Skin Tone Oppression in India
This summer we experienced a worldwide mass protest against the killing of George Floyd and saw the world unite as one in trying to put an end to systemic racist oppression. I was proud to see fellow Indians talking about it and bringing the issue to light across various platforms but was a little confused when I encountered a certain celebrities post. Priyanka Chopra, one of India’s leading Bollywood actresses and now emerging Hollywood actress, posted that her heart deeply hurts over Floyd’s killing and such racism over skin color needs to be a thing of the past. However, if you do some research, the same Priyanka Chopra starred in a “Fair and Lovely” beauty cream ad a few years earlier. “In 2008, she appeared in a series of promotional videos for a product called White Beauty. She played a forlorn-looking single woman who, in the first episode, watched a slightly lighter-skinned woman strut past with a handsome man on her arm. In later episodes, after she used the skin-lightening cream, the man fell in love with her instead” (Frayer). Are you serious? You can promote such products and then make statements about how skin color oppression should be a thing of the past? Priyanka Chopra’s statement about the whole George Floyd issue got me thinking, as an Indian it is our duty to tackle the “colorism” in our own country before we talk about it on a global scale. We are so oblivious to the extent of colorism in India, we don’t realize how big an issue it really is. Colorism is evident in our entertainment industry, the job market, the matrimonial “market” (I say market because Indians absolutely love arranged marriage), and in our deeply flawed caste system. As a kid I would hear my own mother tell me, “Rohan make sure you wear sunscreen you don’t want to be kala” (dark in hindi). I’m pretty sure sunscreen should be worn to protect ourselves from the sun? I would hear relatives say, “oh Rohan you are so handsome, so white”. Does beauty and skin color go hand in hand? Who are Indians to join the social media George Floyd bandwagon when we haven’t addressed this ridiculous discrimination in our own country.
There are a couple origins of where this colorism in Indian society sprouted from. The introduction of colorism can be traced back to the introduction of the caste system. The caste system was introduced in around 1500 BC when a group of light skinned people called the “Aryans” ventured into India from the middle east and Europe and didn’t want to mix themselves with the darker skinned “dravidians” who already resided in India. To prevent the groups from mixing, the Aryans created a caste system that separated them from the then established lower class “dravidians”. The lower class, which was then later to be classified as the “untouchables” would be responsible for society’s tedious and unskilled work, while the upper class, classified as “Brahmins” were responsible for being the thinkers and the educators in society. “Aryans textually are described as a pure, noble, and superior race: physically tall, with sharp noses and lighter skin color. Dasyus or Dravidians, on the contrary, are considered of lowly origin and racially inferior due to their dark skin. Such stratification based on skin color is perhaps one of the oldest forms of discrimination and domination in human society. India has a 3,000-year-old social hierarchical system rooted in the “varna-jāti”, or caste, structure” (Mapping Color and Caste Discrimination in Indian Society).
This deep rooted colorism was then further solidified by the British colonial rule in India. “After becoming a British colony, the image of a “Black colored” Indian was projected as inferior by British public officials. Darker-skinned Indians were less likely to be hired by the British empire and were given odder jobs and more tedious work, while lighter-skinned Indians were targeted as “allies” of the British and were hired more frequently for government roles. As stated by an American Sociological Society paper, “Whiteness became identified with all that is civilised, virtuous and beautiful,” and these lighter-skinned Indians were “closer to the opportunities that were only afforded to white people.” As colonialism occurred throughout the world, this mindset slowly drove itself into the minds of Indians, whether they realized it or not. A wedge separated Indians into lighter and darker shades of brown, creating generations with an innate desire to be lighter” (Sunitha Palat). As you can clearly see, meritocracy was thrown out the window when the British were choosing which Indians to give more opportunity to, and a major factor in the decision was the color of the Indians skin. The sad and frustrating aspect of the colonial era is that once India finally gained independence after fighting a courageous battle for years in 1947, we got rid of many British influences but failed to get rid of this preposterous discrimination based purely on the melanin content in one’s skin. This discrimination is still plaguing Indian society in full force 80 years later.
