Skin lightening is not all cosmetic
Jacko didn’t do it to be white but to fight vitiligo, reports Siphelele Buthelezi
WHILE pop icon Michael Jackson reportedly bleached his skin and had his African features removed to “erase the memory” of his abusive father who tormented him about his looks, it’s a mystery why some local celebs are following suit.
After posting a picture of herself looking much lighter than the Khanyi Mbau we know, the media personality asked South Africans to “accept me as I am” after a social media storm.
While Mbau’s “yellow bone” transformation seems purely cosmetic, others lose their pigmentation as a result of a skin condition.
Skin conditions such as vitiligo are an incurable reality for those affected. The condition causes the loss of skin colour in blotches and spreads all over the body in some cases.
Some people opt to de-pigment their unaffected skin to blend in with the vitiligo patches.
Skin specialists have warned on the perils of skin-lightening products, saying it could cause skin cancers and the reduction of melanin could put people in danger as they become more exposed to the sun.
The University of Kwazulunatal’s head of dermatology, Professor Ncoza Dlova, says bleaching has a number of adverse effects, such as skin irritation, contact dermatitis, exogenous ochronosis, irreversible hyperpigmentation, rapid ageing and wrinkles, stretch marks, infections and skin cancer.
“Melanin is the normal pigment found in the layers of skin and protects the skin from the damaging, strong ultraviolet rays which result in wrinkles, pigmentation and skin cancer.
“So if one is blessed with a darker skin, that is an advantage and natural protection. Attempts to make your skin lighter are denuding the skin of its very own natural protective pigment,” she warns.
Jackson was, for a long time, thought to have bleached his skin because he didn’t like being black, but in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the musician revealed he suffered from vitiligo.
At the time, Jackson told how he had been offended by conspiracy theories that he had changed his skin because he wanted to be white.
An autopsy report confirmed Jackson had suffered from vitiligo, with patches around his face, chest, abdomen and arms. When the condition became worse he opted to depigment.
Dlova said although there is no cure for vitiligo, there are several treatment modalities for localised vitiligo. She says depigmentation is often offered to severely affected patients whose bodies have been affected by more than 50%.
“It is, however, a more aggressive approach and its use is considered on an individual basis because of the irreversible changes and increased sensitivity to sunburn of the treated areas,” adds Dlova.
She says the skin condition can have devastating psychological affects, not only for the patient but for the family as well.
“Various forms of topical treatment, tablets and injections, light therapy, certain lasers and sometimes surgical therapy can be offered depending on the dermatologist’s assessment.”
“General care includes use of sunscreens and sun avoidance which are recommended to minimise the contrast between the affected and unaffected skin,” she says.
Dlova adds that response to treatment is slow and can be challenging depending on the Sarafina star Leleti Khumalo... also affected. type of vitiligo.
Other well-known people who have vitiligo and who have embraced their skin as it is include actress Leleti Khumalo, who is famous for her role as Sarafina in Mbongeni Ngema’s play, Sarafina.
Khumalo learnt of her skin condition when she was 24. “It has taken over my looks, but I am content. I don’t want my life to be about the condition. I have it, so what? I am still an actress, a mother and a wife,” she told True Love magazine in an interview.
Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow is another wellknown icon who has embraced her vitiligo and confidently takes to ramps around the world and is never shy to show off her body.
“I have vitiligo, so during my whole career it’s always been this very odd debate, ‘Does she want to be white? Is she white and black? Is her mum white?’ It’s always been this question of my background, my race and what I stand for.
“My skin condition is not something new. It’s not like I was the first person to have it’,” she told the the UK Telegraph.
US TV personality Yvette Fielding is also affected by vitiligo, however, because she is white, it is not easily noticeable. Her skin appears pale at times.
“By the age of 20 I was completely white, and had no pigment in my hair, eyelashes or eyebrows. I was like an albino,” she recalls.