2 years ago-
In the recent times of so called “modernization”, we, the most hypocritical generation of all time, have always acted being the most sensible ones when it comes to having a say in the case of social evils that exist since older times. When we are asked to express our thoughts on social evils, we always have the most logical and sensible reasons to prove it wrong. But the very apparent reality is that, though we are clever enough to know what is wrong, we never follow our own so called “modern” thoughts.
Same is the case when it comes to the evil called Colourism, in our society. We all have read it, heard it and said it infinite times that ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’. But apparently and unfortunately we have failed to abide by these words and therefore, there still exists “the 4 classes” of people in our society, which are, The Blacks, The Browns, The Yellows & The Whites in their unfair and nonsensical sequence of ascending superiority. Though everyone of us find it unfair and nonsensical but we all have been the victims of this evil in one or the other way. May it be judging someone’s beauty, Intellectual character, humanity, social status and what not on the basis of their colour, we all have knowingly or unknowingly done it which may not always be harmful to the other but have definitely done it.
We are definitely trying to unlearn it by heart but sadly we are nowhere near unlearning it any sooner. Especially the women these days are the most vulnerable group to face colourism quite often. They are always being judged by their colour for their beauty, be it for marriages, be it their love lives, be it socialising with friends and relatives and be it being a representative in any manner like being a heroine, a business women, a public speaker etc.
Therefore, though in very unsaid and non literal way but very apparently, colourism is still the undeniable “Dark” reality of the society.
Well so far I would say It is not an illusion anymore. Because everyone is now learning from science and especially students in the biology field know the reason and logic behind dark complexion. Originally when it comes to India I dont think it’s a bizarre thing to have tanned skin , brown skin or dark skin. We all know our own skin colour is controlled by secretion of melanin and it’s actually a healthy sign to have a good amount of melanin according to medical studies.
But past years I have seen many people breaking these stereotypes and also opposing racism and telling people to not be so illogical.
I won’t deny the fact that we have all witnessed how people with dark complexions, especially girls, are treated and not termed as beautiful. But let’s also not forget that today we have remarkable examples before us who are practically sparing in the sky like Rihanna , Oprah Winfrey not to forget President Obama and many more.
It’s good to see that many cosmetic brands are promoting glowing skin rather than fair skin. One such change is fair & Lovely changing its name to glow & lovely. So in fact people now have become more sane than the time back then.
Today in fact I would say there are black women ruling the world. We have seen the great beauty peasants of the world have accepted this beauties and in fact declared them as winner and very prominent example is Miss World 2019 Toni-Ann-Singh and Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi who are black women but are winners of two most popular Beauty peasants of the world .So who are we to judge people ?
I feel so ironic that Indian people preach godess Kali and God Krishna who are alwasy described to be darked or brown skin but yet they don’t want to accept saanwri saloni.
But lets just be sane and sympathetic and love inner beauty of the people.Yes, I think some people have started to unlearn colorism and gen z is totally changing their opinion about colorism, beauty of someone does not have to define by their color. Earlier people used to tease and make fun of people of dark tone, but now people are slowly becoming comfortable in their own skin. Your color does not define you people should stop thinking they are inferior in complexion this leads to self-doubt, loss of self-confidence. People should stop being insecure about their skin. We have seen in beauty contests they don’t win on the basis of facial complexion or l no one gets successful by how they look but what matter is how you behave with people. Also, the media should stop promoting commercials of beauty products in name of fair skin or glowing skin. Directors should not only cast people who are fair in color or skin tone in the lead of any TV show or movie. Actors of all skin complexion should be cast. this will also help to bring change in people. Some brands should stop highlighting words light, fair, whitish, fair glow. People should try to unlearn this, also social media brands should make the campaigns support and encourage people. things are going to change we can end this colorism just by accepting people as they are, it will sort out this problem.
India, even in times of ‘modernization is yet to unlearn colourism. Almost for centuries, there has been a prejudice against dark skin. The skin lightening market in Asia-pacific alone is valued at over 13 billion dollars. Our television screens, magazines and even Facebook feeds repeatedly are bombarded with ads telling us that if we are not fair-skinned we are I have a loveless and unsuccessful life. By early 2000, fairness creams were immensely out-performing other beauty products with no skin lightening agents. The Indian whitening cream market was estimated at around 428 million dollars.
Some theories have events stated that the constant colonization of India by various light-skinned oppressors has led to the systemic belief that light skin is better and is associated with power. Historically people of the higher caste, with more privilege and power one more light-skinned than those in the lower castes. It was around the 18th century that Europeans began insisting that skin colour was an indicator of moral and intellectual qualities. According to some historians many ancient scriptures, folktales and epics, describe the good character as being fair-skinned, implying the dark-skinned characters to be evil. Fairness also comes in matrimonial ads as a trait that cannot be negotiated.