One would think that after 80 years of India’s independence, we would move further and further away from the British ideals. However, the sad reality is that we are promoting the ideals of colorism through a plethora of indoctrinating methods, from the entertainment industry to the beauty industry. Our parents and grandparents had the same belief, and unlike other social issues that the young generation is in fact bringing up and trying to change and shed light upon, the issue of colorism is continuing to seep through into the minds of many in society. Bollywood releases more movies than any other cinema industry in the world and if you were to take a look at the movies released, over 85% of the leading roles would be played by actors with fair skin.
This is clearly not proportionate to the actual skin tone in Indian society, where a darker skin tone is much more prevalent. This is sending a very negative message as society that goes to see these movies sees that “beautiful” people are supposed to be very fair and very white. Furthermore, most villains portrayed in Bollywood films have a darker skin tone than the hero. Another absolutely ridiculous aspect of Bollywood is that even for roles where they’re portraying a character with a darker skin tone (usually a character who is from a poor background), the actor is fair skinned who has brown faced him/herself for the role. “It would be considered perfectly natural that they would don brownface to portray a dark character… (because audiences) also like to be assured that the glamour is still there, behind the mask” (Sarkar). We as a society have associated beauty and glamour with fair skin for so long that even if a character needs to have darker skin, a fair skinned actor will be used to comfort the audience. “The decision to choose a fair-skinned, famous actor over a dark-skinned performer is based on the desire to make a big budget movie “financially viable,” said film director Neeraj Ghaywan, who has worked on Bollywood and independent films. “That is how people think in Bollywood” (Sarkar). The message Bollywood sends is problematic because from the get go, parents and kids who are going to see these movies are subliminally being told that being of darker skin tone will probably impede your chances at success, which unfortunately is true in Indian society.
Due to the ideals that Bollywood helps set, the beauty industry has indoctrinated Indian consumers into thinking that we must do what we can to get lighter skin. Growing up in India and watching a lot of TV, I can safely say that Indian TV was littered with high profile Bollywood stars promoting fairness products. A popular one, Fair and Lovely, was endorsed by many actors and would have many ads where the life of the actor would become better after using the product. The advertisements would also have before and after pictures, where the actor would have considerably lighter skin after.
“In a country such as India, with issues such as employment and relationships often resting on skin tone, people invest in skin-lightening creams in the hope of a better existence. Capitalizing on this inequality, hundreds of products are peddled by corporations, among them armpit lightener, genital lightener and fairness baby oil. Nearly all major cosmetic companies ( like Dove, Nivea, Pond’s, Garnier, Neutrogena, Olay ) sell products that claim to alter genes to suppress melanin” (Colourism In India). Insert laughter here. Are you serious?? Indian mentality has grown to believe that darker skin tones are inferior and that they will literally try anything to counter the “problem”. “Some of the most widely-sold products include Fem, Lotus, Fair and Lovely and its gendered-equivalent Fair and Handsome. Most of these appealingly named creams are in fact a dangerous cocktail of steroids, hydroquinone, and tretinoin, the long-term use of which can lead to health concerns like permanent pigmentation, skin cancer, liver damage and mercury poisoning among other things” (Neha Mishra). These cosmetic companies will create storylines such as the whitening cream helping you secure the job, or the romantic partner you have been craving for so long. The storyline has been placed with such deep roots that in a survey conducted, 90% of girls cite that skin whitening is a “high need”. Unfortunately, the claim these advertisers make about not being able to get that job due to dark skin is true in India. “A woman’s dark skin can preclude her from entering positions such as news anchor, sales associate, flight attendant and even receptionist because these jobs require exposure to and interaction with the public, who will judge her as unattractive, unworthy and incompetent. Fair-skinned women, conversely, are seen in most of these roles; their skin tone grants them unearned privilege and power within organizations as a result” (Neha Mishra).
