Sunday, July 3, 2016

Embracing our Heritage

This post was previously published at Voices of Youth (Update: it was temporarily taken down from VOY, so that I could make a few corrections)!

Fairness advertisements are painfully rampant in Indian media—to the extent that they almost become commonplace. Indian celebrities can be constantly seen endorsing fairness creams, face-washes, and gels: with the promise that those who use their products will be guaranteed sparkling white skin in less than a week. And according to the media, fair skin automatically leads to a perfect career, romantic life, and social circle. According to the media, fairness is all we need to succeed; other traits like diligence, commitment, and kindness are disposable.

In my opinion, fairness ads are one of the most ridiculous things stalking Indian media. In an attempt to emulate the western world, people of the east are consciously giving up their heritage for something as superficial and shallow as skin colour. I have seen an incredible number of advertisements that resemble the following plotlines: a woman who was spurned by a lover uses a whitening cream, becomes fair, and immediately wins back her man. Or: a young man gets rid of his tan and wins the heart of every lady around. Or… a girl who just wants to feel beautiful uses a fairness cream, and instantly wins back her confidence and self-esteem.

To quote a line by Kyay Mon, in her article 4 Simple Ways to Define Beauty, “beauty is colour blind”. And so are success, happiness, and dignity. And yet, it’s difficult to blame those Indian girls who purchase whitening creams in a desperate effort to look “more attractive”: since they’re constantly surrounded by celebrities endorsing these creams on television, the radio, and on billboards. I’ve seen several of my dark-skinned friends religiously applying face masks, telling me that they’ve been to dermatologists, and researching diets that would lighten their skin tone. The saddest part? They don’t realise that they’re already gorgeous. They don’t understand that there is so much more to them than the colour of their skin. They don’t realise that their skin colour has played a nearly inconsequential role in their lives.

It’s really sad that Indians have equated success and happiness with fairness. Even worse? The fact that we’re giving up our heritage. The fact that so many Indians are ashamed of their natural skin colour, of their roots and ancestry. We are so, so much more than that. Fairness has nothing to do with beauty; beauty depends on confidence and pride in who you are as a person. White skin has even little to do with success; success depends on diligence, commitment, enthusiasm. And the link between fairness and a social life is laughably non-existent; a healthy social life stems from your personality—definitely not from something as shallow and peripheral as skin colour.

So why do so many girls, boys, men, and women try so hard? Because of the mentalities embedded in Indian society, that are only exacerbated by endorsements from popular and beloved celebrities. However, this does not mean that the damage cannot be undone. There have been several campaigns initiated to promote the beauty and appeal of dark skin; an example includes the Dark is Beautiful campaign, that was supported by film star Nandita Das. We just have to learn to be proud of ourselves, and to love ourselves—for once we begin emulating another culture, we lose the distinctiveness of our own heritage. And once that’s lost, what will make India India? What will make a nation unique? What will make a culture retains its beauty in the future?

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