In a society that fails to value our differences, especially in appearances, choose to be the Beyoncé that cherishes our Brown Skin Girls.
By now, I'm sure that we’ve all seen the show “Indian Matchmaking” or seen memes about Sima Taparia from Mumbai ready to arrange our marriages. Yeah it’s just a reality show, but the viewpoints presented in this show are very real and unfair for Indian women. Within the first 5 minutes of the first episode, Sima discusses the criteria for a successful arranged marriage and all of these seem to only be directed towards women.
The women need to be “fair, slim, tall, and beautiful, and with good nature” (“Slim, Trim and Educated”).
For some reason, the ideal Indian woman is held to unfair standards of beauty such that a dark, curvy, and short woman is not considered beautiful and may not even be a good wife. These stereotypes are deeply fixated within our Indian culture along with the global culture, so it makes a woman believe that she is not good enough if she doesn’t fit the normative physical look.
The Current Situation
On a more serious note, the recent Black Lives Matter movement has been eye opening for all of us. It’s sad to say that it’s taken us losing innocent Black lives to see how unfair and cruel our world can be to those of darker skin tones. This revolutionary movement has also shaken the Desi community because the stigmas against dark skin women are finally coming to light.
Let’s talk about the very controversial brand “Fair and Lovely,” which has now been changed to “Glow and Lovely” amidst the recent diversity concerns and acts of racial injustice. For years, this brand has marketed their skin “whitening and lightening” creams to help transform your darker face into a fairer one so that you are beautiful.
This message itself is simply demeaning; there are no ifs or buts. The company is now re-branding their products after a series of petitions (via The Washington Post).
What Does This Exactly Mean?
Changing the name of a brand doesn’t do anything if the concept of colorism is still prominent in our daily lives. For instance, Global Industry Analysts estimates that the Global Skin Lighteners Marker is projected to achieve $12.3 billion in sales by 2027. It’s clear that we must take some initiative so that this number isn’t this high. Furthermore, until recently with brands such as Fenty Beauty breaking the barriers, most makeup brands fail to have a range of foundation shades for darker skin tones but have very inclusive ranges for the more pale tones. Even on the screen we fail to see equal depiction. What do Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and other famous Bollywood actresses all have in common? Well, they all fit the perfect mold of being fair and slim, and while they are great actresses, these small acts of a lack of representation eventually start to add up. It’s 2020, and the fact that we are just realizing these stereotypes is quite concerning.
Take a moment to understand what this really means: young girls that are dark skinned will grow up thinking that they aren’t beautiful and can only achieve this beauty by being lighter. Imagine what kind of damage this does to their self-esteem and confidence, especially if they grow up in a very traditional area. Rather, teach our girls to be proud of their melanin and to embrace their body because beauty is unique and definitely not normative.
My Story
Personally speaking, I’ve never fit the traditional Indian woman description: I have curves, I am short, and I most certainly am not fair. That doesn’t mean that I’m not beautiful or not of good nature. My kindness, intelligence,and sheer will to speak up for what I believe in make me a beautiful, Indian woman. The amazing women in my life have raised me to place a greater value on my inner qualities rather than my appearance, and that’s exactly what every household needs to do with their children.
Sorry Sima Taparia; I’m afraid I don’t meet your baseless criteria, and I’m perfectly okay with that.