After thinking about the role advertisers and the entertainment industry have on society regarding fair skinned superiority, we must venture into how this mentality affects the younger generation. When a child in India is of darker complexion, he/she is subject to many jokes and is treated by onlookers with sympathy as they believe that the child has been given a great burden. When the child experiences this sympathy for something that really shouldn’t be considered a burden, they are stripped of confidence from a young age. They aren’t allowed to dream of dreams perhaps fairer skinned kids can and they will never be looked at in the same way a fairer skinned child will be. If this isn’t a major form of oppression, what is? A young woman, Muna, trying to shed light on this oppressive behavior shares her story,
“From a very young age, I felt I did not fit in. I was made to believe I was not good enough because of the colour of my skin. People constantly compared my complexion to others. It was impossible to escape their comments and judgements. Even members of my own family made jokes about the way I look. A popular one was that “the electricity went out in the hospital when my mother was about to deliver me, and that’s how I got my dark colour. At school, one of my teachers once asked me, with a smirk, “Are you from Africa?” As I grew older, I was pressured to change the way I look, to become lighter-skinned. Desperate measures were taken. From homemade — turmeric, curd, gram — to store-bought, many cosmetic products were applied on my skin to make me fairer” (Beatty).
Imagine a child experiencing this for something that they have absolutely no control over. Everytime Muna looks into the mirror she is reminded by society that she is not good enough to be successful and that there is something really wrong with her. How can anyone flourish with such a mentality placed over them? When Muna started growing up, her family started looking for a groom as arranged marriage is a real obsessive quality we Indians have. Our parents find the “perfect” partner for us, because we all know our personal opinion in such great matters shouldnt account for much (yes, sarcasm).
As soon as I entered my late teens, there were talks within the family about finding me a suitable groom. Once, an elderly relative approached my parents with a proposal from a young man. My father declined and I heard the relative tell him: “How can you decline? What does your daughter possess that makes you think she could get a better proposal? Have you not seen her? She is dark!” (Beatty)
This is in fact one of the most important reasons as to why parents pray for their child to be white, so that they can find them a suitable groom/wife. Indian matrimonial sites even have a filter for skin color! Many real connections between people are never allowed to form as skin color is the first major factor in picking your “life partner”.
I wanted to talk about colorism in India because I believe it is something we need to get over as a society as quickly as possible. We talk about India becoming a worldwide superpower in terms of development and to do this we must give each and every individual a chance to shine, regardless of skin tone. I know how big of an issue this is because every time I meet relatives or family friends, I’ll overhear them talking about oh this person is so beautiful and fair. Oh this person is so dark, how will she ever settle down and have a family, I feel so bad for her parents etc etc. It honestly boggles me that such conversations and such a mentality is prevalent even in educated households. The George Floyd protests highlighted that we must put an end to systemic oppression. People of color, especially Black people, deserve equality from the police, equality of education, equality of opportunity, and equality of basic human rights. As I mentioned before, I saw many Indians echo this message through various platforms. However, if they feel like they have the obligation to echo the BLM message, they certainly need to have a look at what is happening on a daily basis in their own country. We live in the 21st century, free of British rule. We are educated enough to know that the caste system is a bunch of Bullshit and it’s time we cut ourselves from these ridiculous ideologies. As the young generation, it is our duty to inform and protest this oppression and must make sure our children no longer face this prejudice.
Works Cited
Sunitha Palat MiC Staff Writer. “Colonial Indoctrination and Colorism in India.” The Michigan Daily, www.michigandaily.com/section/mic/colonial-indoctrination-and-colorism-india.
“Mapping Color and Caste Discrimination in Indian Society: Request PDF.” ResearchGate, www.researchgate.net/publication/285414433_Mapping_Color_and_Caste_Discrimination_in_Indian_Society.
Neha Mishra Assistant Professor of Law, and Ronald Hall Professor of Social Work. “Bleached Girls: India and Its Love for Light Skin.” The Conversation, 4 Feb. 2020, theconversation.com/bleached-girls-india-and-its-love-for-light-skin-80655.
“Colourism In India · Dark Is Beautiful.” Dark Is Beautiful, www.darkisbeautiful.in/colourism-in-india/.
Sarkar, Monica. “Why Does Bollywood Use the Offensive Practice of Brownface in Movies?” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 May 2020, edition.cnn.com/style/article/india-bollywood-brownface-hnk-intl/index.html.
Beatty, Muna. “Colour Me Right: It’s Time to End Colourism in India.” Racism | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 10 Sept. 2018, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/colour-time-colourism-india-180906101053056.html.
Frayer, Lauren. “Black Lives Matter Gets Indians Talking About Skin Lightening And Colorism.” NPR, NPR, 9 July 2020, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/07/09/860912124/black-lives-matter-gets-indians-talking-about-skin-lightening-and-colorism.
