Many a time, many a person might feel this world isn’t
fair enough. Maybe that’s why people are trying to make themselves fairer
instead. We are not talking about Mr/Ms. Right and Mr/Ms. Wrong here; it’s
about the skin complexion that has clinched the front seat for a while now.
They say we are defined by what we do, but it’s a sorry thing that we are
looked upon by how we look; rather than by what we do.
The Indian mentality of preferring a fair toned
individual might not be a mystery, but it’s not a solved puzzle either. Most
bridal columns feature fair skin as a take away; movies, magazines and ads
portray fair skin as the desirable tone, the number of fairness products
available in the market and much more. All these situations pose us the question
– Have we become colour-despotic? Racism has become a loose word nowadays and
let’s not discuss that here.
Everyone would have affronted this bias at some
point and we were made to accept it rather than ponder about it due to various internal
and external repercussions. The country which, once, considered dark to be
beautiful was wracked up by the British colonial rule of those who imposed
themselves as the superior. They did leave but not their impact on the cultural
setting. One can casually point that the idea of fair skin being the desirable
superior dawned upon us then.
The learned Brahman was inherently fair skinned
owing to the occupation he did under the shade. The other working classes tasked
under the sun resulting in a darker complexion. The system based on occupation
slowly turned into a senseless caste system. Later, in the last decade
education was made available to all classes but the stereotype that a learned
person will be fair skinned did not change, thanks to a warped society and
self-prejudice. It was only a matter of time for the fair which was considered
learned to become the fair which was deemed desirable and beautiful.
It was well played by the cosmetic companies in
utilizing the stereotype that had been created and cash in on the people's
insecurity. Fair & _____, the first child of Indian cosmetic market has a
lot of siblings and cousins now and has grown immensely in the last decade. The
sales figures are staggering and ‘poor’ India is soon to be a billion dollar
market for cosmetics. The macho look is being forgotten and metrosexual look is
preferred for the men. Indian men of today say, “Oh, we want to prettify
ourselves too” and have jumped aboard the ship of fairness cosmetics. The
galore of media campaigns lead by the big screen stars aggressively drills the
idea deep into every individual.
The capitalist industry itself did not plot this scenario
and cannot be blamed for doing business with it. Media
only spreads an idea
whereas the birth of a socialistic perception is from within a community.
Likewise the fix should also come from within us. We were swimming with the
tide so far and one need not be proclaimed guilty because they had this
unfairness in them, but, it shall be a misdeed to have it even after realizing
the fact that facial fairness is only a mask we are trying to wear which will
make us performers and never even close to the true us.
It is an outright irony considering the fact that
the white Westerners try to tan themselves and the brown South Asians try to
whiten themselves. The human ‘never contend with anything mind’ could be
responsible for this or it could be something else, but whatever it is, we have
plunged ourselves into the depths of self-insecurity. We somehow managed to
convince ourselves fair is desirable; we just need to dissuade ourselves now. Endeavoring
to be fair can no longer be fair and unfair is fair enough.
Swasthika Sang
