Though we quote that beauty lies within, we still live in a country where colourism is a major attribute & being fair skinned is considered to be more attractive & beautiful! Point to be noted: I’m not protesting against being fair, my only concern is our generation has to be encouraged to be comfortable in their own skin and not hate it.
Source: change.org/Darkisbeautiful
Had your mother scolded you for wearing short clothes and playing in summer? Did she ever taunt you for getting tanned and made you follow all those remedies to reduce melanin or become fair skinned? Or Did anyone bully you ‘kaali’ or ‘kaala’ which made you insecure and assume that only being fair is beautiful? Or were you fed up with the requirement in a matrimonial site? (Quoting, ‘looking for a Fair bride or groom.’) Indians are quite used to these barbs n I’m also a victim of one of these, Raise your hands if have also faced such comments! (You may join the campaign DARKISBEAUTIFUL and raise your voice. Please share/comment on this article with #Embraceyourcolour )
I had no idea why we Indians are so obsessed with lighter skin, while people from other countries would get themselves tanned in centres! As per people(of a specific region) and their norms beauty is not defined the same around the world. But don’t you think these norms are degrading the actual meaning of beauty? What’s wrong with dusky tone? Who taught you to hate your dark skin? It’s our biased nature which misguides that Only fair is beautiful. However, I personally would say that us Indians have undeniable genetic beauty traits that are hard to find in other races. It’s a fact though:)
According to a recent survey among people,82% believe that fair skin tone is majority definition of beauty! Remaining 15% has the desire to create lasting impression through looks (that’s the reason why Indian market is flooded with fairness creams! We too are desperate to lighten our skin so that we can grab maximum attention! Don’t you think so?) All this might have been rooted in our brains from the day British invaded India and slowly they made us believe what they themselves believed in. They established their superiority and hence, the fact in our mind that fair skin is superior and dark skin is not. Also in our daily life, we ignore the fact that whatever skin care regimen we follow should prioritize a better healthy and glowy skin than a need to lighten skin. (Beware of skin lightening creams as they contain high amounts of mercury which results in skin cancer!) Not only this but also the advertising of fairness creams degrades the person with darker skin by portraying them as a low self-esteemed, unhappy person and depicts that one could be confident and achieve anything after they have transformed to a fairer person! What the hell! Isn’t this the heights of intolerance?
I don’t get it how people enjoy bantering on skin colour or personality! Really? As far as I know, Our ancestors laid a foundation on this! (like “why are you so dark?”,”who will marry you if you are like this?”, “follow remedies to lighten skin so that you will look beautiful”, “look! She is so beautiful! Her light skin makes her attractive!”) Our banters regarding skin colour or body shape also are one of the reasons for creating such impression in our minds (It would be great if we put an end to body-shaming or criticising others first and always stop your kids/people u know from doing so.Do sensitise your kids from discriminating others.)
Though racism exists, I’m glad that our ideology is altering and we are defying colourism and many people are taking initiative on beauty beyond colour. Recently, I’ve seen an Ad promoting their skin care product irrespective of skin colour and they encouraged healthy skin instead of lightened skin). And also stars like Kangana Ranout has rejected endorsements on fairness cream and set an example for everyone that colour doesn’t define Beauty!
There is nothing wrong with any skin colour! It’s all in our biased nature!
If anyone poked u for being dark, then question them that very moment,” what’s wrong with being black?” That’s the self-conceit one require and have to be comfortable in one’s own skin.
What all we need is a Happy soul, Healthy skin and a Beautiful mind 🙂 Stay Happy and Be_ YOU_tiful 🙂