Sadaf Aijaz
We live in a society where we are being taught that Men are handsome and Women are beautiful. Fair skin is often stereotyped as a beauty ideal in many parts of the world. There is a strong association between light skin and beauty and conversely dark skin and unattractiveness. Society has always defined beauty as being Skinny, tall, fair skinned and having flawless long hair. When I typed the words “beautiful women” in search engine, it showed the pictures of women with similar features, they all were white in complexion; I hardly come across a light colour women considered to be as beautiful.
Slim is beautiful, Fair is lovely, sadly these clichés still dictate the Indian mindset. There is an obsession with fair skin in this country. In India being fair is considered a blessing while being dark is a terrible curse. While growing up in a country that glorifies light skin, I have heard people say “Don’t play too much in the sun, you will become dark,” Her daughter is not like her, She is of dark complexion, You should wear Bright colours, light colours didn’t look good on this complexion (dark complexion), more important when you meet your relatives, their first expression is ‘Oh God you gotten so dark. Are you going out in sun a lot? and then the next thing they do is give you tips on how to get rid of tan! or will suggest some products to use .The concept of colourism (prejudice or discrimination against individual with a dark skin tone) is very prevalent in the Indian society.
From cultural point of view, complexion plays a significant role in most of the areas of life .In south Asia, fair skin is considered as legacy of upper class while dark skin is related with labourers working in the sun in fields. In Pakistan culture complexion is symbol of beauty, attractiveness and rich. If a person belongs to ‘Pathan’ family he must be considered fair, beautiful and if a person belongs to ‘Jutt’ he must have dark complexion, same is the case when you talk about Kashmiris; the first thought that comes to one’s mind is “Kashmiris are very beautiful people, they have very sharp features and are quite attractive”. Similarly if a person belongs to ‘Rajput’ family, he must have dark complexion. The colour of your skin can dictate your place in the social hierarchy and even how attractive you are in the eyes of opposite sex.
Skin colour is a fraught issue when it comes to marriage. A fair skinned girl often is the pride of a family. In addition to this men and their families long for a bride/daughter who is fair. Let me give you an example “open any of the matrimonial sites online or glance through the sections for wanted brides in Newspapers,” you will come across the words “seeking a fair girl,”.
From Advertisements to celebrity culture, Media has a great influence on how we understand beauty. In 2017,a study found that of the almost 2,000 men and women surveyed, more than half had tried skin whiteners and 44.6%had done so because of media such as TV and Advertisements.
The Advertisement for a male fairness cream shows a dark skinned college boy being ignored by girls, on using the product his complexion lightens and girls flock to him like moths to a flame .
The best example I would like to mention here is of fair and lovely fairness cream. This company has been in the midst of controversy’s for some of its earlier advertisement. An earlier Television commercial portrayed the father of a dark skinned girl who bemoans his fate for not having a son since his daughter’s salary is meager. The girl then uses fair and lovely to lighten her skin, which subsequently enables her to get a better job as an Air hostess and bring a smile of contentment on her parents face. A series of advertisement continued to convey the overt message that dark skin is an obstacle to better employment opportunities for women and that the use of the fairness cream can lighten the skin and thereby transform lives.
Fairness creams and skin lightening products are a trend in India, for people looking beautiful means looking like a White woman. Whites are considered the epitome of beauty and power, whether being chosen for marriage or a job, the world seems to revolve around the word ‘fair’.
Many popular Bollywood celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Tiger Shroff, Katrina Kaif, Yamin Gautam endorse such products. These products that rule the Indian market radiate obnoxious message implying that you can be beautiful only if you are fair, Here is an example , some years back Emami launched Fair and handsome for me with an Ad featuring Shahrukh Khan tossing a tube of whitening cream to a hopeful young fan, and Shahrukh Khan is saying that “to be successful you have to be fair,” though khan has received large number of online petitions urging him to disassociate himself from the product, he continued to feature in the advertisement.
Social Media tends to impact mindsets as well. The phenomenon of airbrushing and editing photos naturally puts immense pressure on women everywhere and makes them insecure about their bodies.
In 2014, the Advertising Standards council of India banned adverts depicting people with darker skin as inferior, but products are still marketed. Ads for skin lightening creams still appear in newspapers, Televisions, billboards, featuring Bollywood stars. Many Bollywood stars have rejected fairness cream ads like of Kangana Ranauat, Ranbir Kapoor, Anushak sharma and so on . In 2017 April, Abhay Deol ,Bollywod star called out several of his colleagues for endorsing fairness creams.John’s ‘intense fairness moisturizer’, Ileana’s ‘White beauty’, Vidya’s ‘radiant fairness’, Shahid’s ‘face transformation’, Deepika’s’2 in1 ‘fairness cream,’ Sonam’s ‘visibly for skin,’ and Shah Rukh Khan’s, ‘men specific fairness cream,’ all made it to Deol’s list.
Deol in his post wrote “Advertising preaches that we would get a better job, a happier marriage and more beautiful children if we were fair. We are conditioned to believe that life would have been easiest had we been born fairer.”
Not only Abhay Deol but actress Nandita Das who have often criticized ‘India’s society obsession with the colour of one’s skin,’ Said that “Advertisement of fairness products and remarks about one’s complexion can get dangerous,”
She further added that women suffer low- esteem due to these ads(about fairness products).Its not just about putting a nail polish, its not about beauty, it’s actually telling you, ‘you are not good enough, you can’t get a lover, a husband, a job, you are going to make your parents sad,’ it is like the dooms-day. Nandita Das several years ago, Started a campaign, “Dark is beautiful,” to counter prejudice against dark skin colour.
Women have been conditioned to believing in the unrealistic standards of beauty set by society .The self -worth is so often decided by others perception of them.
Don’t try and emulate someone else looks for personality. Be authentic thats what will make you stand out. If you feel good about yourself on the inside then no matter, what you are beautiful.
Being dark skinned shouldn't give anyone an inferiority complex and being fair doesn't make anyone more beautiful. All skin colour and tones are attractive in their own way. Why be judgmental about them.
Further we need to teach more people to embrace every shade of beauty and every form of culture. At the end of the day the goal is to make sure that every person is comfortable in their own skin. To stop thinking that they lack something, when the only thing different is their skin colour. Real beauty comes from within. The most beautiful people in the world are those who have a good heart.
