No Shades of Grey
Not many people in the West have ever heard about skin bleaching, that is, unless they belong to the large South Asian Diaspora. Skin Bleaching is a practice by which individuals use chemicals either orally or topically to lighten the pigmentation of their skin. In South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh skin bleaching is a massive phenomenon, and big business. The fairness industry has exploded in the last five years, and according to statistics from Time Magazine, it has grown by two–thirds to an annual $250 million. An increasing number of women from all levels of society in these countries are buying and using these products.
However, the use of these products does not come without a cost. Many of the bleaching agents such as hydroquinone and mercuric derivatives can cause rosacea, burning sensations and hyper pigmentation. The presence of these chemicals can even become carcinogenic on the skin after long–term use. Despite the knowledge that these products can have major, even deadly, side effects, the increasing rate with which South Asian women continue to use them is alarmingly. It is often baffling for Western observers to understand why South Asians have this strong bias towards fairness, and what drives these women to take such drastic actions to attempt to reach this ideal. Pop culture has undoubtedly had a major influence on skin bleaching in South Asian society. With the advancement of technology, popular culture has become an all–encompassing form of information and representation. It has had an enormous affect on how individuals view themselves and others. At the very core of South Asian, popular culture is Bollywood. Bollywood, or the Hindi Film Industry, is a pervasive and deeply ingrained part of South Asian society that entertains and enigmatically unites people regardless of their economic and social standings, education and religion.
Bollywood celebrities play a vital role in South Asian popular culture and hold near god-like status. They are undoubtedly the most famous and sought after people, possessing a cult like following of literally hundreds of millions of devoted fans. Bollywood actresses are literally venerated in society for their physical appearances and they are portrayed as an ideal standard of beauty. The most noticeable features are quite alarming; the majority of these actresses are unusually fair, many shades lighter than the average South Asian woman. The industry has also started to use biracial (typically, East Indian and European) models to represent South Asian women in Bollywood movies and magazines. Incredibly successful and well received as India’s top two models are Katrina Kaif (who is half English) and Yana Gupta (who is part Czech). Kaif and Gupta look like Europeans with their exceptionally white skin and light colored hair and eyes. The appearance and triumph of these biracial women in South Asian popular culture has augmented the overrepresentation of fair skin and perilously set up impractical standards for South Asian women. Their success represents the elevation of European or ”white“ beauty over East Indian beauty.
According to Sonali Johnson, an expert on color prejudice in India, the dominance of fair women on billboards, in marriage columns and on television demonstrates how deeply entrenched these images are in popular culture and how they have become a standard measure of beauty. Bollywood, and popular culture in general, have always displayed an extremely unrealistic representation of South Asian women through actresses and models. One note of interest is that Bollywood starlets that are considered dark by industry standards, like Rani Mukerji and Kajol, are actually still a few shades lighter than typical South Asian women. This propagates the idea that only women with light skin can be considered beautiful and it places an incredible amount of social pressure on women to take actions to reach this ideal. Many women use bleaching products to become whiter and more like the images of the beautiful celebrity heroines they are continually indoctrinated with. The bleaching cream for the South Asian woman is like the magic diet pill for the North American woman. Like how the unhealthy 100 pound Western model’s physique is incorrectly seen as achievable and has caused young Western women to diet zealously, Johnson confirms that South Asian women believe that extremely fair skin color is attainable. The bleaching cream functions as the vehicle of false hope of offering a magically transformation of the normal South Asian women into the light Bollywood beauty that her society so ardently venerates.
Money talks, and unfortunately in this case, the high profits made from selling bleaching creams has driven the Fairness Industry to use racist advertising that blatantly proliferates racial biases by linking skin color (fairness), with beauty, success, happiness and ultimately self–worth.
Perfect examples of this are the commercials run by India’s largest producer of fairness products, super brand ’Fair and Lovely’. A recent commercial featured a young girl watching cricket games from the field pretending and dreaming of being a cricket announcer. Time passes and she is now shown as a young woman still obsessed with this fantasy. Her mother slips her a tube of Fair and Lovely and she magically becomes many shades lighter, which is demonstrated by images of her face in a literal spectrum from darkest to lightest. With her newfound beauty she has the confidence to submit her demo–tape to a broadcasting agency which is so impressed with her that they sign her as an announcer immediately.
