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I recently wrote a casual blog post on the popularity Nina Davuluri has gained in India post winning her crown. My blog was a short piece ranting out my thoughts over a quick cup of coffee; however a few light hearted comments that it generated left me brooding all day.
Nina wouldn’t have won the crown here in India…we are the land of the fair and lovely’s… sometimes wheatish does not make the cut either . If these comments were not enough, this Firstpost article and a certain quote from Susan Runkle’s observations left me feeling all the more depressed and saddened.
What is it with fairness and us Indians? Despite being descendants of the brown race, this penchant for the white skin has been around for ages together. With the advent of education and exposure one would expect the mindset to change but if anything it seems to have only worsened. This stagnation of the mind is not surprising given the fact that India only hosts 27.8% of its population in urban areas; India even today is predominantly made up of rural towns and villages. Given the extent of education coverage this unfortunately implies higher rates of illiteracy coupled with rigid mindsets and orthodox beliefs… or so I would think to be the reason behind this craze; but when you really take a look you realize the picture is equally hazy in the seemingly educated strata of our population.
Lighter “fairer” skin translates into a higher societal status, glamour, charisma and a suave and refined persona as far as the average Indian goes; No, it does not stop there.This image is not just limited to the world of showbiz and entertainment. This mindset more often than not carries over to everyday life at the workplace, for marriage alliances and goodness knows where else.
Years ago a senior manager from my team was interviewing a candidate and had asked me to sit in as an observer. The lady walked in dressed in bright colours and some obvious makeup. The interview lasted twenty uncomfortable minutes with the observer driving the conversation. Once she left, I didn’t even have to ask to know the outcome; she was rejected. Oh did I mention she was dark skinned?
The Indian marriage market is driven by looks too. Behaviour, upbringing, family and all other niceties are secondary. What matters most to most prospective mother-in-laws is how fair the potential daughter in law is; that their son might not fit the bill really does not matter. If the girl turns out to be an Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor look-alike then she has definitely arrived! Mind you, this is a fairly common trait in the so called “urban” areas; we are not talking rural here.
We meet a stranger at a friend’s party or bump into someone at the neighborhood Kirana store, without speaking to the person we form an opinion based on their appearance. The damage is already done there; after all first impressions are usually the last impressions right?
I have been watching their ads since I was a kid some thirty odd years ago. The same concept, the same objective…nothing has changed- Fair & Lovely and Emami have been doing roaring business over the years. I still remember a maid we had back then; she would insist that Fair & Lovely made her look fair just like those “girls on TV”. I failed to see the difference then; I find it tough to see it now either.
Today many more fairness brands have jumped onto the bandwagon and all seem to have carved a spot for themselves in what I am convinced is a multi-million (if not billion) dollar industry. And why should they not? They deserve each and every paisa they make I tell you. Indians never tire of fairness brands... if one does not bring the desired outcome they will try another and then another and then another...the tryst with fairness is never ending. They would be fools not to leverage such a lucrative market. Add to it the rural consumer base and you have your annual revenues met.
Finally that all so important factor that ups the glam quotient for fairness- the Indian entertainment industry. Now tell me, how many dark skinned popular actors do we know in Bollywood? A few yes, mostly in the “Art” scheme of things; but when it comes to mainstream cinema, fairness rules all over. These very actors then take it onto themselves to endorse fairness brands. So what message are we spreading out here?
In India beauty runs skin deep literally.
The masses; the brand ambassadors and the brands; all share a symbiotic relationship. It seems to be a tenacious vicious circle- wonder if there is any end to it.
As cities turn cosmopolitan and exposure to the world yonder increases; an optimistic hope takes birth.. One that believes this helpless divide will thin out eventually.
Meanwhile the Fair & Lovely’s and Emami’s will continue to make hay while the sun shines.
I was wondering when you wrote about the Miss America post as to why did you not address this issue? Poor Ms. America - she wasnt exactly the top favorite in the US when she won and even the Indians were like "whoa -she is too dark to be a beauty queen!"
ReplyDeleteBtw you must have heard about the "Black is beautiful" campaign that I believe nandita das is running
Yup, this issue had crossed my mind, but the hype was playing out rather strongly when my pen took over :). Also felt the topic deserved its own real estate on the blog
ReplyDeleteHeard about the campaign, a rather good one I would say!
am an armchair supporter of the said campaign – since one of my friends does look like Nandita Das – actually breathtakingly better !! The fascination with fairness in our country over-rides appreciation of beautiful features which any girl could have. The reasons I believe lie somewhere in our historical genes. Having said that, so do a lot of other bad traits which we have overcome. So why stay with this ridiculous obsession ? Well, for one because we Indians are supremely feudal and a part of that feudalism was that fair people were supposed to be “good” and “rulers” and all that was positive and not fair people were well, un-fair and therefore all evil. Next time dear reader. you see a dark woman at the bus stop, guess her social standing then ask her what she does and then shocked by the result you might want to give yourself one tight slap for letting your educated mind STILL follow a fatal confirmation bias.
ReplyDeleteThis bias must be first universally identified in Indians and then treated.
Blogs like these with their “own real estate” serve a useful purpose of such identification
Seeta – more power to your pen
am an armchair supporter of the said campaign – since one of my friends does look like Nandita Das – actually breathtakingly better !! The fascination with fairness in our country over-rides appreciation of beautiful features which any girl could have. The reasons I believe lie somewhere in our historical genes. Having said that, so do a lot of other bad traits which we have overcome. So why stay with this ridiculous obsession ? Well, for one because we Indians are supremely feudal and a part of that feudalism was that fair people were supposed to be “good” and “rulers” and all that was positive and not fair people were well, un-fair and therefore all evil. Next time dear reader. you see a dark woman at the bus stop, guess her social standing then ask her what she does and then shocked by the result you might want to give yourself one tight slap for letting your educated mind STILL follow a fatal confirmation bias.
ReplyDeleteThis bias must be first universally identified in Indians and then treated.
Blogs like these with their “own real estate” serve a useful purpose of such identification
Seeta – more power to your pen
That's an extremely interesting perspective Chief! A friend had an interesting question after reading this post- why are women always referred to as the "fairer sex"? I looked it up, turns out fair meant being pleasant to look at and not "fair" in the way we interpret it today. interesting eh?
ReplyDeleteGood read, maybe more passion.....but things you are putting up have deep roots and it is not that we have become so, in a couple of centuries, infact its a culmination of maybe one thousand plus years, of society build-up. A change is happening but this being strictly a change in social behavior, its timelines are considerably big,maybe beyond our lifetime.
ReplyDelete@Amit- long time! and a lot of truth ringing in those words :)
ReplyDeleteVery true story, the situation has only gotten worse.
ReplyDelete@ Maria- I think there is a silver lining here, since I wrote this post I came across many like minded people who were anything but biased on this topic.. it might not be much but def. is a tiny drop in the ocean isnt it :)
ReplyDelete