Today, we are going to talk about an important subject. As you read the title, you must have understood that this is about a false standard of skin fairness. Considering Fairness to be superior is rooted very deep in India, which, surprisingly has no relation to our traditions or culture. From ancient times, there have been homemade remedies to lighten the skin tone. And as we got modern, our thoughts got narrower, while it should have been otherwise.
fairness? does it matter?
The beauty brands caught the insecurity of people: having dusky skin. And they started targeting us by presenting a “Solution” for dusky skin. That is when we committed the biggest mistake. We all, at one time, were influenced by such advertisements and false promises. And to some extent, it was purely out of innocent ignorance on the subject. We saw others buying the products, and we followed.
How Did Fairness Promoting Brands Trigger Us?
The beauty brands triggered the audience by showing a fair-skinned model being considered more worthy and beautiful than a dark-skinned model. In some commercials, they even claimed that when a girl uses their fairness product and “upgrades” her skin tone, she gets many friends, and achieves the goals of her life easily. This same concept is applied to trigger young men as well. And now we regret spending lakhs on our education and skills when we could have got a job just by using a 200 Rs Fairness Cream! Dammit!
Another of their strategy was to use the Card of marriage. You might have seen many matrimonial ads in newspapers, demanding “fair and slim girl”, or “fair and tall groom”. These ads are offensive on many levels. Not only do they offer a higher pedestal to fair skin, but they also discourage people with other skin tones. They make it clear that other skin tones are inferior, and never the first choice. And being brown or wheatish skinned, many of us feel that this might be a problem that needs to be solved. When the mind-set of people in this, then it is not only the brands to be blamed.
Why Is The Concept of Fairness Superiority Wrong?
Why should a person be considered better just because of his/her skin-tone? And why should a person be considered inferior just because of his/her skin-tone? If these brands have the answer to any of the above questions, we’ll be glad to listen.
And if you think these products help people boost their inner confidence, then you’re wrong. Can one be confident, only if he/she is fair?
Ultimately, it was us who encouraged these brands by buying their products. And by buying them, we did not only add to their revenue, but we also supported their wrong ideology.
How does it affect us?
There have been many consequences of fairness supporting behavior. People feel discouraged and disrespected. They start believing that nothing good is ever going to happen to them because they’re dark-skinned.
In many cases, when women and men get rejected for marriage because of their skin, they commit Suicide. Now, do you feel the weight of this subject?
It impacts people physically, mentally and emotionally. It breaks their confidence when they get to listen: “ye toh kaali/kaala hai, issey kon shaadi karega?”(“he/she is so dusky, who will marry him/her?), “ye to kitni gori/gora hai, Bhagwan ne kya khoobsurati di hai”, (“oh she/he is so fair-skinned, the Lord has blessed with beauty”).
It Is Time To Change
What they say is “be the change you want to see in the world”. So, if you cannot change people, you can at least change your thoughts. Even if you can do this, it would be a great effort!
It is high time we address India’s obsession with fair skin. The taunts you received while growing up, shouldn’t be hurled at your child in future. Make sure you view everyone as equally beautiful and worthy of happiness. Spread love, kindness and thought that speaks beauty is in every color. Every skin color is beautiful.
Take care of your body in a healthy way, not in a competitive or harmful way.
Final Words
After reading this post, you may ask- why are we discussing this topic here? Well, we have a platform. We know people would read this. We wanted to use this platform to spread positivity and ignite a change which is better for us and future generations. Because that’s what a blogger and influencer should do, influence people to do good!
We hope you loved reading this as much as we loved writing. And we believe you would take steps to end the fairness preference in society.
We’ll be back with another post soon, till then, stay safe and healthy!
HUGSS!
