Skin color: does it matter ?

Yes it does - especially within the Indian society. Many may deny and we have had many Indian guys themselves brushing the claim as - No lah, our machas are not that cruel. Unfortunately, these are the same guys who will keep their mouth shut while their mothers demand for fair brides. 

A good example of skin color discrimination is that a dark Indian guy is considered handsome with dark skin. You will see this being emphasized in movies, songs and glorified in phrases like "karuppu than neruppu". However, the same doesn't apply to Indian girls. 

Enna ponnu karuppa iruka? (Why is the girl dark?) And you will see many aunties and uncles giving recommendation on how she can attain a fair skin. In fact, girls with dark skin were shunned with these aunties and uncles quickly zooming into the fairest girl within the family. A fellow reader shared her story on how her elder sister who is dark was rejected and the bridegroom's family was asking for her instead because she is fairer. Now, imagine if it's the other way round, and the bride rejects the elder brother and requests for the younger brother.....do you think people will be happy about it? Unfortunately, many Indian families are blind towards such propositions and they think that as long as they pick a girl from the family, the bride's family will be happy. 

A lot of Indian guys who read such articles, told us that they too face discrimination from Indian girls due to their dark skin. However, such discrimination among guys is not dire nor it is obvious compared to girls. One glaring example of this is when Nina Davuluri won the 2014 Miss America crown. Obviously, winning a beauty pageant is so much more than skin color but many Indians globally couldn't comprehend it and continued to hold on to their shallow thoughts. They criticized that Nina was not fair enough for the crown, despite the fact that America found her very beautiful as it is. Here, it shows that Indians have yet to crawl out of their shallow mentality on skin color ever since colonialism and continued to discriminate women. 

Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014 who took it in stride despite having to face heavy criticism from Indians on her skin color. She marched forward bravely and honored the crown with her work as Miss America. 

Tamil movies and serials can be said as major platforms which promote discrimination against skin color. Dialogues given may be one liner but has great impact on the audiences. For example, the serial Azhagu - an aunty will say 'malliya poo maari iruka, ivale poi vendam nu sonangge? (she is so fair like jasmine flower and you are saying the groom rejected her?). It implies that fair skinned woman should not be rejected at any cost and if they did, then it is a miracle.

The particular character in Azhagu serial which was rejected by a potential groom.

In Tamil cinema, it is okay for actors to be paired with fair ladies but dark skinned ladies will not be paired with fair actors.  From Vishal to Lawrence, they are paired with heroines who are so fair and most humiliating is when Amy Jackson was brought in to play Indian girl. It goes to show that the idea of fair skin is continuously being hammered into the community mindset and that it is okay to even cast a white girl as Indian girl. 

The very dark Vishal and the very fair Kajal Agarwal - no one bats an eye because it is okay for guys to be dark but girls must be fair. It becomes a fodder for the billion dollar cosmetic industry in India with so many dark skinned Indian girls turning to creams, lotions and bleaching solutions to attain fair shades of skin color. 

Lawrence Raghavan who is definitely dark and yet never casts dark skinned girls in his movies - is another proof on how discriminatory the Indian society can be towards dark skinned Indian girls. Of course, many from the film industry just turn  and say - we are giving the audiences what they wanted. My take - you should be able to work with any type of skin color as long as you are able to deliver a good piece of work like Black Panther where most of the casts are people with dark skin.  However, most film makers prefer to just feed into the fantasy of many Indian guys of having a fair maiden despite being charcoal dark themselves. Amy Jackson's entry into the industry just showed how cancerous skin discrimination has become within the film industry. 

Any fair skinned chick is most welcome within the industry and Amy Jackson now moves on to Bollywood as well. Thanks to the film industry who has managed to make her look Indian with a tanned skin. Amazing how with billions in population, India has to get a white chick and tan her skin up so that she looks Indian. The fact that no one voiced this out shows that the community is pretty much normalized on what is acceptable (fair skin) and what is not acceptable (dark skin) when it comes to girls.

When you thought that skin discrimination is only for bride selection and silver screen opportunities, it extends to all sectors of entertainment business including standup comedians. Nisha who has recently earned her fame for her funny remarks, was often made fun of her skin color which has nothing to do with her comedy roles. She was asked on why she looks fair on screen and darker off screen. In an interview, Nisha even justified the negative remarks of her skin color as normal and "if it makes others happy to poke fun of my skin color, then I am okay with it".

What is sad here is the fact that she has no choice but to accept the negative remarks on her skin color as part and parcel of the entertainment industry. Anything else and she may lose her opportunity and fame altogether. But do women have to tolerate such abuse simply to retain their fame and job? Within the Indian community, the answer is a resounding YES.

Nisha with  her original skin color which drove many Indians to poke fun at her. However, Indian male comedians were fully appreciated for their talents alone and never once were criticized for their skin color. Just like the male actors, the comedians go beyond their looks and were accepted as it is. A good example is Vadivelu, right after Goundamani and Senthil where skin color was never an issue. 

So, are we still going to ignore this issue? Are we going to hide behind lies and refuse to admit that skin color discrimination is indeed serious within the Indians globally. I am expecting some dumb people to come and say - yeah, it's happening around the world, not just within the Indian community. But, hey - should we just go with the flow and continue to discriminate because it is happening around the world? Another question that needs to be answered and will decide whether the Indian community wil be able to survive with shallow mentality?

#RavishingRaven

#KKannammaa