Watch the idiot box for just 15 minutes and you will realize that every third commercial is a cosmetic commercial, wherein every alternate one is about a fairness product. So much so, that we actually have a fairness cream for men now. Whatever happened to tall, dark and handsome?? Not to mention how effeminate it sounds that a guy should be slathering himself with a beauty product.
But I digress. My point is why do all commercials unequivocally portray a Plain Jane ( read under-confident, socially withdrawn, dark skinned girl) who emerges overnight as ravishing, popular and successful (in that order) just by virtue of turning fair?
These commercials are objectionable for two fundamental reasons. Firstly, they are fabricated. Our complexion is determined by a complex web of genetic factors which decide the number of active melanocytes in our skin, which in turn produce the pigment melanin that decides our skin tone. No fairness cream can alter the innate physiology of our body. Besides, our complexion is an irrefutable manifestation of our roots. We can not change our skin tone any more than we can change our ethnicity. Selling a product that claims to "make" you fair and giving out "fairness scales" to test the same is a logic defying, yet surprisingly compelling con.
Secondly, and more importantly, it amounts to racial victimization. Why portray dark skinned people as shrinking violets who are not successful in their ventures? Why imply that their skin colour doesn't inspire any confidence despite their merits? Why claim that being "fair and lovely" is an essential prerequisite to success - both personal and professional? That is commercialization of racism with a rare tact. How else do u explain the masses lapping up a brown skinned SRK, absurdly looking 5 shades lighter, endorsing a fairness cream for men?
Why do we harbour a prejudice towards dark skin tones? Where does our inexplicable obsession with the fair skin stem from? Is it the classic case of grass being greener on the other side? Does it have something to do with the fact that we were ruled by the British for so long? Do residual memories of the "Raj" still haunt our subconscious? Is that the reason for our collective awe and envy of the fair skin tone? Or are we just victims of incessant advertising? Do we idolize the phrase "beauty is skin deep"? Is that why matrimonial ads emphatically insist on "fair" prospective brides and dowry rates spike blatantly for the dusky ones? For a land that worships the Goddess Kali, could we really be that shallow? Or is her reference as "Kali" the epitome of Indian racism?
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