There is a common liking for white face skin in the South Asian countries. Fair skin, especially in the female segment of these countries suggests superiority and beauty. The trend of using the fairness creams among them has emerged in the last fifty years. This obsession with being whitish has been greatly exploited by the FMGC giants like Hindustan Unilever, Johnson & Johnson etc. to their benefit.
There are mainly 3 reasons that explain the origin of desire for lighter skin in India
Casteism
Skin lightening dates back to centuries and has roots in the complex social hierarchy Indian society. The society is believed to be divided into 4 major caste which dictate one’s occupation, diets and interaction.
For many years, the lower castes were restricted to working menial jobs in blazing sun which resulted in their having darker skin. Thus, the notion of dark skin is unattractive can be linked with lower castes, lack of education and opportunities thereby making fair skin beauty ideal and practice of skin lightening. While we Indian claim that the caste system no longer takes precedence, its remnants are noticeable.
British Colonization
In the history, India has been repeatedly invaded by foreigners like the Dutch, Portuguese, Persian and the most pronounced, British. Most of them had lighter complexion than Indians which was then associated with power. Moreover, the British promoted the caste system for the purpose of ‘divide and rule’.
Their influence perpetuated patriarchal structures inducing objectification and subjugation of women by means of male domination. Thus, the notion developed that a fair skinned woman was more likely to attract powerful and wealthy man, which was supposed to be followed by happiness.
Entertainment Industry
Today, body image perspectives are largely influenced by Bollywood which maintains the beauty norms like zero-size and fair skin. The biggest names in industry like Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor Khan are fair skinned with natural blue-green eyes which the movies imply as the standards characteristics, when majority of the Indian population do not share these. We, as a society fail to understand that these are not the representatives of an average Indian beauty but the exceptions.
Advertisers often try to associate idealized parts of the endorser’s body with various products, and in the process, models set a standard of beauty for the audience. Fairness cream ads claim that the buyer’s life improve if they use their products, get economically advance, have better marriage prospects and other successes in life. They emphasize on the stereotype that a person’s calibre is directly proportional to their skin tone. Moreover, the celebrity endorsements have taken it a step ahead in normalising the existing notion of “fair and lovely” thereupon reinforcing negative social stereotyping on the basis of colour. It is a high time we put to end the colour prejudices perpetrated by such ads.
Women often find themselves caught up in the struggle to fit in and being accepted. As a result, young women frequently experience body image dissatisfaction and lower self esteems leaving them in self-loathing. Such insecurities often form a cause of stress, anxiety and ill health habits. Nandita Das, an actress actively working against shadeism, says that it is not just about beauty, the ads are actually telling you ‘you are not good enough, you can’t get a job, a lover, a husband and you’re eventually going to be a disappointment to your parents’.
The concept of fair skin is ingrained at a very young age as we consume such advertisement on almost a daily basis. As a consequence, children of dark complexion, time and again, become victims of bullying in schools and are subjected to comments about their skins from both youngsters and adults. Thus, colourism inadvertently becomes deeply rooted in our psyche. As they grow up looking at the advertised products, they feel the incessant need to use them in order to feel beautiful.
A regular use of such creams affects the physical health, varying from itching to skin cancer. There are several risks associated with prolonged use of or addiction to fairness products. Following are a few reasons to ditch them.
- They have toxic chemicals like mercury and lead which are capable of leaving permanent marks on your skin.
- Fairness creams remove the natural moisture and essential oils from your skin, leaving it dry and vulnerable.
- Skin lightening products have bleaching agents that cause thinning of skin which makes it more susceptible to allergies and hypersensitive to sun.
The stereotyping ads of fairness creams received a huge backlash for promoting colourism after #BlackLivesMatter Movement in the US acquired a global stage. Major FMGC’s in India like HUL, Emami, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal etc. immediately pulled out products that referred to “fairness”. Following that, a popular matrimonial website shaadi.com removed its skin tone filter.
Although some may argue that simply changing names of the products is superficial, it is a small step against shadeism. India’s obsession with fairness will not vanish completely overnight. But educating, especially for the younger generation, to be comfortable in their own skin must begin at the grassroot level. Educational institutes like schools must promote programs that teach children to value more than just physical outward appearance and celebrate differences. Parents must model appropriate behaviour and defy the social standards of beauty. Body image is often linked to self-esteem therefore the need to cultivate body positivity is of prime importance.
