“I’m not going to spend my life being a colour”
– Michael Jackson’s Black or White (1991)
+ Illustrations by Sarah Harvey
Easier said than done? Reality is that in most cases, it does matter if you’re black or white or anything in between. The amount of melanin present in your skin is (for some) inversely related to how well you’re going to be treated. The higher the melanin count, the closer you are to the flight attendant assuming you’re flying coach instead of business. Historically, colonialism and its influence over the rest of the world established the dichotomy of white and dark skin perception. The former being superior and beautiful while the latter is considered inferior and unattractive. Feeding off from this socially constructed notion of beauty, a race to achieve whiteness began. Today, we can see subtle traces of it trickling down to social medialike Snapchat – they were criticised for ‘whitewashing’ their filters. And the not so subtle traces of in-your-face racism that comes across through the cosmetic and
Fashion and Diversity
The fashion industry got diversity wrong several times. If we only look at the recent past, one of the major instances that catch our attention is Vogue USA’s ‘Diversity’ issue shoot with Karlie Kloss, where she’s dressed up as a geisha. But then we also have whistleblowers like James Scully, a catwalk casting director who took to Instagram to call out the wrongdoings of brands and casting agencies during Paris Fashion week earlier this year. He accused Lanvin of sending out a mandate to its agents, saying ‘that they do not want to be presented with women of colour.’ Something that the brand denied.
Whereas in India, what we found most surprising was that though there are dark female models that do well commercially, the same doesn’t apply to their male counterparts. We struggled to find an Indian dark skin coloured male model. When the modelling agencies were questioned about it, they said that, “There’s no demand for them.” No demand for featuring people who represent more than half of the nations skin tone? Probably the reason why we now have fairness creams for men available in the market!
Colourism: Fair & Unlovely in India
Beauty companies and advertisement agencies in India milk our insecurities of dark/dusky skin to the fullest. They create ads that depict fairness as a prerequisite to achieve success in any sphere of your life. Single and looking to get married? Apply Fair & Lovely and prince charming will waltz right through the door. Nervous about your job interview? Fair & Lovely to the rescue again – forget about prepping for the interview!
Who would’ve guessed that a lighter complexion is the answer to all your problems? In 2016 the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that they found mercury in five skin lightening products that are manufactured by L’Oreal India. Despite that, there is a huge demand for these creams.
So why do these ads even get made? Are people really unhappy with their natural skin colour? “It’s sad because my maid uses Fair & Lovely and she is lighter than I am.She has a complex about her skin colour,” says model Nidhi Sunil. “And you know, they really buy into it, because, they are not educated and they don’t know any better.The brands and the media have the power to have a positive influence on literally, well, almost a billion people and they use it to create havoc.It sucks!” But it’s not just the uneducated folks who are taken in by this. Literate men and women also seem to fancy these notions of ‘fairness’, because to some extent, it’s treated as social capital.
#colourblind
Racism, purely based on the colour of a person’s skin is a global phenomenon. Even Instagram and Snapchat have been criticised for their filters that ‘whitewash’ pictures. No amount of wealth or fame can protect you from it. Case and point: Indian Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, starring in an American television show, Quantico, revealed that when she was travelling to New york, she was a victim of racial bias. As she went to use the washroom, the air hostess told her that it was only reserved for first-class passengers, never occurring to her that Priyanka could be one of them (and she was). History and sociology tells us how racism began, but what stands out is how colourism exists within certain races. “I’ve lost count of the number of times when visiting a college for a talk, a young girl would invariably ask me how I am so confident despite being dark,” says Indian Bollywood actress Nandita Das. “It’s a question that comes up often, mostly with teenagers. It’s heartbreaking to know that of all things you have to face today, the colour of your skin can make you feel less worthy.”
By currentMood
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Last modified: October 16, 2018