How Fair is fair ?!
MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL …..
WHO IS THE FAIREST OF US ALL??
Its not only snow white’s wicked step mother who frantically chants this line trying to fulfill a life long ambition of being fair and not unfair.
Let’s face it. The Indian race is obsessed with fairness. Fairness is and has always been a sound criterion for judging a girl’s beauty. Whether it is the man or his mother on the lookout for an ideal bahu... Or it is Ekta Kapoor choosing her leading ladies…. Or it is a matrimonial advertisement on Sunday Times; the parameters are “FAIR” and later come slim and then beautiful. How can we ignore the fact that all fairness creams ads are almost always aired on prime time television trying to effectively entice not only the college going daughter but even the sari clad housewife mother.
Isn’t it ironical to see the white skinned foreigner trying to desperately acquire a tan sprawling all over the beaches of Goa like alligators while we are oh so careful about our delicate skins and protecting them adequately from the sun? Not a single “Miss India” has had a dark complexion even if her personality is as sparkling as her cosmetically altered teeth. And all our Bollywood stunners are almost always fair and if they aren’t; they are shot under the best possible lighting and if that still does not work have to make a living with art movies or be content playing the role of the dusky vamp. So much to say that most of our Gods and Goddesses are also fair and the rakshasas and asuras dark as night… atleast the ones that appear in mythological serials. A fair skinned woman is desirable even if she resembles an elephant seal.
Looking at various reasons as to why this idée fixe about lighter skin people in India associate fair skin with beauty no matter if she has bulging eyes and a nose as long as Pinocchio’s. The foremost one seems be to please their future mother-in-law who might just pardon their dark sins. It may even be to look lighter in the dark. On a more serious note, it is cited that since Westerners are mainly fair skinned and as always fellow Indians associate it with wealth and prosperity.
This obsession isn’t a recent phenomenon. Ever since glorious kingdoms flourished and perished the need to have a lighter skin has always prevailed. The two dominant races were the Aryans and the Dravidians. The Aryans had essentially wheatish complexions and the Dravidians were very dark as. Even they in their eternal quest for fair skin it is said bathed in goat’s milk and made weird concoctions of the vaguest things like Fuller’s Earth (Multani Mitthi), Besan, Turmeric et al. Psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria speculates, "In the early days, a fair complexion was associated with royalty. It implied a respectable and dignified background." In addition, the color white or 'shubhra' has, in the Indian literature meant 'clean'. This combined with phrases such as 'dark deeds', 'black money', and ‘black market' work to reinforce the bias. In fact this school of thought cannot be limited to India alone. It is said that the exotic looking Cleopatra always pampered herself to a bath of donkey’s milk so that her skin would never stop glowing.
Alas several companies have exploited this weakness of the masses effectively and turned this into a major money spinner. It is said that in the Rs.1300 Crore Indian cosmetic market 52% of the revenues come from fairness creams, a whopping Rs. 650 crores at least. The market leader being HLL’s ‘Fair n Lovely’ followed by ‘Fairever’. Godrej even recently launched fairness soap called ‘Fairglow’ the first of its kind in India. And voila! Even men are coming out of their ‘Tall, dark and handsome’ cliché and are found to be 32 % of the total fairness cream users!
The advertising policy followed by these FMCG companies has also come under severe criticism. This particularly comes to light just when Fair and Lovely's latest ad spot had to be taken off air after a strong petition by women's groups, leading to angry protests in Parliament. Always criticized for reflecting the prejudice against darker skin, this time, many say the product has gone too far. The ad also received a Duryodhana award last year for being imparting wrong messages to the society. It was in the limelight because the father says “Kash mera beta hota” and finally the damsel in distress uses Fair n Lovely and emerges as a lovely maiden wearing a mini skirt and becoming a successful air hostess. Another ad goes on to say that fairness could change your ‘kundali’ (horoscope) forever.
While these corporate giants with vast financial muscle to flex constantly reinforce the idea that fair is beautiful, the vulnerable target audience mostly being middle and lower income groups succumb to these ideas. The masses must wake up to the fact that a woman’s worth should be measured by her capabilities, her earning power, her virtues, the values she imparts and not the color of her skin or the way she looks. It is high time we come out of our stereo type image of the ‘gora chittha’ Indian girl. This can only happen when we educate our sisters, mothers and daughters. It is said that when you educate a woman you educate an entire family. A lot of women’s organisations are trying hard to create awareness to some extent. There is a need for her to come out of the fetters of what the society perceives her to be. After all beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
Looking at the half full side of the glass, these mindsets are slowly but surely changing. People are beginning to realize that fair is not necessarily lovely. In a nation of mainly brown skinned people it is fair to say you are fairly dark. It is unfair to say that dark is ugly. We can take a cue from some of the great black beauties of India, to name a few – Bipasha Basu, Kajol, Nandita Das, Nayonika Chatterji, Diana Hayden, B. Sarojadevi etc. On this positive note it is only apt to say that women should stop trying to prove themselves the fairer sex.
