Indian Society and its ‘Fair Skin’ Bias

KAKALI DAS

Our obsession with fair skin has been around for centuries

. In the later interpretation of the varna or caste system such as, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras during the time of Rishi Bhrigu, skin colour became a distinguishing factor of caste.

Brahmins were described as white-skinned, while Shudras were known to have black skin. Though there is no evidence of skin colour based discrimination by the Mughals, they were a homogenous group of lighter-skinned rulers.

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So, light skin became synonymous with the superiority of the rulers, which was strengthened by other conquerors like the Portuguese and the French. But discrimination based on skin colour became prominent during the British rule. Black Indians were denied entry into restaurants and educational institutions.

Though this formalised discrimination is long gone, ‘fair’ skin has become entrenched as a marker of a person’s social status. Advertisements for beauty products offer “lightening, brightening and glowing skin,” as something that would impact a person’s job prospects, status, and visibility. Fairness creams are such a necessity that Indians spend more on these creams each year than on Coca-Cola or tea.

The first-ever fairness cream sold in India was during 1919, “Afghan Snow”. But the most popular cream, “Fair & Lovely” (now ‘Glow & Lovely’, after the severe outrage and backlash by the people) was introduced in the market by 1975. After the (Economic) Liberalisation of 1991, many branded creams came to the market, and “Emami” is an example of one of those.

Then in 2005, for the first time, “Fair & Handsome” cream targeted boys instead of girls. In 2013, more than Rs. 3,000 crores worth of fairness products were being sold in India. Out of the entire facial care market, almost 50% revenue is generated from Skin Whiteners and Lighteners. But the demand for fairness isn’t merely limited to facial care, but intimate wash too.

A survey found that 70% of men believe that fair skin would award them with an advantage over others in securing a job, success at interviews or finding a partner. Even our ‘favourite’ (?) Bollywood, which sets the bench-mark of beauty for crores of people, not only promotes such fairness products, but Indian movies, also, reinforces this notion.

‘Fair-skinned’ actors often make their skin artificially darker with makeup when playing lower class characters. Off skin or ‘black colour’ is shamed and demonised as ‘poor,’ ‘ugly’ and ‘dirty,’ adding another layer of insecurity and fuelling the desire to escape the ‘ill fate’ of being born with darker skin. Women have reported that just by lightening their skin by two shades, they experience higher levels of confidence.

All these adds up to an individual and cultural obsession with ‘fair’ skin, that become a distinguishing part of a person’s beauty and social worth. It’s the one aspect of our social status that we can easily change when it comes to a place in the world.

Since time immemorial, we were being told that fair (white) skin colour is better than brown skin. Many research studies have documented this preference for fair skin. Even to the extent that most Indian gods being worshipped are shown to be fair. From Hindu gods to Catholic saints, Indians worship the fair and lovely. On the other hand, Demons (monsters) have always been shown as black-skinned (dark).

So, Bharadwaj Sundar and Naresh Nil from Chennai in their project – Dark is Divine (2018) depicted Indian Gods in a more-realistic avatar, to crush the stereotype and India’s obsession with fair-skin.

Not only in India, but also in other countries people run behind fair skin. In 2016, Thailand’s cosmetic company, Seoul Secret had to apologise for displaying an ad for its product Snowz, as the ad showed an actress in black face and compared her unfavourably to a light-skinned woman. The viewers especially took offense of the slogan “You just need to be white to win.”

But what is wrong with liking and promoting fairness? Some might consider it to be yet another long, slender tentacle that emerges from unrealistic beauty standards, but the truth is, colourism runs deeper than the superficial. Firstly, this leads to one more form of discrimination (partiality/inequality) in the society due to skin colour. This discrimination is bound to have hazardous consequences.

A study had revealed that in Rajasthan & Haryana, due to their skin colour, dark-skinned brides were not being taken to family functions or other wedding. Post-marriage, the brides’ dark hue appears to impede their acceptance into conjugal communities, according to a study ‘Tied in a Knot – cross-region marriages in Haryana and Rajasthan, Implications for Gender Rights and Gender Relations,’ funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

And, dark-skinned women are also demanded more dowry than fair skinned ones. In 2014, a Gurgaon woman committed suicide as husband taunted her for black complexion. Unfortunately, this discrimination was so rampant that until a year ago, matrimonial websites used to ask its users to mention their skin tone while creating a profile. But, in 2020, after a massive backlash, they, conclusively, took down the skin filter or skin tone feature from their apps or websites.

Based on a survey published on their website, Vaseline Healthy White claimed, “8 out of 10 women in India believe that fair skin gives them an additional advantage in the society.” Another study in India revealed that many dark-skinned women don’t even apply for certain jobs due to their skin colour (inferiority complex). Even children have to undergo the impact of this discrimination (partiality/inequality).

The fair-skinned children would be seen teasing the dark-skinned as ‘black’, a term which, evidently, is derogatory as per the thoughts of the children, resulting the dark-skinned kids to find it difficult to adjust with other children. It’s a deep-rooted prejudice, ingrained into the minds of young girls and boys across the country.

But here’s the catch – no amount of turmeric, sandalwood or skin lightening creams can actually lighten the colour of our skin. It’s the pigment ‘melanin’ which colourises our skin, and no amount of bizarre superficial lightening can alter what’s underneath the skin. In fact, given the country’s tropical climate and high melanin index of it populace, India’s obsession with fairness is a paradox.

But, on the contrary, consumption of healthy or nutritional foods, limiting sun-exposure, drinking enough water would undoubtedly make way for a healthier, more nourishing skin, irrespective of any skin tones.

So, instead of buying into the myths and continuing to perpetuate those, maybe it’s time we reject this discriminatory thinking altogether. And this rejection goes beyond dropping the ‘fair’ in fairness creams, or boldly claiming that dark is beautiful. It means attacking the social conditioning that tells us colourism is a “natural preference,” and not a systemic bias.

[Images from different sources]

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