements that appeared in the capital Dakar last year for a cosmetic cream called "Khess Petch", or "all white" in the local Wolof language.
The posters promised "rapid action" and "results in 15 days". They showed before and after pictures of a young woman who started out black and ended up with fair skin through depigmentation, locally known as "kheessal" or bleaching.
"We were scandalised (by a poster) suggesting that black is not beautiful because it recommends that young women should transform themselves in a fortnight," said Aisha Deme, who runs the cultural website Agendakar.com.
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The campaign sprang up in response to advertisements that appeared in the capital Dakar last year for a cosmetic cream called "Khess Petch", or "all white" in the local Wolof language.
The posters promised "rapid action" and "results in 15 days". They showed before and after pictures of a young woman who started out black and ended up with fair skin through depigmentation, locally known as "kheessal" or bleaching.
"We were scandalised (by a poster) suggesting that black is not beautiful because it recommends that young women should transform themselves in a fortnight," said Aisha Deme, who runs the cultural website Agendakar.com.