WHO IS THE FAIREST OF US ALL??
Its not only snow white’s wicked step mother who frantically chants this line trying to fulfill a life long ambition of being fair and not unfair.
Let’s face it. The Indian race is obsessed with fairness. Fairness is and has always been a sound criterion for judging a girl’s beauty. Whether it is the man or his mother on the lookout for an ideal bahu... Or it is Ekta Kapoor choosing her leading ladies…. Or it is a matrimonial advertisement on Sunday Times; the parameters are “FAIR” and later come slim and then beautiful. How can we ignore the fact that all fairness creams ads are almost always aired on prime time television trying to effectively entice not only the college going daughter but even the sari clad housewife mother.
Isn’t it ironical to see the white skinned foreigner trying to desperately acquire a tan sprawling all over the beaches of Goa like alligators while we are oh so careful about our delicate skins and protecting them adequately from the sun? Not a single “Miss India” has had a dark complexion even if her personality is as sparkling as her cosmetically altered teeth. And all our Bollywood stunners are almost always fair and if they aren’t; they are shot under the best possible lighting and if that still does not work have to make a living with art movies or be content playing the role of the dusky vamp. So much to say that most of our Gods and Goddesses are also fair and the rakshasas and asuras dark as night… atleast the ones that appear in mythological serials. A fair skinned woman is desirable even if she resembles an elephant seal.
Looking at various reasons as to why this idée fixe about lighter skin people in India associate fair skin with beauty no matter if she has bulging eyes and a nose as long as Pinocchio’s. The foremost one seems be to please their future mother-in-law who might just pardon their dark sins. It may even be to look lighter in the dark. On a more serious note, it is cited that since Westerners are mainly fair skinned and as always fellow Indians associate it with wealth and prosperity.
This obsession isn’t a recent phenomenon. Ever since glorious kingdoms flourished and perished the need to have a lighter skin has always prevailed. The two dominant races were the Aryans and the Dravidians. The Aryans had essentially wheatish complexions and the Dravidians were very dark as. Even they in their eternal quest for fair skin it is said bathed in goat’s milk and made weird concoctions of the vaguest things like Fuller’s Earth (Multani Mitthi), Besan, Turmeric et al. Psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria speculates, "In the early days, a fair complexion was associated with royalty. It implied a respectable and dignified background." In addition, the color white or 'shubhra' has, in the Indian literature meant 'clean'. This combined with phrases such as 'dark deeds', 'black money', and ‘black market' work to reinforce the bias. In fact this school of thought cannot be limited to India alone. It is said that the exotic looking Cleopatra always pampered herself to a bath of donkey’s milk so that her skin would never stop glowing.
Alas several companies have exploited this weakness of the masses effectively and turned this into a major money spinner. It is said that in the Rs.1300 Crore Indian cosmetic market 52% of the revenues come from fairness creams, a whopping Rs. 650 crores at least. The market leader being HLL’s ‘Fair n Lovely’ followed by ‘Fairever’. Godrej even recently launched fairness soap called ‘Fairglow’ the first of its kind in India. And voila! Even men are coming out of their ‘Tall, dark and handsome’ cliché and are found to be 32 % of the total fairness cream users!
The advertising policy followed by these FMCG companies has also come under severe criticism. This particularly comes to light just when Fair and Lovely's latest ad spot had to be taken off air after a strong petition by women's groups, leading to angry protests in Parliament. Always criticized for reflecting the prejudice against darker skin, this time, many say the product has gone too far. The ad also received a Duryodhana award last year for being imparting wrong messages to the society. It was in the limelight because the father says “Kash mera beta hota” and finally the damsel in distress uses Fair n Lovely and emerges as a lovely maiden wearing a mini skirt and becoming a successful air hostess. Another ad goes on to say that fairness could change your ‘kundali’ (horoscope) forever.
While these corporate giants with vast financial muscle to flex constantly reinforce the idea that fair is beautiful, the vulnerable target audience mostly being middle and lower income groups succumb to these ideas. The masses must wake up to the fact that a woman’s worth should be measured by her capabilities, her earning power, her virtues, the values she imparts and not the color of her skin or the way she looks. It is high time we come out of our stereo type image of the ‘gora chittha’ Indian girl. This can only happen when we educate our sisters, mothers and daughters. It is said that when you educate a woman you educate an entire family. A lot of women’s organisations are trying hard to create awareness to some extent. There is a need for her to come out of the fetters of what the society perceives her to be. After all beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
Looking at the half full side of the glass, these mindsets are slowly but surely changing. People are beginning to realize that fair is not necessarily lovely. In a nation of mainly brown skinned people it is fair to say you are fairly dark. It is unfair to say that dark is ugly. We can take a cue from some of the great black beauties of India, to name a few – Bipasha Basu, Kajol, Nandita Das, Nayonika Chatterji, Diana Hayden, B. Sarojadevi etc. On this positive note it is only apt to say that women should stop trying to prove themselves the fairer sex.
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posted by Aditi Bhagwat | 3:07 AM
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