The first half of the commercial, before the use of the fairness cream is shot in black and white and the second half done in glorious color. Her new light skin is associated with beauty, success and fortune. An additional message that could be derived from this specific commercial is the notion that only women who are fair and physically beautiful can have the courage to follow their dreams. Ironically, the Fair and Lovely website heralds this commercial as a step forward in promoting the rights and possibilities for Indian women. The website also states that Fair and Lovely ads ”Showcase stories where the woman challenges the unhealthy societal realities of status quo and discrimination and finds that she is empowered to carve out her own future.“ This statement is extraordinarily absurd as the commercial only intensifies the unhealthy societal realities of skin color biases, and devalues women into objects that are predominantly valued for their physical appearances.
It is also interesting to note that the parent company, which holds 51.55% of the equity of the producers of Fair and Lovely, is Unilever. Unilever has recently been celebrated in the West for Dove’s revolutionary campaign that implores women to love themselves and celebrate their natural beauty. Unilever states: ”As well as making products that help you feel more confident in your own beauty, Dove is actively trying to address the root of the problem of negative self-image.” Unfortunately, Unilever would not allow the same for Indian Women as there is a lot of money to be made selling them racist skin bleaching creams that promote self–hate. Fairness companies and cosmetic companies in general often attempt to portray themselves as supporters of feminist causes and liberators of women. In reality, cosmetic companies usually exploit women’s insecurities through their advertising and marketing campaigns, and then attempt to sell women back their self–esteem through purchase of their products. Ultimately Unilever and Fair and Lovely exist to make as much money as possible in their respective markets.
While nearly all advertisers are guilty of portraying their products as the solution to all problems, the Fairness Industry immorally uses a racist ideology to convey the message that light skin is superior to dark skin. They specifically lure women into using their skin bleaching products by promoting color hierarchies that privilege light skin. The literal color spectrum of faces from darkest to lightest in the Fair and Lovely advertisements highlights this concept. Advertisements for fairness products also encourage women to engage in skin bleaching by equating fairness to beauty, success and social acceptability. Companies that sell fairness products influence skin bleaching by ruthlessly exploiting this social stigma.
The dramatic proliferation of the Fairness Industry and the rise in the practice of skin bleaching can largely be attributed to the over representation, emphasis and veneration of extremely fair actresses and models in South Asian popular culture. Specific forms of media like racist advertisements by Fairness Companies heighten this major social problem and push many women to resort to this practice. Analysis of the growth of this issue highlights the tremendous influence that popular culture has over people in our technological age. It is an all-encompassing phenomenon that controls how people think, act and what they believe in. Pop culture messages and images are so powerful that they can drive people to engage in harmful practices that can create internal racism and destroy the very fabric of society.
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I really, really enjoyed this article a lot. Not only was it informative and well-written, it addresses the broader issue of negative cultural influences on Muslims, the internalized after effects of colonialism, and the embedded racism within our communities. Superb job!
Very interesting article. I really enjoyed it.
Here is a question though, you trace this fixation with a fairer skin to effects of colonialism, I object to that, based on my experience this fixation goes beyond the colonial times. Peoples of our lan have always had this fixation, and I think it is because of class issues. The richer classes define what beauty is; most of our lands were rural, and we all know that women in rural areas work with the men in the field, and this exposure to the sun over time results in a darker complexion. We can say that darker complexion signifies a class of workers within the south asian community, and the elite, generally, with life confined to the home, traditionally speaking, would be fairer. So the bias is as much an outcome of social class, as it is a colonial inheritance.
The social class issue is very valid, and an interesting point. That is primarily the reason why fair skin was prized in 18th/19th century Victorian England…because the peasants would get tanned in the fields and the aristrocratic gentry would get to sit around at home all day being pasty. Nowadays the richer people are able to afford exotic holidays to see the sun, and I think thats why tans are are associated with wealth and style in todays world. I think that class based approach applies to every people and country, to some extent.
However, the Indian subcontinent is an interesting case…because thousands of years ago, before European colonization, the Aryan tribes invaded India…and conquered the darker skinned Dravidic peoples that tended to be more from the Southern regions. Its an internalized philosophy, in that way, based on conquest and colonialism that spans thousands of years and in may separate instances.
