JEDDAH: The desire of Saudi women to have fair skin, a basic parameter often used to decide levels of beauty in these parts of the world, drives many women to purchase skin-lightening cosmetics.
It is with the aim of looking beautiful that Saudi women have recently, through SMS messages and the Internet, begun promoting placenta injections which can cost around SR30,000 per session.
While the US Food & Drugs Agency (FDA) has forbidden the sale of capsules and herbs made from placentas, Jahid Al-Hashshan, director of licenses at the Saudi Food and Drugs Authority, did not dismiss the possibility that products made from placentas might be on sale in the Kingdom. “Material containing elements of placentas might be registered for other uses,” he said. “Although cosmetics entering the Kingdom are subject to strict controls and checking to ensure they are according to Saudi specifications, smuggling them into the Kingdom is not impossible,” he said.
Having a fair complexion is a sign of beauty for many people in this parts of the world, even though many international icons of beauty — such as the supermodel Naomi Campbell and singer Beyonce — are not white. Traditional Arabic proverbs demonstrate how the idea that beauty lies in being fair is entrenched in the psyche of many people. “I wish I was white and crippled because white is something to see,” goes one famous Saudi saying.
According to psychiatrist Fawziya Ashmakh the above saying is far from accurate but also “shameful.” “It is an exaggeration,” she said, adding that she believes a change in culture has greatly contributed in changing the stereotypical view of what beauty is.
“The passing of generations and change in tastes have led to a reshaping in how beauty is measured,” she said, adding that the media — both Western and Arab — have been instrumental in constructing the idea that fair equals beauty.
