The Dangers Of Not Knowing
The precautions of the beauty industry’s effect on the black community considered? Where we are as a society can be reflected from what is mostly bought from consumers. Billions and billions of dollars are invested in the beauty industry in America, giving the idea that looks are something of importance to society. The largest group of people that are affected the most negatively with the pressures of trying to upkeep beauty are black women. Not surprisingly, black women happen to be one of the largest investors in the beauty industry in America. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the power of the black dollar in the beauty industry along with the possible hazardous effects of self-care products targeted for black people and how colorism steers black women into buying products dentimetral to their health.
The population of black people in America is about 13 percent but they account for at least 22 percent of the 42 billion a year personal care products market according to the “BIG MARKET FOR BLACK COSMETICS, BUT LESS-HAZARDOUS CHOICES LIMITED” article. Not only do black people have a huge effect on buying power in the beauty industry but they have much influence on what their non-black counterparts buy. “Our research shows that Black consumer choices have a ‘cool factor’ that has created a halo effect, influencing not just consumers of color but the mainstream as well,” these are words of Cheryl Grace, Senior Vice President of U. S. Strategic Community Alliances and Consumer Engagement, Nielsen. This encourages brands to make more products that cater to more diverse consumers. Black consumers that give these brands attention, give them the opportunity to be more culturally relevant and to approaching marketing more socially conscious in order to create a bond of loyalty between the consumer and brand. By tieing the powerful influence of the black dollar in the beauty industry and the black consumer's loyalty to certain products many are led astray when the self-care products that they have grown to love are considered hazardous.
This issue has just come to light, a study about beauty and hair products targeted for black women, involving safety concerns shows that the FDA doesn't have to approve the process of ingredients used in these products, therefore, a lack of safety precautions are taken. this doesn't just affect black women, it also affects all consumers of different races. The average woman uses 9 to 12 self-care products and for teenagers, it doubles to 17 products imagine the amount of chemical use that has been unknowingly consumed due to these lack of safety precautions. For black women, they use products at a higher rate than their non-black counterparts and the products that they use have been deemed more unsafe. According to the living healthy article “The Effects Of Toxic Beauty Products On Black Women” 1,177 products have been tested in a study for black women and 1 out of 12 products were found to be highly dangerous for human health. Making a low range of products that aren't dangerous available. 25% of self-care products for black women are on the low hazardous rate compared to the 40% that was rated highly hazardous. Products such as hair relaxers, coloring, and bleaches have been linked to hormonal issues. like early puberty, increased risk of menopause, reproductive damage, and cancer.
A study from the European Commission Scientific Committee on Consumer Products showed that 15 hair relaxers had an average rate of 8. 1 on a scale of 7 to 10 meaning those tested products were highly hazardous. many young black girls and women that straighten their hair use items that include lye. Lye breaks down the chemical bonds of the hair making it looser, but the side effects of this chemical involve boldness, uterine growths and for pregnant women, it's much worse. They experience premature births and low birth rates. Some products with no lye aren't any better either, they are usually rated 5 to 10 on the highly hazardous scale. Because the producers put calcium hydroxide as a replacement of the lye which is a caustic irritant. Because there is a lack of overseeing these products actual safety there isn’t much warning to the consumers who use them. It is important to shed more light on this subject because of the dentamtral consequences that can happen with the use of these products, the consumers should have a right to know what they are putting their body through this should be considered a public safety issue. On the bright side consumers have become more aware of this issue because there has been a 40% droppage in hair relaxers between 2008 and 2015 source from “BIG MARKET FOR BLACK COSMETICS, BUT LESS-HAZARDOUS CHOICES LIMITED”. The hazardous effects of some self-care products aren't the only issue that black women face there also is colorism connected to these issues. Colorism is the discrimination of people of darker skin tones and the favoritism of lighter skin tones. During American slavery on the plantations the white slave owners would rape the black women and thus that would produce the lighter skinned offspring. These light-skinned slaves would work in the plantation house and would get better treatment than the darker skinned field slaves, they were offered education and better living situations. This treatment differentiation created a division between dark-skinned black people and light-skinned black people.
As time went on light skin has been shown to be more favorable within American society and grained into the minds of black people that their dark skin isn't what is socially acceptable. Black women are the ones who are deeply subjected to this ideal to fit into what is considered the European norm when it becomes to looks because of colorism. Putting them at a higher risk of dealing with the dangers that these self-care products bring. Due to the desire of lighter skin and straighter hair, black women expose themselves to the battery chemicals that their white counterparts don’t have to encounter according to the “Beauty standards are literally toxic for women of color” article. It is found that when a black woman achieves lighter skin and straighter hair it leads to more career advances for them, creating the opportunity to make more money. Black hair has been subjected to be less attractive and less professional. Black people everywhere have been fired from their jobs for wearing their hair natural and black children have been forced to leave school for wearing their natural hair. Then there have been ads created to devalue darker skin which has led to the increase of buying skin lightening creams. These creams have mercury in them which can cause brain damage and nerve damage they also cause cancer and other skin diseases not only all that but they cause birth defects too. The issue of colorism is deep within any society affected by white supremacy and has caused the health issues of black people who have tried to achieve the looks of their white counterparts. there needs to be more of a celebration of darker skin tones to correct this issue socially and systematically because lighter skin isn’t just the righter skin.
The health of those black people should matter. Throughout this paper, many issues have been looked at, such as the power of the black dollar, the hazardous effect of self-care products for black people and the effects of colorism on black consumers. All these issues are connected and hold a valuable lesson on how society is for black people as consumers of the modern world. There is much importance of shedding light on this type of knowledge in order to better society so that it may cator more for minorities. From what the research shows there is much to be done but it doesn’t mean such changes are impossible.
