Not Fair, But Lovely: Part 3

Author: Meher Mehtab

Many big cosmetic brands like Estee Lauder, LO’real and Lancome base their campaigns featuring white, mostly American girls as brand ambassadors, even in advertisements shown in South Asia, instilling the idea of white supremacy in the minds of young adolescent girls. Their aisles in make-up stores carry a huge variety of shades ranging from the fairest fair to fair but hardly anything for darker skin tones.

There seems to be a step forward as more woman of color are now incorporated in the marketing of these beauty products. Frieda Pinto, a dusky skinned Indian actress is now the face of L’Oreal whereas Colombian-American Sofia Vergara now dons billboards as a Cover Girl.

Many cosmetic brands are now bringing in celebrities of color, different religions and gender which may be seen as a ray of hope to break this beauty standard. But this inclusion must not be considered a representation of what is happening on the grass roots level.

Elena Rossini, the creator of “The Illusionist”, a documentary about the globalization of Western beauty standards, believes that these actresses are included in media campaigns as a result of the rampant fetishization of ethnic women in America.Terms like “yellow fever” are now part of urban slang referring to the newfound obsession of white males with Asian women. Rossini also believes that a new trend in Western media is to include either plus sized women or stick-thin women; the average-sized woman, who does not fit either extreme is completely cut out of this picture despite being the most relatable “size” for most girls around the world.

While all of this has helped increase diversity in the portrayal of women, it has shied away from taking the responsibility of normalizing the various complexions that exist in societies all over the world. Tan girls, like Aisha*, are born all around the world to disappointed parents who continue playing Snow White over Pocahontas to their daughters in the hope of miraculously combating their skin melanin and making their complexion lighter.