Kenyan socialite Bridget Achieng blames low self-esteem for pushing her into bleaching her skin at the age of 22.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV, the 27-year-old says low self-esteem pushed her into changing her skin color to make herself appear lighter.
Ms. Achieng says she was on several occasions rejected during auditions for actors due to her dark skin, which made her hate herself.
“When I was 22 years old, I went for acting auditions, but I failed to qualify due to the color of my skin color. In one of the auditions, I was the best candidate, but a judge member told me: ‘You have qualified, but your skin tone is not the one we want’,” she explains.
She also says men would ignore her and approach her female friends whenever they went out.
“Sometimes, I would go out with my friends, and men would approach them because of their skin tone, and not even look my way because I was dark. I also had self-esteem issues growing up. I vowed to bleach [my skin] when I got money, and in 2014, when I landed employment, I decided to bleach my skin,” says Achieng.
Although she admits skin bleaching is an expensive affair and one that has side effects, she advises those who want to have it to use creams instead of tablets.
“Bleaching, however, is an expensive affair; the addiction to it is akin to the use of drugs,” she notes.
“I wouldn’t advise people to use skin-bleaching tablets. Some do affect the kidneys. I would prefer someone uses skin-lightening cream,” she says.
“If something makes you happy, pursue it. Africans tend to be quite judgmental.”
Nakuomba Dada Achieng…
Nakuomba Dada Achieng umtafute mwanasheria anayejua kazi yake vizuri halafu uwapeleke kortini watu waliomtukana MWUMBAJI kwa kukuambia ubadilishe zawadi MWUMBAJI aliyokupa ya rangi nzuri ya Kiafrika!
Je, matapeli viongozi wa kanisa mnafanya nini? Nawaombeni muwahubirie wafuasi kondoo (blind followers) wenu ya kwamba kila kitu tunachoona na vitu vingi ambavyo hatuoni kwa macho yetu, viliumbwa na MWUMBAJI. MWUMBAJI hakufanya makosa yoyote alipomuumba binadamu.
Kusema kweli, ukimwamini MWUMBAJI halafu utumie zawadi aliyokupa inayoitwa AKILI, matatizo yako (sura, rangi ya ngozi yako, mambo ya jinsia (gender) yote katika maisha yako, yanayeyuka (melt) kama barafu (ice) wakati wa Kiangazi (summer) mara moja.
Viongozi wa serikali mko wapi? Je mwajua? Katika nchi ya Afrika ya Kusini hawaruhusu au kukubali madawa ya kugeuza rangi ya Kiafrika kuuzwa madukani? Kusema kweli, kazi yenu ni nini? JE, NI KUONGEZWA MISHAHARA NA KUPATA MARUPURUPU TU?
Atahitaji kupeleka Low…
Atahitaji kupeleka Low-Esteem mahakamani. Anyway: It seems she AIN’T a true Luo (Like Lupita Nyong’o).
“If something makes you…
“If something makes you happy, pursue it. Africans tend to be quite judgmental.”
Please sister,it is irresponsible to pursue something that might hurt you in the long run.By your own admission, you had very low self esteem.There lie the problem.Lupita Nyong’o has publicly admitted that she suffered the same fate growing up.Changing your skin color is just superficial.Deep inside you know that you are cheating yourself.That’s not who you really are.
Like Malcolm X used to ask ,”who taught you to hate yourself?”.
People who have read my posts in the past might recognize my frequent mention of the”BROWN PAPER BAG TEST,whenever this topic comes up. For those who doent know, black americans used to hang a brown paper bag by the entrance of any social event,and you could only be allowed if your skin was lighter that the brown paper bag.Sadly even church events had this so called TEST.
Obviously there is a market for it.In Nigeria, 70 percent of women use skin lighteners. A whooping 70%.Some go event as far as lightening their infants.VERY SAD.
Yes even people who follow the two big religions christianity,and islam are not immune to this exploitation.You would think they would gladly welcome the way God created them…with any alternation.
Yes this is what happens when people dont question and follow blindly.Color is just that.Color.It does not add,or subtract a persons worthiness.What we are talking here is deeper than a mere color preference.It carries self loathe,self hate.This can only be changed by revolutionalizing the mind.And that starts by asking questions.
It is also unfortunate that ,it is with this kind of mentality that some dark skinned africans openly seek wazungu so that their ofsprings could be lighter.
At the end of the day,when you are faced with toiling for mundane needs,such as-mortgage,rent, hospital bills, sickness, gas, love, hate, corruption,sex,…etc.Skin color becomes very incosequential.Unless of course you believe that with the right skin color a magic wand would wipe all your problems away.
BLACK PEOPLE.WE HAVE APROBLEM of self loathing that has to be stopped,by us, for us and with us.Mzungu is just at the periphery looking at this with amuzement.
