Don't ingrain that 'only fair is beautiful' in our children

Indians in general are not very good at sports. Neither are we fond of outdoor activities and exercise. I always thought it was benign neglect or a defect in our genes and maybe even the result of official systems. But perhaps it runs deeper than that.

TBH, as Indians, we have been told, at any time of our lives, to not go out and play in the sun because we will get dark. I have 3 nephews, all of whom are dark and their grandma's constant lament is about their skin color. She tells them to study well and get good jobs because otherwise, they won't be respected (given the Indian males reputation as troublemakers in Malaysia) and won't get married. Now, this blackmail is very wrong and damaging. She's instilling the belief that being dark is automatically a devaluation and enforces what all those fairness creams ads endorse, that success and being dark doesn't go hand in hand.

And, do you even know the damage this does to impressionable children? Not only their self esteem plummet, their self worth takes a plunge. And, these whitening creams don't actually work and they are potentially harmful. And, by doing this to children, you're literally encouraging a multi million industry of duplicity, capitalizing on the salivate for fair skin, relegating dexterity, skills and ineptness that are present in people regardless of their skin color. This is not right. And we need to stop it.

Learn to look beyond skin colour. Don't pass this racist legacy to our children. Aryan fair skin color isn't upper class and Dravidian dark skin color isn't inferior. Relieve the white man's burden off our shoulders already. We're all humans and no one is superior or inferior to the other.

Let our children have fun in the sun minus the guilt. Apply sunscreen on them and let them play.


~Sarcastic Sarossa~ #OnlyAtKK