In June 2020, Chandana Hiran, a 22-year-old Mumbai girl, started a petition against Hindustan Unilever’s flagship beauty product, “Fair & Lovely”.
“They tried to sell us the idea that only Fair is ‘lovely’. I filed a petition against Fair & Lovely, demanding they change their narrative after years of regressive advertisements and branding to sell a whitening cream,” said Hiran.
In just two weeks, the petition garnered up to 15,000 signatures, forcing Hindustan Unilever to take action. And, they rightly did. In July 2020, the company rebranded its best-selling product, changing the name to “Glow & Lovely”.
Colourism Is A Societal Problem We Haven’t Addressed
Colourism has been an inherent evil lurking around in India’s society for decades, and yet has never been spoken about. The reason is obvious—the privilege is real. Differences in skin tones are a result of geographical factors; they are adaptive traits that correlate closely with geography and the sun’s ultra violet rays.
In a country that is predisposed to having people of darker shades, it’s only a shame that we continue to discriminate against people of darker skin tones. There is growing evidence to show that popular media not only favours lighter skin tones, but also actively discriminates against those with darker skin tones.
Bollywood, India’s and the world’s largest film industry, reinforces the practice of colourism so blatantly, that it seems to normalize it. Leading tracks like “Chittiyan Kalaiyan“, “Gori Gori“, “Gore Gore Mukhde Pe“, and “Hum Kale Hai To Kya Hua“, among many others, are so colourist in nature, that they have ingrained in the minds of youth that “only” fair skin is desirable and that the color of your skin is the sole determinant of beauty standards in society.
Brands Must Move Away From The Idea Of “Fairness”
Leading beauty brands, through their fairness creams, constantly seem to sell the idea that lighter skin tones are achievable, and thus desirable. Fair & Lovely, India’s largest selling skin lightening cream, unquestioningly goes by the tagline of “Guaranteed Fairness. Guaranteed Fame”.
All of this only gives the impression that darker skin tones are seen as impure and undesirable. Around the same time that there was a backlash in the society concerning the ‘fair and lovely’ protests, shaadi.com, a popular marital website, removed the “skin tone” filter, which allowed users to sort their potential partner preferences based on the colour of their skin.
The very fact that there is a constant preference for lighter skin tones in popular media and society, seems to repeatedly suggest the very idea that fairer skin tones are the ultimate standard for beauty.
People with darker skin tones are forced to accept the fact that they will never be as desirable, solely because of the colour of their skin. It creates an inferiority complex so deep, that it messes with their self-esteem, and leaves them with a sense of insecurity. How much longer will we put up with this false sense of superiority, solely built on the foundation of the color of one’s skin?
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REFERENCES:
- COLOURISM IN INDIA – A HISTORY
- Black Lives Matter Gets Indians Talking About Skin Lightening And Colorism