What It’s Like To Be Dark Skinned In India!!!
Hema Gopinathan Sah/Facebook
Ah! finally something you can relate with. Isn’t it? There must have been hundreds of article but still you find yourself scrolling on this one too. The songs like, chittiyan kalaiyan ve or gore gore mukhde chand ke tukde, and gore gore mukhde pe kala kala chasma make you feel cringe at best.
The Fair Skin Obsession
Since childhood we are taught that being a fair skin person is the most important thing which eventually discourage us. We lose ourselves and confidence and to build that up it takes several years. Most of the us have gone through the same phase and it still continues though somewhat less. We envy our own friends, cousins or even siblings in fact. Then we start to hate them for no reason at all and no fault of theirs.
- The Log Kya Kahenge Syndrome
Some relatives or friends or sometimes even our parents will remind us of our skin tone and send “How to make your skin fairer in 15 “ link. We get suggestions on what color clothes one should wear so it doesn’t make us look dull more as we already are (Oh but, logically confidence is more important. Well never mind). We often get asked not to roam around in this scorching heat otherwise we will get more tan.
Our parents must have had been advised to give more dowry as they have a disadvantage of having a dark skinned girl. And by chance, if you find a fair looking partner, people look at you like it’s an illegal act.
Perfect Boys are supposed to be tall, dark and handsome, personality ka kya karna hai looks hi kafi hai. In a couple, if the boy is of dark skin and the girl is of fair skin then she is called a gold digger, but if the case is opposite then the girl is considered to be lucky and the guy blind (Yar ise to or bhi mil jaengi, why is he with her?). The other facts are ignored that he/she must have some great personality. We know that cricketer Yuzi Chahal was trolled for marrying a very beautiful (FAIR) girl. Despite being him a great cricketer, excelling at chess and being a handsome guy. He represented India in Cricket as well as in Chess.
These things are quite noticeable and sadly, unfortunately we encouraged this behaviour by not speaking against it or encouraging it in one way or another.
- Advertisements
Now as the people are getting more and more aware some products are changing their names from ‘Fair and Lovely’ to ‘Glow and Lovely’ but the focus is still on getting a GLOW i.e. Fairness and not on getting a clear skin. For Men the name of the products is still same and they are trolled for natural skin color (Duh!!!).
Advertisements made us believe, that complexion is the only requirement for getting a girl/boy (soulmate), a job, or a promotion or may be a good marriage proposal. It triggered the anxiety in many of us. Infact, there are some ads for getting fair down there too. Why would anyone ask for that, it is a question that no one can answer to.
Even in the beauty product commercials, only fair skin girls are considered. They do not focus upon all other skin tones. We’ve to constantly wonder what will suit us. Girls specially, hate the fact we can’t pull off nude lip colors. Rihanna launched Fenty brand and God Bless Her (We all wish she was an Indian). There are 50 shades of skin tone (Ofcourse, not literally. It is more than that), still we’re obsessed with the so called only “gorapan”.
- The Film and TV Serial Industry
Oh the film industry and TV serials, they are the real culprits of these stereotypes, trolling and encouraged non sensible behaviour. There are very few actresses who are dark skinned and are the lead roles of a TV serial or a Movie. Most of them have undergone skin lightening procedures which made us think “Oh is that the harsh reality”. In recent movies or shows actors had to use black color on their skin to look dark skinned (Seriously, why?) such as Bhumi Pednekar in Bala and Hrithik Roshan in Super 30. There are actors who could justify those roles not only for their skin tone but the acting skills too.
We all do remember, in Vivah movie, the choti was rejected for marriage proposals because of her complexion (Obviously, who wants a brown bread in the house. Well healthy and sensible people do. But again, never mind!). And her mother hated her niece for no fault of her.
If the web series didn’t exist then most of the actors’ potential still would not have been found out. In movies, the demand is for good looking people for a lead role (who are judged for their skin tone) and not for real actors.
The Silver Lining In The Dark Cloud
You’re not alone!!!!!
‘Ek garam chai ki pyali ho, koi usko pilane wali ho. Chahe gori ho ya kali ho, seene se lagane wali ho.‘… Finally someone who isn’t biased or may be he is just lonely, desperate and single?
On serious note, now more and more people are standing up against this issue and encouraging others to be more confident. Some actors even rejected the fairness cream endorsement projects. There are fashion influencers, models, actors, authors, filmmakers, web series directors, etc. trying to control the damage. There is more and more awareness among people. As an individual also, it is important to uplift ourselves and others from this prejudice and stereotype.
A great stand-up video you will find relatable and hilarious: (Also, like, comment and share this video … Just kidding I know you already have!!!)
