A white skin complexion has been considered the epitome of beauty in our part of the world since time immemorial. The first thing people admire is a fair skin. If the colour of the skin fails to impress, the first stage of discrimination sets in. This could become the reason for rejection in love. It could also mean that a woman is rejected for employment and other opportunities. It could be translated as a feature that might not augur well with to-be friends. The entire social set-up of a woman in our part of the world is affected by the white skin syndrome. Whether this is a deeply ingrained complex or a discriminatory wedge built historically into the social system to divide people on ‘racial’ grounds, the time has come to do away with such ill-defined and ill-begotten concepts that essentially derive their strength and longevity from the historically rooted caste system built around visible and notable physical characteristics such as the colour of one’s skin. Black people have suffered this discrimination for far too long.
Nandita Das, a seasoned Indian art film actress, has been at the forefront since May this year, critiquing the attitudes behind the desire to have a white skin. She has a dark complexion and has refused to make it lighter by any means for her films. She has been adamant and takes pride in what she is born with. And this is the message that she wants to communicate to those millions of women in India who at times ruin their lives by living under the constant pressure of having a fair skin, popularly considered an entry ticket into a peer group or a group we aspire to. The movement ‘Dark is Beautiful’ is about giving and restoring confidence to women to allow them to look up to themselves with whatever Providence has bestowed them with. The movement was initiated in 2009 by an activist group, Women of Worth, to celebrate ‘beauty beyond colour’.
The social pressure of feeling ugly if you are dark has helped none more than the face whitening cream manufacturers. They are minting money from this single biased attitude despite the fact that even they know they cannot change natural colour that melamine endows a person with. There is plenty of evidence by now that these products do not work. Incessant hammering by advertising continues to create the illusion in millions of women’s minds though, feeding into their obsession and providing all the opportunities to make windfall profits. Das’ success will depend on an ordinary woman’s refusal to be judged by her skin colour, which can only happen if she starts celebrating it with pride. *