I am completely and totally lost today. Maybe I should pick up my pet-peeve? The obsession with fair skin among us Indians. How I completely and totally hate it. I cannot stand fairness cream ads that try to show how life is better if you are fair. That what you have is not good enough. That fair is better than dark.
Arre kyon bhai?! Aisa kya rakha hai gore rang mein?!
Why are we incapable of just appreciating and enjoying the gamut shades of skin we have around us? Why do we actually believe that dark = not pretty? Why do we say things like "She is dark, BUT pretty nonetheless" as if being fair always means being beautiful?
And who decides what is beautiful? Why are we not capable of appreciating what we are and what we have instead of running behind what we do not or cannot have?! It makes me so mad when people think it is OK to comment on someones looks just because they can. The insensitivity and rudeness of some folks has to be seen to believed.
I often hear about how my kids are fair(er) especially when M is not around. I wish I could come up with equally rude responses, but fail most of the times. What do you say to someone who actually says "Don't grow up and look like your mother!" to your six month old?
I am someone who does not have any complex - either one - left anymore. But imagine the a young impressionable mind who is made to believe that being fair is everything. It just breaks my heart every single time I hear a child who wants to be fair and a feeling of rage and hopelessness when the adults around them actually keep looking for remedies to change their god given colour.
I hope that by the time our kids grow up it will not matter eitherway. That they will know to look beyond the superficial. That the definition of beautiful will not be as rigid. That they will find beauty in everything they do and see. That they will have the brains and sensitivity to shut their trap when they don't see that beauty. That they will appreciate and enjoy the differences rather than try and be clones of each other. That there will be no talk of what colour looks nice on what skin. That they will bring about this change - slowly but surely.
Amen to that.
Arre kyon bhai?! Aisa kya rakha hai gore rang mein?!
Why are we incapable of just appreciating and enjoying the gamut shades of skin we have around us? Why do we actually believe that dark = not pretty? Why do we say things like "She is dark, BUT pretty nonetheless" as if being fair always means being beautiful?
And who decides what is beautiful? Why are we not capable of appreciating what we are and what we have instead of running behind what we do not or cannot have?! It makes me so mad when people think it is OK to comment on someones looks just because they can. The insensitivity and rudeness of some folks has to be seen to believed.
I often hear about how my kids are fair(er) especially when M is not around. I wish I could come up with equally rude responses, but fail most of the times. What do you say to someone who actually says "Don't grow up and look like your mother!" to your six month old?
I am someone who does not have any complex - either one - left anymore. But imagine the a young impressionable mind who is made to believe that being fair is everything. It just breaks my heart every single time I hear a child who wants to be fair and a feeling of rage and hopelessness when the adults around them actually keep looking for remedies to change their god given colour.
I hope that by the time our kids grow up it will not matter eitherway. That they will know to look beyond the superficial. That the definition of beautiful will not be as rigid. That they will find beauty in everything they do and see. That they will have the brains and sensitivity to shut their trap when they don't see that beauty. That they will appreciate and enjoy the differences rather than try and be clones of each other. That there will be no talk of what colour looks nice on what skin. That they will bring about this change - slowly but surely.
Amen to that.
6 comments:
1st comment again yeah...
I loved loved loved ur post. I totally agree to every single word u've written. I mean who makes these things as 'Fair is beautiful'. And these ad sure irritate me like nothing else does.
Looks like you've gone over to the "Dark" side as well, huh? Your posts are much more fun when not an episode of Satyameva Jayate. Heheh!
For a girl who used to blog profusely (or is it prolifically?) earlier, I am surprised at the content crisis. There's so much happening with the sequel kid, that's yet to be captured. How about you select an age and do a comparative photo blog of the two kids. That'll be something!
I have a confession to make... This 'fairness bug' had bitten me in teenage. I scrubbed and scrubbed my wheatish complexion, hoping to become one shade fairer! I placed the mirror near the window so that the light reflected from my face would make it look 'brighter'! And then one day I got tired. It was too time consuming, shallow and futile. And it didn't win me any friends (yeah.. no boyfriends either!). My friends liked me for the person I was. Despite my pimples, average looks and not so fair color. I don't remember what or how I got into this mindset. Was it the way every (female)relative reminded me not to play in sun for too long or else I would get darker! Or was it the 'snowwhite complex' that led to comparisons amongst girls in the class - 'who is the fairest of them all!'
But I am glad it is all over. And now that my daughter has not-so-milky complexion and she loves being out in the sun, I don't mind it all!
Great post Abha.. Loved it.. And sorry for writing a mini post here!
Gosh!I can so understand what you are talking about..R is darker that both me and RD..and I have heard enough people telling me about her 'darkness'
I know exactly what you mean. Sigh !
I know exactly what you mean. Sigh !
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