Maxiley extremely Liberal; A…
Maxiley extremely Liberal; A very left-Democract.
And a proud one to boot.
And a proud one to boot.
Haiya ati Liberal far left …
Haiya ati Liberal far left Democrat ha ha haha…. waoh that’s very interesting observation on a Kenyan scene 🙂
I am Independent; Conscious.
I am Independent; Conscious.
Maxley – You nailed it,…
Maxley – You nailed it, black folks have deep self loathing issues. I said it here again how people fall over themselves to be seen with a mzungu because in their small heads, that increases their self worth. This girl has issues and skin color is not one of them , with all that money invest in a psychologist and figure out her issues.
Oh Lord, just when I have…
Oh Lord, just when I have seen enough , then this….I doubt men were not talking to you because you are dark skinned ,that is your own myth and inferiority complex – which she has already admitted had lwo self esteem! Any person with right attitude , intelligence and has great self confidence is attractive and will attract people regardless of color!
Confidence is sexy,and…
Confidence is sexy,and sexiness is more attractive that skin color.And now that she has releaved that her skin is fake,wonder if men will still be fooled.
Iam also wondering if the skin lightener enterprise greased her palm…
facetiously speaking, isn’t praying to son of mariam supposed to erase such problems of low esteem brought about by mr.lucifer?Iwould think that that would be cheaper than lightening ones skin… which is supposedly expensive?
Ndugu @Maxiley: Umemnukuu …
Ndugu @Maxiley: Umemnukuu (quote) Hayati (the late) Alhaji Malik Al Shabaaz akisema:
“…Like Malcolm X used to ask ,”who taught you to hate yourself?”.
Nimekumbuka wamisionari walipanda mbegu mbaya ya sisi kujichukia walipoonyesha picha ya mwana mariamu (yesu) akiwa na rangi ya waridi (pink) kama yao. Nasi tukafikir rangi ya MWUMBAJI ni kama rangi ya wanayuropa.
Nimefikiri sana mpaka sasa nimeamua Mwafrika ambaye anafuata dini hii iliyowauza Wafrika utumwani, AKILI yake imelala, Yafaa aamshwe na kuacha kufuata Wanayuropa ambao wanamdharau MWUMBAJi wala hawamtambui.
@Ndugu Imara Daima,thank you…
@Ndugu Imara Daima,thank you for showing some of us that the mechanics of swahili language is rich,deep and as expressive as English.
Sometimes in my limited swahili iprejudise myself into thinking that there are no equivalent words or translations then you surprise me.Keep up the good work.Ihave expanded my swahili vocabulary greatly by reading your posts.
Anyway ,I wanted to mention that in addition to mtoto wa mariamu being mzungu,malaika pia niwazungu.So iwonder with all these good black Christians their is no black angel?Mzungu really fooled us…or did we fool ourselves?
Maybe if we could start…
Maybe if we could start publishing a black Jesus and black angels, maybe, that’s the spark needed to reduce the light skin-tone brainwash mania. That is before we jettison the idea of mwana wa mariamu, i.e. make it serve a useful purpose kwanza.
@ Anos,we are our own…
@ Anos,we are our own enemies.Their is a song by a Congolese musician by the name of Kiamangana matera wa zalambongo,”Verkys”.He released asong zambe nakomituna-God I ask you…
In the song among other questions he has for God, he asks why Angels are white, and the devil is black.The Catholics were up in arms demanding that the song be banned.
But yes your suggestion would be agood start.
Haiya that’s the same person…
Haiya that’s the same person from tint to this weird thing?!!!
Lucky you….you have no…
Lucky you….you have no problems now….you get all acting roles, all the men you want and everything else. I think your nose and hair too need some work.
Beautiful lady in her mind…
Beautiful lady in her mind. Unfortunate part of using hydroxy quinine is that you have to keep using it otherwise the darkness clips back in. This makes one look like a spotted just like a leopard. On top the worst thing is it can lead to Melanoma. Kenya sun plus prolonged burning the melatonin with hydroxyquinone=skin cancer
So why so what? they say as…
So why so what? they say as a man/woman thinketh so is he/she. The problem is not on the physical it is in the mind. And beauty they say is in the eyes of the beholder(not the wearer!)
For many confident ladies out there, they would paraphrase Jay-Z’s lines to something like;
‘Ninety nine problems but a complexion ain’t one
If you having color problems I feel bad for you daughter
I got ninety nine problems but a complexion ain’t one’.
Any man who dates a female…
Any man who dates a female that bleaches herself is a lost man. A female that bleaches herself is a female that will pass that low self esteem to your children. If you see a female that bleaches herself run for the hills.
You are better off without a woman in your life than one that has low self esteem