You have a point there, applying the longer term historical lens, going back to the earlier invasions we could understand the internalized bias. As you pointed out in the West, now, the preference for skin tone has undergone an inversion, so, I would say that today the colonial effects are perpetuated because of the class elements, and that accounts for the survival of this preference. In a sense these two factors complement each other.
nice article.. just one thing i would say is that your first claim that not many people in the West outside of the South Asian diaspora may have heard of “skin bleaching” is not entirely correct, this is quite prevalent in the African American community and is a frequent subject of debate. Nonetheless, important topic to be brought up. i commend this magazine for really dealing with issues often ignored.
-saad omar
Saad,
You are absolutely right. Skin color hierarchies exist in virtually every community, and it was incorrect to say that other groups in the west would be unaware of this topic. Unfortunately skin bleaching is a world wide phenomenon. I discovered from my research skin bleaching practices in Africa itself are among the most deadly on the planet. Along with products that contain mercuric derivatives, women in the continent often use actual bleach directly on their skin. If reported correctly, the death count would definitely be in the thousands. However one important point I wanted to cover in this article was the influence of pop culture on this practice. Even though light skinned African American women dominate channels like “BET”, an American network or channel such as this one would never broadcast a commercial for a skin bleaching product like “Fair and Lovely”. South Asian popular culture needs step up its self- awareness and examine its own internal racism before this topic can even be a “frequent subject of debate”.
I thank you for your support and interest in the magazine and please spread the word!
Ayesha Patel
i highly recommend this article to all South Asian women. This article is very well written and I give it a standing ovation. Me being a South Asian teeneager (from Bangladesh), i have personally felt the pressure from family to be fair skinned and a even bigger pressure to apply the “fair and lovely” cream. I did buy it but never applied the cream. The constant taunts and “little jokes” from family about not being fair-skinned can have a damging effect, especially if one had dealt with this issue ever since they were a kid. I acknowledge the comments about the colonial impact and social class issues. Also, Saad’s comment about how this is prevalent among African-Americans is very true, as Michael Jackson is a standing example of this.
South Asia’s mass media needs to admit their rascist propaganda and stop the obseesion with fair skin!
-momitul
Micheal Jackson did not intentional bleach his skin; he is suffering from Vitiligo, a chronic skin disease that causes loss of pigment. I say this because it is important to spread awareness about such rare diseases… I was really touched after watching a segment on Larry King live on which a Detroit news anchor was sharing his story about the struggle with Vitiligo.
the racist language of thomas jefferson from the Notes on the State of Virginia…
Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in the scarfskin itself; whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood, the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its seat and cause were better known to us. And is this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one, preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenances, that immoveable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of the Oran-ootan for the black women over those of his own species. The circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention in the propagation of our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; why not in that of man? Besides those of colour, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions proving a difference of race. They have less hair on the face and body. They secrete less by the kidnies, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odour. This greater degree of transpiration renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold, than the whites.
Complete statement here:
http://presspubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch15s28.html
it’s funny how rascist Jefferson was yet he fathered a child with one of his female slaves
SO TRUE! you can’t go thirty seconds watching tv in pakistan without seeing a ‘skin whitening’ commercial. AHHH.
Wow Ayesha, that was a commendable article, and sparked a much needed debate. Amongst many other amazing things, the Autobiography of Malcolm X talks of this issue in the African American community and the internalized racism that the coloured peoples all over the world have. I’d recommend reading it otherwise as well, its an inspirational book.
Great job on the article!
I’m so glad you wrote this article. You mentioned many important points that are obvious, but unfortunately disregarded by many who are victims of this pathetic beauty ideal. You absolutely spoke my mind (or rather, wrote) when you mentioned those ridiculous fair and lovely commercials. How is there a causation between the chick’s skin tone and her success? The marketing team of the company seem to be brainless as well as greedy, because if anything their commercial does more to highlight a major flaw in typical South Asian mentality, than justify using their product.
Another extremely important but overlooked point was the mention of the biracial actresses/models representing Indian women. I notice way too often non-south asian individuals gazing at pictures of actresses like Katrina Kaif, going “wow…she doesn’t look Indian at ALLLL” First of all, what is an Indian suppose to look like to YOU? (I won’t go there, because it’s a whole new topic to ramble on about).
Thanks for reading loophole!! I completely agree with you, what’s sad is that these comments are almost always positive: “wow…she doesn’t look Indian/African/Chinese(fill in the blanks) at ALLLL”. Why is this a good thing for people?? Have we been completely brainwashed to believe that the only type of beauty that exists is Caucasian beauty? I would definitely be interested in hearing what everyone thinks about this issue!
Best regards,
Ayesha Patel