Better India
Can we actually end color discrimination?
Understanding and tackling the bias against brown skin color in India!
In India when a child is born the first stigma they are subjected to is about their color. With a deviated-from-its-course culture that nourishes the stigma around skin tone, it becomes hard for people with brown skin or a comparatively darker complexion to live by.
This is one of those practices which is by far most widely and openly practiced because people are yet to learn how (or why) not to be insensitive? From the insensitive comparison between siblings based on skin color to prioritizing fair-skinned girls for marriages, society has created a priority level scale on the basis of skin tone.
In India, “I” as a person had less value depending upon how dark my complexion is.
The bias has complex origins rooted in colonialism and the caste system. The caste someone was born in became correlated. People belonging to the higher class mostly stayed indoors while people belonging to the lower caste were destined for hard labor. Similarly, the imperial rulers were fair-skinned and were deemed higher.
It’s more than a bias, it’s a dangerous cultural obsession.
To be honest it’s not strictly an Indian problem. Eastern and some African countries have entertained and nourished this irrational stereotype even in this progressive 21st century.
Whiteness is traveling from the US to shopping malls in other countries that feature white models. This marketing move might be innocent at the company’s end, but it is indeed wrongfully perceived by the host countries because of the existing prejudice against dark skin.
Global spending on skin lightening is about to reach a staggering USD 31 Bn, which clearly states that we are headed in the wrong direction. The multinational cosmetic industry has successfully exploited the existing insecurity of people going through an inferiority complex because of an “unfair” skin.
“You can trace a line from colonialism, post-colonialism, and globalization.” — says Sunil Bhatia, a professor of human development at Connecticut College.
In India, things take time to transform into a revolution, especially if the damage done by something is so intangible that for most people, it’s hard to even acknowledge. One of the reasons, for this ignorance, could be because most of the people suffering from this prejudice haven’t secured basic necessities yet or aren’t educated enough to know that it’s even possible not to be discriminated against.
TV programs, movies, billboards, advertisements, they all reinforce the idea that “fair is beautiful”. Subconsciously planting the notion that “what the majority says must be true.” Except for a selected few, no one wants to cast the models which are not white.
The Advertising Standards Council of India addressed skin-based discrimination in 2014 by banning ads that depict people with darker skin as inferior. Just another move whose execution disappeared in thin air. [Well now at least no one would blame them.]
Another constructive step could be teaching your kids at an early stage that their value is not determined by their skin color. The only downside of this approach is that it’s hard to save children from society. The moment they are exposed to Indian society they are susceptible to fall prey to stigmatized ideologies.
What’s wrong with watching commercial movies?
Escapists movies pervert our minds. By escapist movies I mean cheesy, mass-produced films that go beyond the confinements of reality, creating a world of fiction that often tends to be meaningless. This includes commercial movies, in which before exquisite stunt sequences, tight script, or scenic visual effects, you should have a “fair” lead actor.
Bollywood is a reflection of our larger-than-life psyche rather than being a reflection of our real life.
Even if the actor is not-so-fair, cosmetic products can make them look fair (at least in that movie if not for life). And that’s where the illusion starts. Naive folks start believing that cosmetics can actually make them fairer and that’s necessary if you want to have a “premium quality partner”(that you can showcase).
Brown people are limited to the roles of rural women, slum dwellers, or lower caste citizens. But for the role of an upper class/caste or a working woman, more educated and affluent women are required. Establishing and stereotyping the stigma around the fair skin.
It stems from ignorance more than insensitivity.
— Rajeev Masand
By-and-large, that’s what the entertainment industry does. They condition our brains to believe that celebrities are above us. Because their appearance is “soothing” to watch. We watch these idealized versions of humans and yearn for more and the capitalist industry provides you more of that and it goes on like a spiral loop of solidifying stereotypes.
The Charm of Realistic Movies
One of the things about realistic movies is the fact that they keep you closer to reality. Which in this case is the fact that (1) people of all skin colors exist (2) are beautiful and (3) can play a protagonist? But since realistic movies are not marketed to that extent so it will take time to infuse it in the minds of people.
I was one of those people, whose eyes would move past any brown or dark-skinned girl, but stop at a “fair” skin girl to check her out. The conditioning made my mind (and me) believe that first they have to be fair-skinned rest comes later.
I grew out of that phase when I started watching western cinema followed by an intense dose of Indian realistic cinema. The more you watch realistic cinema the more you realize that skin color is only a factor that your mind is irrationally obsessing over.
A controlled amount of escapism is fine and even comforting. But only until it becomes a psychological trap. Watching only escapist movies would distance us from ground reality, establish stereotypes and hypocrisy.
But we all can contribute by breaking the demand and supply loop of movies with only fair-skinned models as actors. At this stage messages about inclusion and diversity are not enough. Our brains are programmed to obsess over fair skin. It’s time to deprogram it.
This might be a miniature issue which our country is facing, but it will help in establishing a better India.
