I have been thinking about this blog entry for quite some time. It is a heavy topic but something that surely is a problem in India and all around the world. Skin color. I have never looked at a human being and judged them based on the color of their skin. I think that the beauty of a person lies much deeper than the body they were given. I do know that this is not the case for everyone. I know this to be true because even today we face discrimination based on skin color. Not just in America but all around the world. In Tamil Nadu beauty is defined by how light your skin is. Children with whiter skin get more attention at school and are more popular among their peers. It is sickening.
I guess this idea that I will present should not be much of a surprise but it still shocks me, despite the fact that we provide similar products in America. There are several companies who sell fairness creams. Creams with bleaching agents to make your skin more fair. There are face washes, body washes, day creams, night creams, long term treatments, etc. These companies are maintaining the idea that lighter is better and they are making a profit off of people. Jonathan and I have noted a few companies that make fairness creams and we have stopped purchasing products from them but it is nearly impossible as most all large competitors carry a fairness product.
I wish we lived in a society where all were just happy with their skin color. I wish that people would see how beautiful each person's skin is and how it is unlike anyone else's skin. For example, my skin has this slight yellowish tint to it. Jonathan's skin is very white with rosy patches on his cheeks and freckles all over his arms. Durqa's skin is this dark shade of brown. Her forearms and back are even deeper shades of dark chocolate color from hard work in the sun. Ravanan's skin is this creamy brown color with deep lines of dark brown on his palms. All four of us beautiful. We should all just embrace our skin color and love each other for the beautiful shade we provide to the wide spectrum of color of human skin tones. So whether you are thinking of going tanning, applying tanning cream, bleaching your skin, applying fairness cream, or any other skin altering product, remember, I think that your skin color is beautiful and it looks good on you!
I guess this idea that I will present should not be much of a surprise but it still shocks me, despite the fact that we provide similar products in America. There are several companies who sell fairness creams. Creams with bleaching agents to make your skin more fair. There are face washes, body washes, day creams, night creams, long term treatments, etc. These companies are maintaining the idea that lighter is better and they are making a profit off of people. Jonathan and I have noted a few companies that make fairness creams and we have stopped purchasing products from them but it is nearly impossible as most all large competitors carry a fairness product.
I wish we lived in a society where all were just happy with their skin color. I wish that people would see how beautiful each person's skin is and how it is unlike anyone else's skin. For example, my skin has this slight yellowish tint to it. Jonathan's skin is very white with rosy patches on his cheeks and freckles all over his arms. Durqa's skin is this dark shade of brown. Her forearms and back are even deeper shades of dark chocolate color from hard work in the sun. Ravanan's skin is this creamy brown color with deep lines of dark brown on his palms. All four of us beautiful. We should all just embrace our skin color and love each other for the beautiful shade we provide to the wide spectrum of color of human skin tones. So whether you are thinking of going tanning, applying tanning cream, bleaching your skin, applying fairness cream, or any other skin altering product, remember, I think that your skin color is beautiful and it looks good on you!
It's similar I think to the popularity of hair-straightening products and weaves among African American women. They are taught from birth that their natural hair texture isn't beautiful, and that they need to change themselves to be more like the dominant ethnic group to be attractive.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really shocking about this is how deeply ingrained the idea that lighter = more beautiful is in India.
I remember reading a newspaper article about a Tamil actor who went over to a Bollywood movie. There was a controversy about the fact that he is referred to as "dark" in this movie.
The commentators in the paper said, "this perpetuates the idea that all south Indians are dark." I was dumbfounded by how much that statement completely missed the point. The problem isn't that people think that South Indians are dark, the problem is that they think that there's something wrong with being dark-skinned!!!!
One day in school, my kids made a girl cry by calling her black. I tried to give them a lecture about how offensive that is to someone who comes from a country with such a shameful history of mistreating people with darker skin. But I'm not sure how much they understood through the language barrier.
Great try, Jonathan. They have a special teacher.
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