Edwina :Pio: If people feel whiteness will give people an advantage, they will reach for this goal. Photo / Supplied
Edwina :Pio: If people feel whiteness will give people an advantage, they will reach for this goal. Photo / Supplied
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
An IV drip treatment has been added to the list of skin whitening products in Aotearoa.
The treatment uses glutathione which is used globally for skin whitening and is given to customers intravenously. Glutathione works by stopping melanin production in the skin.
AUT Professor of Diversity and Diversity Director Edwina Pio says these products are popular because people feel whiteness will give them "privilege, prestige, and power".
"If a woman is going to feel disadvantaged because of her skin colour, perhaps she then tries to look whiter."
Pio says if people feel whiteness will give people an advantage, they will reach for this goal.
"It could be a manifestation of the supremacy of white as different from white supremacy. Even though the word today is linked with terrorism and radicalisation, it is a reiteration that white is supreme."
She says for people of colour, "notions of beauty are linked with the coloniser".
"If a lot of our beauty values come from America, Europe, and the UK, then, of course, it goes back to things like dark skin, whether black or brown is not ok… That mindset and value system gets linked down the years."
Sesa Mathlo Apothecary founder Makanaka Tuwe says skin bleaching products may be considered "frivolous and trivial" but need to be interrogated.
"We live in a society [where] the more proximity you have to whiteness, the more access you supposedly have to resources, tools, and success. Society does reward people who have proximity to whiteness."
Makanaka Tuwe: Trying to prevent the production of melanin comes down to anti-blackness, the idea 'not wanting to be black or too brown.' Photo / Supplied
She says even though different communities have varying ideas of race, darker-skinned people across these communities are at the greatest disadvantage.
Tuwe says trying to prevent the production of melanin comes down to anti-blackness, the idea "not wanting to be black or too brown."
She says even though these items can be taken off shelves, "the issue isn't access to products".
According to Medsafe, doctors must prescribe glutathione especially for injection or IV treatment, however websites like Etsy are making injectable glutathione products readily available.
Advanced Derma Care Managing Director Kim Ryan says beauty therapists in Aotearoa "are under no circumstances allowed to do any IV infusions" and that the practice is outside their code of ethics.
Ryan belongs to the New Zealand Association of Registered Beauty Professionals, an organisation working to bring safe standards to the largely unregulated beauty industry in Aotearoa.
Tuwe says it's sad that people rely on potentially harmful products instead of addressing the core issues of wellbeing.
"If we're going to talk about our wellbeing and our wellness, we need to take into consideration social justice. Things like race, culture, and identity because those things intrinsically impact someone."
She started Sesa Mathlo Apothecary as a space to have conversations about what impacts wellbeing.
"The material is really confronting but it's a really gently paced, non-judgmental environment."
Tuwe hopes workshops like The Well will help continue these challenging conversations.
"I hope people can be liberated and free to be comfortable in their own body and their own skin, once they have an understanding of the mechanisms that fuel things like skin bleaching."
Medsafe does not have an open investigation regarding the treatment but say they "welcome any information on issues that may not comply with the legislation."
