Beauty obsession in India: Fair skin tone
Ok, lemme be very honest with you being Indian I know what is the level of this evil in my society. Frankly saying, I was also one of the discriminants; you could have said me racist until a few years ago because I also typed of kid who used to find the fair complexion people more friendly to me and also fair complexion girls kind of more attractive to me. Honestly, it was my mentality when I didn’t know or I could say barely know about odds and evens in this world. That means this kind of mentality in the child is the sole representation of what happening in the society.
Ok, so how did I get over, from this kind of mentality?
Firstly A quote which I tried to understand what it really means “ BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF BEHOLDER” second my perspective of seeing a people changed when I meet a girl, she was a friend and also like a sister to me. I would like to take her name & I would love to describe her because she was the only reason behind the shifting of my ideology. Her name was “Samiya Hassan” First time I meet her when I was in 6th class (grade). She was my classmate along with that we used to come and go with me in the same school bus.
Being very honest, In 6th class I found myself being more attentive and fond more girls attractive to me ever before cause that was my beginning of puberty age. That year was starting of change in hormones in me. Ok! So As far as I could remember from childhood I was like very curious toward investigating and finding the reason of everything which I feel, which happens around me, I just try to comprehend it as simple and understandable as it could be in order to develop a more complex idea on the topic. So I choose to understand the meaning of real beauty of any person. I was trying to understand what does beauty really mean. So that was the first time I came up with the quote “Beauty is in the eye of beholder” so, it was kinda July last I begin my research, till January I came up of lots of data and information from various sources but was unable to understand what all those data indeed try to explain, So it was like mid of January, I couldn’t remember the specific date but something happened on very specific day that changed my mindset.
Until now Samiya and I were used to go from the same bus from the same stoppage to the same school and same class for about last 9 months but I hadn’t talked her a single word because of few regions that were she was kind of dark in skin tone and my society thought me discrimination from childhood. So that specific day from school to back home I was sitting on the seat from which point her face was in a perpendicular direction of my face. So like she was seeing in another direction but in my direction, she was before me. So at one turning point when sunlight reflected on her face. Her face shined like a crystal in the ray of sun, I was stunned by the bright glow shining face, In spite of her dark complexion, the shine of her eye and lips was like a
After the moment I was continuously staring her face but she when noticed in sudden I asked her a very stupid question “ Have you prepared for the test?” LOL same day class test ended, She told “What! today it was the last test.” I told I mean upcoming finals, 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Then After that we kind of become good friends!
Later on, we become one of the best friends in about coming up in 9 class. It was so like every night from 10:30 to 12 o’clock our chatting was fixed on facebook after we did our studies. Like a brother and sister we both used to share our best experiences and feelings and secrets, it was like a lot of fun with we did all along on the internet. But as time passed our friendship smashed in the dust of studies pressure, today I even don’t know where she is. But coming close to her changed my perspective of seeing beauty.
But wait you might be thinking this was complete racist behavior; but yeah I was racist because this in Indian society thought me this kind of stuff.
There is positioned filled in society for this complexion discrimination.
The problem is much deep-rooted, there needed more and more work by government and many more social campaigning to change this kind of thoughts in people in India. Not only In India this is the biggest daily based evil around the whole globe. The beauty product market is one of the biggest Industry billions of dollar turnovers are there every country market place is running for kind of chemicals creams to make him/her fair in tone. As recently as 2015, the Indian bleaching cream market alone accounted for 46 percent of facial cream sales and earnedUSD$331 million. Its yearly rate of growth was calculated at 18 percent annually. At the same time, Indians applied 233 tons of this “magic” whitening potion to their faces for purposes of maintaining a lighter complexion.
American companies such as multinational Unilever got wind of India’s obsession with light skin early on. Indian women were their first customers. Unilever developed Fair & Lovely in 1975 claiming as a brand it stands for the belief that – “Beautiful, radiant skin enhances not only a girl’s outward appearance; it also plays a critical role in boosting her self-confidence”, and then revved up the commercial production of the misdirected fairness ideal.
WATCH THIS fair and lovely PLAYING WITH EMOTION IN OLD ADS
Historically fairness creams were purchased by women exclusively. Until the mid-2000s purchase by men was not a marketing option. Eventually, companies like Unilever realized that almost a third of those who used fairness creams were men and hence an immediate market spur.
After years of product success, Emami, an Indian owned company began producing Fair & Handsome for men in 2005. With endorsements from
The fair skin tone has become a synonym of beauty and personality in India. Most of the Indians are of brown or dark pigment and fair skinned people are so easily regarded as attractive and sometimes superior as well. Although it seems quite illogical and weird. But, it is a harsh reality of our country.“Actually, we Indians are fascinated by fair skin. We consider fair-skinned persons as superior”
this is why Gandhi Family ruled India more than any other political party. This is the core of the thought which neither be said but even cannot be denied also.
You know, gradually, this craze has only intensified. Earlier it was only Fair & Lovely (a popular fairness cream brand in India); now there are more than a dozen here and interestingly, everyone claims guaranteed results.
TV commercials of these skin lightening products are so tempting- just improve your skin tone and every single problem of your life would be fixed- amazing life partner and awesome career and just everything that you wants.
When I was a kid, fairness creams were supposed to be used by females only. But, today, I would see Shah Rukh Khan, a
Sarcastically speaking if so happens in this nation then, no any student be studying all day along for JEE and NEET exam preparation just apply cream and holy christ you are successful !! 😂😂😂😂
If you would check those matrimony advertisements featuring in Sunday issues of various newspapers in India, you would find that fair skin is certainly ranked as a more important attribute than a university degree for the bride. It is a little shocking, but true.
A typical matrimony ad goes like this:
"
Suitable match for a fair skinned, beautiful girl, 28/ 5’4″, MBA, working professional in a software company, New Delhi "
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Have you ever thought What are the historical origins of the modern Indian obsession with fair skin?
Because this is a big topic of this nation and also a big topic to debate.
1) The traditional portrayal of brahmins as the "light" caste and other castes as "dark". This is often used metaphorically in writings, but it could have taken physical/literal meaning over time. I have read some texts where Buddha was denounced by his Brahmin critics because he was apparently "born as a black child" (I don't think he was; it's what others wrote about him). Apparently, at least to some people, being "black" was a bad thing, or maybe they were using "black" in the metaphorical sense rather than physical? Sanskrit or Pali is not advanced enough to draw a conclusion about this. On the other hand, however, the Ajanta cave paintings (for example) are full of dark-skinned beauties, and dark skin does not seem to be perceived as "ugly" by whoever made those paintings. So I am not sure if ancient Indians overall favored fair skin over darker skin, or not.
2) The political and cultural domination of medieval India by Persians, Turks, and Afghans, i.e. people with a fairer skin than native Indians. Since these peoples formed the social elite of those times, there may have been a natural tendency to want to "become" like them. Indian Muslims are called "Turks" in some Indian languages, even if they are clearly native converts rather than foreign immigrants; in Telugu, for example, the world for *any* Muslim isThurka. Association with the ruling elite is a natural thing, and advancing up the social ladder in Muslim-dominated, medieval India generally meant you had to learn Persian and adopt the Persianized culture of the elite.
3) The British Raj. Same as above, except with white Britishers replacing olive-skinned Persians/Turks/Afghans, and with the English language replacing Persian. Today, even more than ever, advancing up the social ladder in India requires a knowledge of English, and as a result, many Indian elites and members of the middle class are quite Anglicized and Westernized (whether they admit it or not).
conclusion:-
Believe me whatever is our skin tone we all are unique we all human beings are beautiful.
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