White and pretty in Yemen #InsideYemen Rooj Alwazir Some people in Yemen believe that colour-hierarchy is the psychological ramification of colonialism, and reinforced by globalisation My father once told me It used to be that the darker you are and the bigger you are, the more beautiful. It pained me to tell him that his beloved Yemen, which hed left for many years now, was no longer this way. I retold stories of a young girl I knew, Joor, who grew up hearing incessantly, Ya baytha, ya haliya- “You whitie, you pretty!” Her skin was darker than her sisters yet lighter than many others. And as a young girl, it was always pointed out that perhaps she was adopted. To mark herself as the same, and disregard the rumours that she was adopted, she ferociously applied “Fair and Lovely” whitening cream. To blend was not only to belong, but also to be beautiful. And beauty, as her aunties always chided her, was central to her main purpose in life: marriage. As she grew older, her need to look fair faded. She grew accustomed to her darker tone and even loved it. Yet, her aunties still referred to her in
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 12:54:34 +0000
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