Before rising to the respectable role she plays on Kenyan television today, Citizen TV journalist Yvonne Okwara had been through thick and thin.
In a report that aired on the Dennis Pritt-based station christened “Kenyans Use Skin Lightening Chemicals“, the celebrated anchor revealed that while trying to break into the lucrative business, executives once dismissed her as being “too dark for TV.”
Much to the disbelief of the news feature’s presenter, the tough-talking anchor, who once dressed down Governors Mike Sonko and Hassan Joho, further disclosed that she had to work 10 times harder to get to where she is.
“I fought! And that’s what happened to me…you have to be something else. You have to be smarter. You have to be 10 times better,” narrated Okwara.
She announced her tough stance to retain her skin after the feature had aired in which numerous people, both men and women, had been embroiled in the trade with some ruining their skins.
The subjects in the story narrated how, after being influenced by the likes of Vera Sidika, the habit became a disease and due to the lack of constant supply of the product in Nairobi, they were forced to use fake products.
As it turns out, this has been the case for many women, especially in fields where beauty is considered to be a huge factor such as Air hostesses.
The #LightskinVsDarkskin debate has gone on for a while, and every time women find themselves either accepting defeat or resorting to other means to conform into society’s standard of “Beautiful.”
What people don’t realize is how incriminating it is for women of darker skin tones to just exist and live in a world where thy are not considered worthy of jobs, compliments, and other attributes given to the ones with fairer skin tones.
This has forced a sort of double standard culture in the society where women with light skin are put on a peddle-stool despite their many shortcomings(if any), unlike their darker counterparts. Why??? I need answers.
It is quite obvious for the stereotypical Kenyan male to go for a light skin woman, but this also applies to most African men.
My only question is where is the love for our Melanated sisters??
Kenyan males are now into the whole #TeamNatural theme going on when talking about women who bleach, but that’s only on Social media because in reality, they still choose to be the typical stereotype of a male, who would discredit a Dark skin girl, despite being natural, without thought.
These men don’t realize they are among the biggest reasons at to why women bleach their skin, and yet they will call them out for it at the same time SMH!!
Kindly, to all men out there, pick a side and stick to it. Women are tired.
And for the jobs that discriminate against the amount of darkness in the skin, I would like you to know that YOU are part of the problem.