One of the consequences of living in a white supremacist society is that whiteness is highly valued while blackness is diminished. This inherent unfairness can express itself in a myriad of ways, not the least of which is producing psychological and physical disorders in black people.

Among those abnormalities is skin lightening, which entails a black person using chemicals to lighten his or her skin. An excellent example of this sort of dysfunction is former model Irene Major who is almost unrecognizable due to the constant bleaching of her skin.

Major, originally from Cameroon, admits that she is constantly using products to lighten her skin.

“When my skin is lighter, I just feel prettier,” she explains. “It’s a taboo subject, and people get judgmental about it, but that’s how I feel.”

This practice is so prevalent that companies rake in millions by selling skin lightening creams to black people who aren’t comfortable in the brown or black skin.

Dr Organic Royal Jelly Skin Body Whitening Cream, produced by High Street health store Holland & Barrett, recently sparked outrage from people who are fed up with companies taking advantage of black people who hate their skin.

Major, who is married to an oil tycoon, says people just don’t understand the pressure some women are under to be more light skinned.

“A skin-lightening regime has been part of my life practically since birth,” she claims. “There are many different types of African skin — from dark charcoal to a lighter version — and you grow up knowing that the lighter ladies are the prettier ones. It’s just a fact.”

Her sister Elisa agrees, noting that lighter skinned people are higher on the totem pole than their darker counterparts.

“Being lighter shows you belong to a different place on the social ladder. All the rich, successful black African men marry either a white or a very light-skinned girl because they too grew up thinking that the lighter is the most pretty. It doesn’t matter how dark a man is, of course — the pressure is all on women.”

Some of the chemicals known to lighten skin, such as hydroquinone, are dangerous but women seek them out and take a chance in order to lighten their skin.