Aesthetic violence in the Saharawi camps: a fat white woman is wanted

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White and fat.

This is how you have to be if you want to be beautiful in the Saharawi refugee camps in

(Algeria), where more than 180,000 people have survived for 47 years in one of the

most forgotten

After centuries and centuries of patriarchal society, the

to fit in with some ideals of

is still latent.

But what happens if to comply with these canons you have to threaten your health until you get sick?

This is the situation that the

are facing today .

"When it is said that a woman is

, it is done because she meets the two main requirements: being fat and fair-skinned," explains

a Sahrawi woman and a gender specialist at

"Here, in the Sahara, there is a saying: when a woman 'wears melfa' -traditional Saharawi clothing- it means that she is

and that the melfa is well on, because the woman is not

, she is the one who wears the melfa and not the other way around", adds Enguia.

Many women who do not fit into the established

decide to resort to practices such as

skin

Although this model of beauty has survived since the times when the

population practiced nomadism, and it is also shared by other societies such as

, what has changed in recent years are the methods with which the Saharawis try to achieve this

. aesthetic.

In search of

, many have started taking chemicals and

to alter their physical appearance.

And this includes bleaching creams and

like cortisone and appetite stimulants.

"Through word of mouth and

groups , many women, especially young women, exchange information about the most effective

and the best way to use them," adds

together with

and

the three

promoters who work to raise awareness of this reality in the

.

Galia Sidahmed.Lucrezia Giordano

Hydroquinone, mercury and clobetasol for whitening

One of the main trends is the so-called '

', that is, the mixtures of

products with other natural ones used in the past to gain weight such as date paste, milk and

dromedary

or simply different chemicals combined to maximize their effectiveness.

"To whiten the skin, mixtures of

creams , hydrogen peroxide for hair and

are made . For example, three quarters of

with one part of hydrogen peroxide. The whole is left to act on the skin, "explains Galia and the companions of her

According to the data collected by

women

to whiten their skin contain very

substances , such as hydroquinone, mercury and clobetasol, which can cause

permanent

, damage to their

the central nervous system and the kidneys, as well as

in the fetus in case of pregnancy.

Lucrezia Giordano

As for the

they take to gain weight, side effects include stomach irritation, nausea, headaches,

or extreme sleepiness, depression and anxiety,

skin

The promoters say they have met women who, when mixing different

, "were sleepy but at the same time couldn't sleep and they spent the nights counting the stars," says

, supported by

and

.

They also point to a reduction in

and even frequent

.

Social pressure vs health

To compound the

, there is often a lack of knowledge on the subject that leads those who apply these practices not to relate the side effects to the

used.

Sometimes, even awareness sessions are not enough to convince

not to resort to these methods: it is likely that the social pressure to which they are

to achieve a certain aesthetic model is stronger than the concern for their

, they add.

The ideal of

has been built in the

from a patriarchal perspective and is reproduced in the domestic sphere by women.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the rest of the family are the ones who most insist on complying with that certain

.

"When seeing a girl with brown skin or a thin body, the neighbors will ask her relatives if she is

or if they take good care of her, because the

physical

-being of the family ", report the health promoters.

Lucrezia Giordano

However, as Enguia suggests, to blame women for using these practices would be to simplify the

social structure that drives them to pursue this ideal.

In fact, it is possible to argue that Sahrawis are

of aesthetic violence, that is, they suffer social pressure to comply with a certain

at all costs, even when it poses a

to the

and

health of the person.

In Saharawi society, at a historical moment like the present, marked by a prolonged refuge, the reactivation of

, the reduction of humanitarian aid and a serious food

,

seems to be the most immediate option for young women to become independent. of his family and ensure a

stable

And to get married, again, you have to be fat and white.

On the other hand,

men are not particularly active on the subject of

women's physical

Despite the apparent ignorance about the practices that negatively affect the health of their peers, they continue to prefer those that conform to the existing

.

"It's as if this idea was naturalized in our mentality. Men think that the beautiful woman is the

one, so, although there

, they are generally attracted to those who are like that," highlights Galia Sidahmed.

Responding to

affects not only the physical

, but also the mental health of women: many of those who do not conform to this model of beauty say they feel "

and

" and see the achievement of the Sahrawi aesthetic ideal as the only way way to fully integrate into society.

Build a healthy beauty model

Understanding the ideal of beauty as a public health problem, the

(UNMS), together with organizations such as

work with the community to warn about aesthetic violence and promote

practices , in addition to inviting reflection. on gender mandates.

It is crucial to advance in the

process , promoting

practices that do not harm health.

But focusing only on these harmful practices, without addressing the socio-cultural structures that lead women to sacrifice their

for their appearance, is not

, because it carries the

of not achieving lasting and sustainable change.

*Lucrezia Giordano is a volunteer for the European Union program, through which she supports the NGO Médicos del Mundo as a gender advisor.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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