In This Article
In the light of recent black live matter protests in the US, many celebrities and multinational corporations came under fire for being hypocrites while extending their support to the black lives matter movement. They have been found guilty of endorsing and promoting fairness and brightening creams and favouring colourism. Companies like J&J, HUL even Shaadi.com are forced to introspect their contribution to racism amidst their so-called re-branding spree! Despite all the campaigns claiming “dark is beautiful”, colourism and racism is a problem which persists far beyond these products. The conversation related to shade-based bigotry & discrimination on the basis of colour and skin tone is still burgeoning – but not always taken seriously. So why dark is beautiful? Let’s find out!
What is colourism?
Discrimination on the basis of colour is called ‘colourism’ or ‘shadeism’ and is nothing but a preference for lighter skin over darker skin. It is a specific form of racism. Colourism or colour discrimination the perhaps the most visible form of racism in the world.
Origin of colourism or discrimination on the basis of colour
Colourism is a seed that was planted by white supremacy around the world and was watered within our own communities. Its roots still lie in the very idea of the colour-coded spectrum in which we live which believes that- “The whiter and lighter you are, the better you are”.
In India, the idea of beauty has been ingrained in the mind of a common man through generations of colonization and has been deepened through the fair-skinned images all-around via the growth of media and popular culture.
Is colourism innate or acquired?
Of course, colourism like other forms of racism is acquired and is a learnt behaviour. It is a social concept and not part of DNA, which we learn as we grow up. Our minds are race agnostic until society teaches us how all colours are not equal.
Colourism and discrimination based on skin colour start when children are young. The moment a child is born, he is judged by society on the basis of skin colour. It starts with your own family first.
Indians are obsessed with having a lighter skin colour, and consider people with lighter skin as more beautiful and even ascribe higher status to them. Whiteness has literally travelled from west to east and has become an integral part of all aspects of our society.
For example, “Kaalu”- is a routine name in our society, but not a name which people are proud of. “Gori” on the other hand denotes someone who is fair and beautiful. The domestic maid or “bai” in cinema and TV shows and dancers in a group dance are often marked out from the lead or heroin by the way of their darker skin tone while white skin is reserved for the lead to make her stand out from the crowd. Indians have really internalized this colonial preference for light skin.
“Colourism is about the colour of your mind and not about the colour of your skin. The race is natural, racism is not.”
How we have internalized colourism in India?
Fairness is the benchmark of beauty
Fairness is considered to be the superlative degree of beauty. It is not uncommon to hear words like- ‘fair and lovely’, ‘fair and beautiful’, and ‘fair and slim’. Yes, guys have to be fair and handsome too! Love for fair colour is everywhere and an integral part of our concept of beauty. Many of us still wonder what happened to those ‘tall, dark & handsome’ hunks the girls used to drool over?
It is quite common to spot ‘fair girl, fair groom, fair donor’ being used as keywords circulating around matrimonial and fertility clinics adverts. Colourism in Indian matrimony is quite enduring and ‘being fair’ is a degree which surpasses all other academic degrees you may have acquired.
Fairness denotes good health
It is surprising to see that fairness denotes good health in our society. We may have quite often heard statements like “how have you been all these years. You have gone dark and dull? Is everything alright?”
The general sentiment is that if a guy or girl becomes darker in skin tone, it means the person has ceased to be attractive anymore and not taking care of himself or herself and is not keeping well.
Fairness denotes success and wealth
This may sound as absurd as anything. When you are off your summer tan and meet your relatives after a long-time the most probable reaction which comes is – “you look so fair, this is certainly the glow of promotion and money!”
Society is not alien to deep-routed acceptance of such behaviours. For example, when a girl becomes fair, her life automatically becomes beautiful, with wooers queuing at her home for a relationship. She is able to clear almost all interviews and even choose to be a Pilot. Fair skin is promoted as a ticket to success, especially for women.
In fact, it is a common practice to hire front desk staff, client-facing staff, airline staff, customer service staff etc on the basis of the face value of white skin colour. Fair-skinned people are more likely to be hired in certain jobs and are perceived to be happier and more wealthy. However, the real problem arises when the skin colour of the aspirational becomes the aspiration itself.
Dark skin tone is associated with low confidence
There are a plethora of examples reinforcing this myth and the most common one is the fairness cream commercials. For example, there are TV commercials which show a girl, who is dark and low in confidence, and a failure in life. Really? Fairness is promoted as a tool of self-acceptance and great confidence. Fairness is promoted as a tool which can either make you or break you.
The “black is bad” perception
There is a piece of concrete evidence based on research that darker skin is associated with the perceptions of evil and negative personality traits. It is quite evident in our society that black people are perceived to be more likely of being guilty of accused crimes. This is a clear example of bias and prejudice and how it is prevalent in our society.
The problems with discrimination on the basis of colour?
