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The products get smuggled past borders through personal luggage and can be found in ethnic markets and also online. That was really shocking to me," Adawe says.ĭespite FDA regulations, toxic skin lightening creams are accessible in the United States. That mercury vapor alone can expose everybody in the home, even people who visit. "That is a really huge public health issue. Skin bleaching products can also contain steroids, which thin the skin, as well as hydroquinone, a suspected carcinogen that is banned in some countries. If you're light-skinned, you're more accepted," she says. But through the years, it became so embedded in the culture to where it's become normal. "Certain skin colors were more accepted in the society. "A lot of it ties to colonization," Adawe says. Growing up in Mogadishu and Minneapolis, Adawe knew that skin lightening was widespread in her community. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health, Adawe proposed a study to investigate how Somali women use skin bleaching creams in their daily lives. In 2011, while a graduate student and health educator with St. An anonymous stream of listeners starts calling in to confide about a subject that is deeply personal and also taboo - skin bleaching.Īdawe is a Minnesota-based public health researcher and educator who works as a manager in Gov.
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"Hello? As-Salaam-Alaikum," she says into the foam mouth of her studio microphone. After peeling off her winter jacket, Adawe slides a pair of headphones over her crown of dark, short curls. Amira Adawe has a radio show, Beauty-Wellness Talk, which is a platform where the Somali community can talk openly about skin lightening without fear of being outed or stigmatized.Īmira Adawe has just arrived at a Somali-American community radio station in Minneapolis where she hosts a weekly call-in show called Beauty-Wellness Talk.