Harare East legislator Kiven Mutimbanyoka has come out guns blazing against the issue of skin bleaching in the country, adding that dark-skinned girls must be included on billboards, television adverts and advertising posters.
Honourable Mutimbanyoka told the National Assembly that the use of light-skinned girls on posters, billboards, and advertisements is pressuring dark-skinned girls to use illegal skin lightening creams.
He said this can only be dismantled by replacing light-skinned girls with dark-skinned girls on publicity materials.
‘’If we are to dismantle the skin-bleaching industry, we must redefine beauty standards through strategic advocacy and inclusive representation.
‘’This means mainstreaming dark-skinned beauty in media and advertising, ensuring that billboards, television, and fashion industries showcase models and influencers of all skin tones rather than perpetuating eurocentric aesthetics.
‘’Governments and public health institutions must work alongside media houses, influencers and cultural leaders to reshape public perceptions and affirm that all skin tones are equally beautiful. True transformation will only be achieved when diversity is celebrated rather than corrected,’’ he said.
The Harare East legislator had no kind words for socialites and influencers, whom he said are promoting skin lightening products on social media.
‘’This House cannot afford to remain silent while unscrupulous traders profit off the suffering of our people, while socialites poison the minds of our youth and while unborn children become victims of this epidemic before they even draw their first breath.
‘’The time for decisive legislative action is now. We must criminalise the sale and promotion of illegal skin-bleaching products, enforce stricter penalties on offenders, and hold influencers accountable for glorifying a practice that is mutilating our people.
‘’Failure to act is not just an oversight; it is a betrayal of our duty to protect the health, dignity and future of Zimbabwe. The fight against skin bleaching must begin with a robust and targeted educational campaign aimed at dismantling the dangerous misconceptions fueling this crisis.
‘’Consumers must be equipped with accurate, science-based knowledge on the correct use of skin care products and the life,’’ he said.
The legislator also added that light-skinned women often get easier access to jobs and opportunities than dark-skinned women, because men now prefer light-skinned women and have made it a standard for beauty.
‘’Skin bleaching is not simply a personal choice but a symptom of colourism, a deep-seated hierarchy that equates lighter skin with beauty, status and power. This damaging mindset, reinforced over generations, thrives today as men continue to uphold the myth that fairer complexions are more desirable.
‘’In Zimbabwe, terms like “yellow bone” expose how male preferences pressure women to alter their appearance, often at the cost of their health. The disparity is stark: lighter-skinned women gain easier access to jobs, relationships and social capital, while darker-skinned women face systemic exclusion, branded as less attractive or valuable.
‘’The psychological damage runs deep, with many women conditioned to see their natural skin as a barrier rather than a birthright. Though often treated as a modern trend, skin bleaching’s roots stretch back to historical systems that tied privilege to proximity to whiteness.
‘’Today, this warped logic fuels a booming industry, profiting from insecurity and perpetuating the lie that self-worth can and should be lightened. The result is a cycle of harm, sustained by male-driven beauty standards that treat skin tone as currency in a rigged game of social acceptance.
‘’Madam Speaker, the global skin-lightening market thrives on colourism, aggressively marketing these products as a gateway to beauty, success, and social mobility,’’ he said.
