Somali elder urges Somali men to stop marrying bleached girls

[Chase]

Tbh, even the Arabs have a more modern view of beauty compared to Somalis. Whilst light skin is idealised, being fat certainly isn't apart from Mauritania.

With regards to fatness that is obviously due to Somalia being a poor nation. A fat girl signifies that she's from a comfortable family and if you have a fat wife, it makes you look like more of a provider as you can afford to feed your wife well.

According to statistics, the richer the nation, the more likely that being slim is seen as a sign of beauty and the poorer the nation, the more they value fatter women. Even amongts groups, wealthier men prefer more athletic and slimmer women, whilst poor men tend to prefer 'thicker' women. It's an interesting phenomenon.

Therefore, economic stability, a cultural overhaul and emphasis on health will make Somalis current beauty standard obsolete.

My only problem with this is that it implies Somalis had material wealth when that wasn't the case, the vast majority of our grandparents generation were living in the baadiyo as nomads, yet Somali men overwhelmingly preferred slim women with a darker hue, imagine my surprise finding out fanaax was a sought out beauty trait in Somali women, there's something more to this here.

 

[Angelina]

My only problem with this is that it implies Somalis had material wealth when that wasn't the case, the vast majority of our grandparents generation were living in the baadiyo as nomads, yet Somali men overwhelmingly preferred slim women with a darker hue, imagine my surprise finding out fanaax was a sought out beauty trait in Somali women, there's something more to this here.

Society was a lot more stable then though? And some amongst us were more wealthy than others. Things weren't as precarious as it is now. We have droughts and famines in the meey due to global warming and people in the cities are dealing with lack of jobs and threats to security.

 

[Angelina]

Whats funny is when girls from the West go back home they are told “why are you so dark maxa la madoobatay meesha Yurub san ma lagu gubaa” They think cold weather makes you lightskin automatically

Its more than that. They associate wealth with being bigger and lighter. More wealth=more food, more leisure time and therefore more time and money to buy bleach cream and apply it daily.

 

[Chase]

Society was a lot more stable then though? And some amongst us were more wealthy than others. Things weren't as precarious as it is now. We have droughts and famines in the meey due to global warming and people in the cities are dealing with lack of jobs and threats to security.

And the Somali diet did not have processed foods such as baasto and biriis, we were much more slim back then. Consider this, back in the day a staple of the Somali beauty standard was a long elegant neck, right? Well, you can't really possess that trait and be obese at the same time now can you.

 

[Dalalos_ibn_Adali]

I saw this girl I grew up with who was very dark back then but now is very light, I am mean the shade in her skin looked significantly lighter, obviously in true Somali fashion I said "damn girl you became white" lol she played it off with oh no I am same skin colour nonsense. I don't think she bleached though she looked natural. Maybe she just took extremely good care of her skin, I do see it in myself, I darken extremely easily in the summer playing basket ball. But in the winter I play indoors basketball and I get these type of comments as well.

 

[Dima&Damo]

Tuulo Girls Are Elite These Reer Magaal Down Bad

 

[Bundasliga]

Based odey, they need to ban Hollywood, Bollywood and Turkish shows. Only blck shows so somali kids grow up watching people with their skin tone and don’t become insecure

They'll think they black then bomboclat, we need entertainment produced by Somalis for Somalis,the beauty standard should be only authentic Somali.

 

[Qeelbax]

Where did this lightskin BBW thing even come from? Somalis always preferred a slim body with a elongated neck and Mariin skin tone, I blame the Arabs & Indians.

At least the fatness I think it comes from a combination of the « dhaax dhuuban » (skinny waist) and the « thick » trend. Somalis don’t have the capability of going to gyms to workout or getting a bbl, so they just become fat. That’s my guess.

 

[liftbrah]

Ethnocentric beauty standards always wins.

What men like is what women try to become.

 

[Bluefire]

This is a revelation to me.
Somalis, a nation known as dark and skinny, idolize fat and light people .

 

[Basra]

He urges us to stop marrying these bleached girls that way we stop this evil practice through positive discrimination

The 80 year old oday said he will not marry a bleached woman and urges the youth to follow his lead

I bet he secretly desire a bleached Xaliimo with chinese eyes

 

[Dima&Damo]

They'll think they black then bomboclat, we need entertainment produced by Somalis for Somalis,the beauty standard should be only authentic Somali.

Imagine Watching Romance Movie's From Arabs And Indians

 

[Abdisamad]

Somalia should ban bleaching cream.

 

[Nilotic]

Somalia should ban bleaching cream.

Banning it won't stop people from using it; media campaigns, education, popular media representations, regulation and health contingent price deterrents are far more effective methods.

It would be entirely sensible to completely ban skin-lightening creams that contain hydroquinone and mercury; these highly damaging creams are within the price range of most Africans and these are the ones that should be banned.

Non-harmful variants are exceedingly more expensive and are out of the price range of the people you're trying to help.