India's obsession with skin bleaching

Introduction

We are born different. Our minds are a million myriad colors; our hearts even more. Yet when it comes to the color of our skin, the acceptance is rigid, with lighter skin being considered more attractive. The bias is also entrenched in India, with colorism playing a role in various prospects of our life.

The obsession

Skin bleaching is a cosmetic practice that aims to lighten someone's skin.  It is a cruel practice unknowingly practiced by many Indians. On countless occasions, we’ve heard lines like, ‘Oh my! You’ve become so dark!’ or ‘Don’t go out in the sun so often, you are already quite dark’ throughout our childhood. 

And if a girl is born in a family who has a dark complexion, oh then it is over for her they say.

No matter how much dowry is given, she is not getting married.

But the question is, can we really blame these people for saying this? The truth is that they too have been brainwashed into believing that being light-skinned will give you more advantages in life. And they aren’t entirely wrong about this prejudice either.

A brief history of colorism in India

Colorism is usually a prejudice against people with dark skin. In India, where skin color has a history with different kinds of representations, the bias peaked during British rule. Lighter-skinned Indians were preferred to their dark-skinned counterparts. They gave fair Indians access to government jobs, while constantly demeaning dark-skinned Indians.

In India, colorism and poverty go hand in hand. Dark skin is usually associated with being ‘dirty’ or ‘under-nourished’.Dark-skinned people are seen as someone who lacks access to a nutritious diet and skin-whitening products.

Influence due to Bollywood

Colorism also has a pervasive impact on job and marriage opportunities. Fair people are perceived as more presentable. 

Most actors who have dominated India’s film industry have been fair-skinned, particularly the women, from Madhubala in the 1960s to Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif today. To make matters worse, some of these actors also make extra income by endorsing “fairness” products, further perpetuating the notion that when it comes to the complexion, lighter is simply better.

It is an open secret in India that fair skin is seen as the beauty ideal. But for anyone trying to become a Bollywood star or a model it can seem more of a job requirement. 

Akanksha Verma, a 32-year-old model based in Delhi, says she initially struggled to find assignments because of her dark skin. “I was always told that my complexion is not suited for luxury brands,” she recalls. “It is only after these debates around colorism that I get to endorse luxury clothing brands.”

Social problems and casualties 

In 2008, Maharashtra sponsored 100 dark-skinned tribal girls to train as flight attendants. Only eight of them were eventually recruited, that too as ground staff — likely in part due to their complexion. Similarly, the description of women in the arranged marriage market often includes skin tone shorthand like: f = fair, vf = very fair, and vvf = very very fair.

In some extreme cases, colorism has even taken lives. In 2014, a woman in a posh suburb of Delhi hanged herself because her husband abused her for being dark-skinned. The same year, a schoolteacher named Brototi Das set herself on fire, fed up with the constant humiliation she suffered from her family for her dark complexion. Yet another woman poisoned the food during a family function, killing five, allegedly tired of her family’s taunts over her skin color. All of these women were under the age of 25.

The infamous Fair and Lovely 

This video is a brazen cocktail of colorism and patriarchy, the ad was heavily criticized when it aired for shamelessly exploiting the aspirations of Indian women, and for pinning financial and romantic success on fair skin.

Recent Fair & Lovely ads do not contain this blatant misogyny, but instead drip with corporate-led feminism; they suggest fair skin as a tool for female success. You can become a pilot, a district collector, or a rich athlete by using their product.

Conclusion

But this deserves a separate blog of its own, in the coming blogs I will be discussing the history of colorism in India, and why India’s fair skin business is booming at a rapid rate(fair and lovely). 

References:  Bright magazine

                        Avtar

                                                                                                                - Shachi. Shriram. Kerur