Becoming White

Mugithi’s aunt wants to become white.
I have come to this conclusion after an incident of pure accident.
I was vacuum cleaning the house, and was finishing up with the aunt’s room (she was out to church, praying for my instant and miraculous rapture), when I accidentally bumped onto her dressing table, spilling the various pots of beauty embellishers onto the floor.

(I must confess here under extreme duress that, perhaps once or twice, I had cast an appraiser’s cold eye at the aunt: her dangerously low neck-line, the chemically straightened hair, the voluminous girth of every limb, and those swollen lips writhing in some inaudible, but angry speech — and had vaguely tried to fit her into mine or any man’s plausible day-dream. An event which I describe now, in the comforting presence of a glass of whisky, as one of acute trauma. The point being, beauty can be skin deep, but sometimes it just doesn’t exist)

So I gathered the items lying on the floor :

• framed photo of Mugithi’s sister (recently departed, struck by lightning while speaking on a mobile phone in muranga; mobile phone survived, and is in use by another member of the family)
• a snake-like rubber coil of unknown origin or usage
• a wig
• assorted chemicals for straightening hair
• 3 tubes of “fair and lovely” cream
• 2 plastic boxes of “movate” cream

I secretively scribbled the names on whatever scraps of paper I could find, and rushed to the nearest computer.

So “fair and lovely” is a fairness cream being sold by a multinational, with an international rap-sheet longer than my arm :Its also sold in various countries including India where its marketing strategy has caused controversy.

“Movate” on the other hand – is a disease inducing, steroids based cream, officially banned in Kenya. The previous link reveals a whole raft of fairness creams and oils officially banned in Kenya.

I suspect a trained dermatologist / skin specialist would make tons of money in Kenya, with current skin-lightened users already in the assembly line of future patients.
Which still doesn’t answer the question – why do so many people want to become white?

(I myself have been looking for a way to become a Luo, you see Mugithi has this smashing younger sister – my driver informs me that among the Luo if you marry a woman, you marry all her sisters. Any ideas?)