Women are dying. It’s time to stop saying ‘fair is lovely’

A 21-year old woman in India has allegedly killed herself because she was being taunted by her husband for her ‘dark’ complexion. This is not an isolated occurrence.

The idea that fair skin is beautiful is deeply rooted in the colonial hangover, and the shame that Indians carried for looking like the way they did. The British perpetuated and reinforced skin colour discrimination, as they claimed themselves to be a ‘superior’ and ‘intelligent’ race and justified why they were born to rule the ‘inferior’ and ‘black-coloured’ Indians. They gave menial tasks to those Indians or ‘natives’ who were dark-skinned and kept the ones who were fairer as allies in better administrative roles, thereby creating a divide based on skin colour. This shaped an association of white coloured skin with the ruling class, with power, with desirability, and with beauty. Unknowingly, it became a practice of attaching greater societal superiority and power to the fairer skin individuals, which in turn dictates and shapes the desire for lighter skin — even after so many years of independence. Indian society internalised this shame and projected the stigma upon all Indian women, who are, of course, the lowest denominator in the social hierarchy. Colourism continues to be more prominent at the intersection of race and gender, with light-skinned women being fetishized and…