Models and actors are generally preferred to be light-skinned. In recent times this has been seen changing as dark-skinned actors are cast for the leading roles. We are friend here relatives saying, “you have got nice features, but the poor thing is you are dark” or “don’t go out in the sun you’ll get dark.” These statements can heavily affect people’s self-esteem. Skin lightening can lead to you serious skin and health conditions which include permanent skin bleaching, thinning of the skin, uneven colour loss, skin cancer and intense acne. Beauty in India is inextricable with fairness. It is given demonstrated by the Miss India winners. It is not only derogatory for women. A survey stated that 30% of women’s fair skin users were men. Although some strides are being made, like the dark is a beautiful movement, and some actors calling out judgements based on skin colour, there’s a long way to go before India can finally end its obsession with colourism.Yes, society has begun to accept the revolution to decriminalize colorism or what we usually know as racism. The practice of colorism has been ongoing for centuries, whether it is India or the USA. When comparing the two, there have been different histories about the same concept.
In the modern age, people have begun to decline colorism, and they are okay with people who have darker skin tones. I don’t know when this period began, but the idea got popularized with the concept of a ‘tall, dark, and handsome man.’ However, as pleasing as the reel life is, the reality might not be the same. It took a little while for the community to accept that being dark does not mean you are dirty or filthy. Also, it is geographical for one to have darker skin tones. Like in India, most of the population is in brown, or let’s say they carry different shades of brown. The thing is, the lower you go from the equator, the darker you get. There is nothing spiritually wrong with having a dark skin tone.
With the change in time, people have begun embracing darker skin tones. Lately, you must have noticed how brands have openly accepted all color skin tones. For example, earlier, Lakme had the foundation of a few fair skin tones, but now, it offers skin tones for sixteen shades which may not be enough, but it is growing for the better. There is another, Glow and Lovely. It is still contradictory somehow, but the brand recently changed its headline from Fair and Lovely to Glow and Lovely.
Hence, we can say that the first step has been taken, and the complete acceptance of being colored is a long way to go. But meanwhile, we can embrace the journey and keep spreading the right education about accepting all kinds of skin tones.
Our society has begun unlearning Colourism. Reality or illusion?
In Indian society colourism is still there. It’s not an illusion its a reality. Society is still far away from ending colourism. Colourism is basically a discrimination based on one’s skin complexion.
In Bollywood movies mostly villians are portrayed as dark skin and heroes as fair skin. And in some movies in which they show the hardships in women’s life with dark color, they basically do makeup to that woman in such sense that she should look black in color but they don’t take a women whose color is black in reality to portray the role. Why is it so? “Fair and Lovely” a cream that has recently changes it’s name to “Glow and Lovely”. Colourism has it’s effects on all genders but women faces it more. Why women are pressurised or given different kinds of creams to turn their dark skin into fairer one? Why women with black color is said that nobody will marry her due to her color? Why dark color women has less value in their family? In India everybody thinks fairer is beautiful. And 80% of the dark-skinned women are desperately trying to look fair for this Some use makeup and some use to look whitewashed just to look fairer. A myth told by indian society to girls is that if they are fairer they will get good husband. Therefore, everyone wants to be fairer.
We still have a long way to end colourism in India. People have started many campaigns like #colourmeright. There should be unlearning of colourism. Society should judge by their characters not by their colours.On her Instagram page about a year ago, Mindy Kaling shared a video of a Sri Lankan girl saying that she won’t grow up to be beautiful because of her dark skin. The sensible adult beside her stepped in to tell her gently that skin colour has no bearing on beauty. A smile and a good heart will make her radiant. It was indeed heart-warming late into the video, when the little girl repeated ‘I am Beautiful’.
In many South –Asian societies, there is a specific image of beauty. Beauty is still pretty much in the eyes of the beholder, except that it is a coloured perception (pun intended). A lighter skin tone is the first requirement for anybody, irrespective of gender, to be considered good looking. The colourism is so extensive that even the paintings of Indian Gods are light skinned.
