01 May 2014
"Fair?" Skin Colour in India.
I don't get it. These people lived under the boot of the English. WHY would they want to look white? The products they use to "bleach" themselves won't make people white. The fathers in the film saying such nasty things about their kids, and the teachers even saying mean things because children are "too dark?" Poor kid, to hear his own mom saying what do you think? That he goes to school with the English children that he should expect to be treated well and be able to study? Schools for people like them are schools where no-one cares. The little boy douses himself with powder to try to fool the other children... but he always sweats and the ruse is up.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
That's a surprise, don't they realise the darker they are the whiter their teeth are, and the eyes are always great we as fair people stick all this make up on to give our eyes the colour that they already have, I guess no one is ever happy how they look, it is a big thing if you get married or not, none of this matters to me am I before my time.
ReplyDeleteMerle..............
I know, shame that some of these folks can't travel overseas and see they are not less than, and not too many people really care about what shade you are in other places.
DeleteI know this still goes on but it saddens me to read it anywhere. I don't see one bit of difference between children of any colour including white.
ReplyDeleteSkin colour in India should be listed as "assorted" just as it should be everywhere else.
Because that's how people come. In assorted shades.
Yep. I'm white and I have both pasty white and regular-coloured white children. Same father.
DeleteI should check out the documentary as it sounds like it explores some pretty heavy stuff. But I will say this from my personal experiences in India: Every third commercial on TV (it seems) is for skin lightening cream... for men and women. It's like tanning here, but a huge industry. Always makes me think of The Sneetches...
ReplyDelete~Luke
I love the Sneetches!
DeleteThis is no different than being black in America. It is also slowly changing here, but if you look at all the black movie stars... the ones with longevity, you can count the dark ones on your fingers. Sidney Portier, Bill Cosby, Wesley Snipes, Samuel Jackson, Forest Whitaker, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Fox, Whoopie Goldberg, and now, maybe Lupita Nyong'o (mostly men). It is demonstrated from a young age, that being light skinned, and having light eyes and straight hair is a standard of beauty, and the kids get this in their heads... even if the parents don't reinforce it, you believe what is demonstrated more than what is said to you. Not only that, but just like in India, dark skinned blacks tend to have a lower socioeconomic status. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a lot of the re-touching that goes on in photographs tends to make people look lighter. People SAY it is to make facial features more noticeable and avoid the Cheshire Cat sort of look (everything black except eye-whites and smile). I don't know that I believe it... but then I've seen some crazy photoshop. Remember the Target ad thing? :)
DeleteI don't think I have ever seen products out there advertised like "Fair and Lovely," here though... although they must exist in some form, likely they are a little more subtle with the racism.
You just don't know where to look for the products Happy! In every black neighborhood drug store... in Every hair and weave store, and even in black beauty salons... it's there. They call it toning cream. Ambi is the major brand name that comes to mind.
DeleteAlso, it is not so much about people here trying to lighten their skin here in America, but more about darker people being rejected from media and job opportunities.
DeleteI had NO idea about this toner. I hope I never support a company like that. Makeup if your skin is uneven colour, sure... but... wow. Though white people use "foundation" in much the same way, but nobody is fooling anybody else really. Why do it? :/
DeleteI believe you about the media job opportunities. I don't think there are even a handful of SUPER dark skin-toned people on tv. I mean like darker than Whoopi Goldberg dark. I've heard it's hard to clarify features on really really dark people but I think that might just be an excuse. It seems everyone gets airbrushed anyway. Vanessa Williams, I have seen her IRL and she is just an ordinary black person in terms of colour. She is not super-fair or dark. Lighter end of brown, but not fair. Then look at pics of her online and she's suddenly turned white almost.
What are we telling our little girls with stuff like that? Even the African-coloured Barbies we have have rather Indian-type hair, not the super-curls. Maybe another post.
I will tell you, it is a hard lesson to unlearn. I remember struggling with it myself. The clarifying features thing is true... if you don't know how to use lighting. Simply, never back-light a dark person. I think things will continue to move forward, but we have to keep pushing and asking questions, or there will be stagnation. Side-note: it is not that hard to curl a barbie's hair and some moms have taken to doing it! (Google "give barbie and afro"... it's fun stuff).
DeleteWOW!! Soo cool. If only I could dip MY head in the boiling water... lol.
DeleteI want to try this sometime. I have to wonder how many Barbies were destroyed trying to figure this out.