It is clear that not only does skin tone affects employability rates, the likelihood of marriage and most harrowingly, rates of suspension at schools, but also it hits the women with darker skin tone the hardest. The mayhem caused by discrimination on the basis of colour is imminent:
Emotional trauma and low self-esteem
Discrimination on the basis of colour, especially at an early age when kids are made fun of because of their dark complexion may cause emotional trauma, low self-esteem, self-hate and even violent behaviour in children.
Even educated adults are not untouched by the perils of colourism. It causes the same issues of self-esteem, self-hate, feeling of helplessness, lack of motivation & obsession with white skin tone which is harmful to their optimal social behaviour.
There is a common feeling of rejection among people who are apparently not as blessed with fair skin. This translates to reduced job opportunities, degraded matrimonial value, meagre chances of relationships and even being ascribed as a member of low caste or poor strata.
Attention seeking behaviour
Seclusion from white society and dominance of white colour in almost every aspect of life may even cause the darker skin tone people to behave in a particular way primarily guided by the feeling of inferiority complex. This may also lead to abnormal attention seeing behaviour manifested in the form of physical attributes like ostentatious dressing or speaking style. This is certainly not a good sign.
Excessive use of whitening products
The notion of a perfect life from a perfect skin (with the right shade of course), is a constant message and mindset that is being passed down. This has caused people to indulge in long-term use of whitening creams, whitening facials, skin bleachings, chemical peels, laser treatments, and even steroid cocktails. Some even are going for newer expensive treatments of IV Glutathione. Not only is such long-term use of skin whitening cosmetics, procedures, and treatments an expensive deal but also poses serious health risks. When desire becomes an obsession, the real problem arises. In such a case Mental health of the obsessed individual may be altered and may become a dangerous cultural obsession. It is not more a bias, it is a serious health risk.
The feeling of being a minority
A large population of people who belong to a particular ethnic group with skin colour as their distinguishing feature are subjected to frequent discrimination in various fields like jobs, professions, neighbourhoods, immigration, schooling, etc. When such behaviour becomes the order of the day it becomes obnoxious. When It affects commonly a particular ethnic group a feeling of being minority seeps in. Being a minority brings along with it feelings of insecurity, injustice, discrimination, fear and anxiety.
Why dark is beautiful?
Skin colour is a natural selection
Racism is a social concept and our society teaches us to be discriminatory on the basis of skin colour. But the fact is our skin tone and colour is determined by geography and the area we dwell in. The sun determines our skin colour.
Nature is wise and our skin has adapted over centuries as per our geographical location. There is a direct correlation between skin colour and the latitude or the angle at which the rays of the sun fall on the earth. The closer we are to the Equator, the darker the skin of its inhabitants is as the body creates a shield in the form of melanin to protect itself from UV rays which fall vertically from the sun. Higher the melanin, the darker your skin tone is. Alternatively, in areas where winters are more extreme like western countries where UV rays fall at an angle, the skin produces less melanin and is whiter to produce more vitamin D.
Hence we see that the colour of our skin has nothing to do with race, it is a by-product of the natural process of adaptation. Different types of skin shades are a consequence of how our ancestors dealt with sun exposure.
All colours are beautiful – we need to change the perspective
It is important to understand that all colours are beautiful. While White denotes clarity, purity and cleanliness black denotes the opposite – impure and dirty. Surprisingly, black also hints at positive aspects. For example, thick black hair is associated with youth, health and beauty, and dark chocolate is associated with deliciousness and has a mouth-watering effect. It is all about perception. We perceive black as positive or negative by attaching it to an object or character. In the same way, we need to perceive a human being as beautiful by valuing him on the basis of his persona and intrinsic beauty. We need to change our perception of valuing people based on their colour. It is the time to celebrate all colours.
Aspiration is much beyond skin colour so aspire to be successful and not white
We associate black people with poorer and working in the sun, while white people as happy, blessed, beautiful and wealthy lot. This corollary of colourism is completely false. The skin colour aspirational is becoming the aspiration itself.
We need to change this and separate our aspirations from skin colour, and broaden our understanding of what is attractive in a person- is it just the skin colour, or is it their charming personality, spectacular grooming or admirable physical fitness.
Colourism is a learned behaviour and we should take steps to unlearn and relearn to take people for who they are, and not judge them on the basis of the group they belong to or the colour their skin bears. All humans are born equal and all colours are beautiful. All humans shall be judged only on the basis of their merits and personality traits, not on the basis of colour, caste, gender, or sexuality. Inner beauty is all we need for the very existence of humanity. It is high time to celebrate all the colours and respect uniqueness, pledge to change our preconceived notions and deep-rooted cultural biases and celebrate diversity and inclusion while learning to embrace people beyond the colour of their skin.
Colourism, truly, represents, an alter ego of your coloured mind and not the colour of your skin. The rampant discrimination on the basis of colour is baseless, unnecessary and violates human rights.
While Cosmetic names may change, are we ready to change our mindsets? I choose to be colour blind rather be colour blinded. How about you?
Do you agree when I say: dark is beautiful too and fair is not always lovely? Mention your thoughts in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you.
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