We internalise this prejudice from a very young age, especially through media. The ‘beautiful’ women in matrimonial ads, movies, soaps are invariably light-skinned, reaffirming that ‘white is beautiful’. Give a child a colouring book and she will reach out to a peach crayon (often offensively labelled as skin- colour) to paint the princess. The association of the binary light/dark with beautiful/ugly and good/evil does much damage to collective psyche and the confidence of a community. The associations was first made with the arrival of the Mughals and later extensively reinforced during colonisation. Light-skin was matched to power, superiority and civilised behaviour. This association continued even after Independence with the onset of globalisation, which is simply a euphemism for a movement reinforcing Euro-centric ideas. Consequently, beauty standards in India became more westernised, pairing light-skin with red lips and a deceptively slim waist.
Colourism plays an important role in India’s ‘marriage market’. The extreme emphasis on light-skinned brides shatters the confidence and self-image of women at large, who in turn might even seek medical intervention to alter their bodies. Colourism has also integrated in to class and caste system. A prevalent social perception is that the economically weaker section is dark-skinned and are discriminated against in terms of opportunities and access to educational resources.
It would be far-fetched to claim that such standards still hold complete authority in Indian minds. Celebrities such as Nandita Das, Priyanka Chopra and Radhika Apte have been vocal against colourism and this is slowly taking root in our collective conscious. There is a lot more discussion among people, especially the younger generation, on overthrowing colourist beauty standards. At this juncture, it is fitting to remember the renaming of the popular skin cream ‘Fair and Lovely’ to ‘Glow and Lovely’. ‘Fair’ is itself quite a twisted term. To call a light skinned person ‘fair’ suggests that people of other skin tones are ‘unfair’ (in the English sense, and thus inferior) and is an example of a hidden prejudice.
Yet, as a society we have miles to travel. The discussion against colourism is limited to an exclusive population- the urban educated youth. Unless it extends to the silver screen, the papers, the large billboards on highways, children’s text books and other forms of media, a collective change in perception is hard to achieve. India has indeed begun unlearning colourism. As of now, it is only a small part of reality and not reality itself.
Colourism is rampant in India. It is not something new. According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, colourism is defined as the dislike and unfair treatment of the members of a particular racial group who have a darker skin colour than others.
Colourism has been prevalent since the colonization of India by the British people. They were fair skinned and often looked down on dark skinned. It brought the idea that white = superior and any other colour was bad.
Fair skinned people in India are much more privileged than Dark skinned people. They get more opportunities than the latter.Usually, the marriage advertisements in the newspaper have many specifications; for example, they have to be of a certain age, height, cannot be married before and they have to be fair. This puts the assumption that dark skinned people are not wanted.
If asked, the people would pick a fair skinned partner for their child rather than a dark skinned person.Dark skinned people are subject to abuse. Many get bullied for their skin colour. They get ignored and rejected because they are not light skinned.
In fact, many products take advantage of colourism in their advertisements and sell them. Fair and Lovely is known to be endorsed by many celebrities as a “good” skin whitening cream. They (and many other skin creams like them) show how people with dark skin get ignored and are made fun of but when they use their product, their skin is lighter and they are now they are more beautiful. Ironically, the company changed its name to Glow and Lovely but it doesn’t make any difference aside from the name change.
Due to this, many feel that they have to do something to not be dark skinned. They feel that society could accept them if their skin was lighter. Although society has started to slowly unlearn this, there are still many who have backwards attitudes about skin colour.
We need to understand the impact these kinds of things have on children. We have to stop making colorist jokes and stop thinking dark skin is abnormal. Dark skin is beautiful and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. If we don’t speak up about this,
Colourism will never end. Let’s try to change the future.In today’s generation people are changing and accepting the way they are. I think skin tone should not matter that much for anyone they should be confident enough with their skin tone. People mostly influence with the face cream, soap, face wash, etc. advertisements as they play major role of showing skin tones they generally show how the product make people look fair through which people get influenced. People should not get influenced by such products rather than be confident enough with there own skin tone. People should not support this kind of advertisements who only shows fair skin tone advertisements. In beauty pageants also the winner is one who is comfortable and confident with there skin tone and it not get judged by fair skin tone they judged by their answers which shows their positive thinking and how good person they are. And we know that many with dark skin tone has win beauty pageants with confidence and comfortable with their skin tones. In most of the television serials they cast fair skin tone actors they should not make such difference they should give equally chances for everyone their should be no comparison between skin tones. Some people still judge person with there skin tone not beauty which is there inside them or behaviour of them. Many of the people in arrange marriage sees for good looks and fair girls for marriage why? Women with dark skin tone are get judged by them that she has dark skin tone I don’t like her etc. People should judge someone by nature and their personality not looks. One day everyone will get older and at last looks will not matter all will matters is caring nature and mental and emotional support. People should change their thinking towards dark skin tones. And stop making comparison with dark and fair skin tones.
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