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We live in challenging times. While this has always been true, it seems never more so than today. As we grapple with an existential crisis facing us at this very moment, we should not lose sight of the long standing threats to our civilization and how we treat each other in society.
One endemic problem that we have faced for decades is fundamental racism, which has manifested itself in many ways and at many levels. Unfortunately, in most of our societies, we haven’t moved beyond how we are judged based on the color of our skin. Unfortunately, this also happens to people within same races as well, and while it seems more subtle, it is tremendously damaging to our society. This is referred to as “Colorism” and it causes mental health issues, physical health problems, social discord and sometimes results in tragedies, particularly suicide.
I am a Youth Advisor working with STRIPED (a Harvard Public Health Initiative) that has crafted a new e-course for Health Professionals in India (and perhaps globally). These professionals work to educate adolescents and young adults who then go on to inform young consumers of the physical and mental health risks of using products that exploit colorism for profit.
Research shows that education through visual imagery and storytelling is an impactful and effective community engagement tool. To achieve a greater impact through the e-learning platform, we would like to create an animated, multi-media element to supplement the teaching case for this new e-course. The animation videos would enhance the teaching coursework to be more interactive, comprehensible and therefore, effective for the target audience. This would complement the course messaging: the need for young girls to understand that they can be happy with their skin tone, resist commentary or social pressure to alter shade of their skin, and that they should not pursue the use of dangerous creams and other damaging actions.
To produce the animated narratives, it will cost £10,000. These will be professionally produced in partnership with the Harvard Chan School of Public Health STRIPED in Boston and Medical Aid Films in London, where I live and study. Please support this very worthwhile project; lots of young adults around the world will benefit from this.
For more information on this project and some of the technical aspects of what we are undertaking, please read further, below. Thank you in advance for your kindness, empathy and generosity!
- Anisa S. Bhandari
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What is colorism: Colorism can be defined as the prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their skin color. On the surface, the widespread use of skin-lightening soaps, creams, and serums may seem like a matter of personal choice and aesthetics, but the practice is connected to a dominant and global social discourse on skin tone dissatisfaction, colorism, and issues of corporate irresponsibility (Craddock, 2016). Skin lightening poses many physical and mental health risks, including cancers, kidney damage, anxiety, depression, peripheral neuropathy, scarring, skin discoloration, skin irritation, blistering, and rashes (WHO, 2007; Craddock, 2016). Many researchers have also found that skin tone dissatisfaction is associated with poor body appreciation, negative appearance evaluation, and body dysmorphic symptoms in diverse participants, even after controlling for ethnicity, age, ethnic identity attachment, and self-esteem (Swami et al, 2013; Buchanan, Fischer, Tokar, Yoder, 2008; Marques et al, 2011; Falconer & Neville, 2000). In India, 61% of the dermatological market comprises of skin-lightening products (Kramer, 2012) and the skin fairness industry has been estimated to be worth between $US 450-535 million (Banerji, 2016; Karnani, 2007 in Shroff et al., 2018).
Delivering Social, Cultural & Health Impact: Using narratives and storytelling through an e-learning platform can be profoundly impactful. Such e-learning allows for a more accessible way to reach individuals globally. Using an e-learning course approach, will allow health professionals, as well as young adults, the opportunity to access continuing education, irrespective of locations and time zones. Additionally, utilizing a narrative and story-telling based approach within an e-learning model, provides tools to craft more effective social change stories, challenge assumptions, intervene in prevailing cultural narratives, and change the story around an issue.
For more information on this project, please feel free to reach out to:
Anisa: Anisa S. Bhandari, OR Bryn: Dr. Bryn Austin (Professor, Dept of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Director of STRIPED www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped )
One endemic problem that we have faced for decades is fundamental racism, which has manifested itself in many ways and at many levels. Unfortunately, in most of our societies, we haven’t moved beyond how we are judged based on the color of our skin. Unfortunately, this also happens to people within same races as well, and while it seems more subtle, it is tremendously damaging to our society. This is referred to as “Colorism” and it causes mental health issues, physical health problems, social discord and sometimes results in tragedies, particularly suicide.
I am a Youth Advisor working with STRIPED (a Harvard Public Health Initiative) that has crafted a new e-course for Health Professionals in India (and perhaps globally). These professionals work to educate adolescents and young adults who then go on to inform young consumers of the physical and mental health risks of using products that exploit colorism for profit.
Research shows that education through visual imagery and storytelling is an impactful and effective community engagement tool. To achieve a greater impact through the e-learning platform, we would like to create an animated, multi-media element to supplement the teaching case for this new e-course. The animation videos would enhance the teaching coursework to be more interactive, comprehensible and therefore, effective for the target audience. This would complement the course messaging: the need for young girls to understand that they can be happy with their skin tone, resist commentary or social pressure to alter shade of their skin, and that they should not pursue the use of dangerous creams and other damaging actions.
To produce the animated narratives, it will cost £10,000. These will be professionally produced in partnership with the Harvard Chan School of Public Health STRIPED in Boston and Medical Aid Films in London, where I live and study. Please support this very worthwhile project; lots of young adults around the world will benefit from this.
For more information on this project and some of the technical aspects of what we are undertaking, please read further, below. Thank you in advance for your kindness, empathy and generosity!
- Anisa S. Bhandari
================================================
What is colorism: Colorism can be defined as the prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their skin color. On the surface, the widespread use of skin-lightening soaps, creams, and serums may seem like a matter of personal choice and aesthetics, but the practice is connected to a dominant and global social discourse on skin tone dissatisfaction, colorism, and issues of corporate irresponsibility (Craddock, 2016). Skin lightening poses many physical and mental health risks, including cancers, kidney damage, anxiety, depression, peripheral neuropathy, scarring, skin discoloration, skin irritation, blistering, and rashes (WHO, 2007; Craddock, 2016). Many researchers have also found that skin tone dissatisfaction is associated with poor body appreciation, negative appearance evaluation, and body dysmorphic symptoms in diverse participants, even after controlling for ethnicity, age, ethnic identity attachment, and self-esteem (Swami et al, 2013; Buchanan, Fischer, Tokar, Yoder, 2008; Marques et al, 2011; Falconer & Neville, 2000). In India, 61% of the dermatological market comprises of skin-lightening products (Kramer, 2012) and the skin fairness industry has been estimated to be worth between $US 450-535 million (Banerji, 2016; Karnani, 2007 in Shroff et al., 2018).
Delivering Social, Cultural & Health Impact: Using narratives and storytelling through an e-learning platform can be profoundly impactful. Such e-learning allows for a more accessible way to reach individuals globally. Using an e-learning course approach, will allow health professionals, as well as young adults, the opportunity to access continuing education, irrespective of locations and time zones. Additionally, utilizing a narrative and story-telling based approach within an e-learning model, provides tools to craft more effective social change stories, challenge assumptions, intervene in prevailing cultural narratives, and change the story around an issue.
For more information on this project, please feel free to reach out to:
Anisa: Anisa S. Bhandari, OR Bryn: Dr. Bryn Austin (Professor, Dept of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Director of STRIPED www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped )
Organizer and beneficiary
Anisa S. Bhandari
Organizer
Vinni Bhandari
Beneficiary