"White" Beauty





I saw this commercial sometime ago in which Priyanka Chopra advertises Ponds White Beauty, a product which is supposed to give you a 'white pinkish glow'. I was so offended I had to change channels. Why are South Asians, specially Indians, still obsessed with having lighter skin? Why do they still promote self racism?

Even here in Maldives there is still this craze with 'Fair and Lovely' (So If we don't use it does it mean we're dark and ugly?) and 'Fair Plus' and all the other 'Fairs'. Not that I can blame the women since society expects them to be 'dhon'. Even in the dhivehi songs and poems they are always talking about a 'dhon manje' or 'dhon kamana'. Comments like, ' eyna reethi ekam massalayakee kudakoh kalhee' are still common. Shame really...since some of the very beautiful people we have here aren't necessarily light skinned.

And it doesn't help when some men just say things like 'kalhu kanda eh', it's sickening actually. We should be more secure about who we are instead of being occupied with what people have been believing in the past. As corny as it sounds beauty is not about how light your skin is, you would find that people are more likely to see you as more attractive as long as you are confident and secure about who you are.

Comments

Anonymous said…
And I've heard this said about a baby one too many times: "kalhakas loabi".
August 2, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Unknown said…
Yeah dho, No wonder they grow up wishing they had lighter skin. :/
August 2, 2009 at 9:08 AM
Myst said…
Personally, the colour of a person's skin has never been a factor in how beautiful the person is. I think the individual's personality contributes to the overall attractiveness of the person in a way that skin colour never can.

The most insulting aspect of the the Fair & Lovely ads is that it implies you can't even have a successful lifem career-wise or socially, if your skin is dark. I call bull$h*t!
August 31, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Unknown said…
Myst: and the problem is people actually buy into these ads. :|
August 31, 2009 at 12:23 PM
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