An UN-FAIR faux pas

Just the other day, I happened to see this commercial on television...something to do with a fairness cream. I believe it was the Ponds ‘Flawless White’ or some nonsensical name like that. Allow me to run you through this ad. It had this petite girl who was definitely not Indian- European maybe. But since Ponds wanted to target the majority of wheat-ish skinned girls, they just had to get hold of a fair, not to mention abnormally pale skinned girl from overseas. Now poor fair girl faces a great dilemma; she has a date with this guy but she just CANNOT go looking like her fair self!

Why? Because she believes her guy will be awfully put off by her fair skin which is not fair enough but apparently has dark spots too (??!). Ummm...what dark spots??!! My guess is that the smart Alec’s who were shooting the commercial forgot to paint hideous dark spots on fair girl. Either that or they expected all of us to watch television with microscopes in our hands so that we could zoom into fair girl’s face to gasp at her so-called dark spots.

So, poor fair girl is scared shitless that she will face rejection and realizes that she needs to do something quick before her big date. But fear not fair girl... cause Ponds-Flawless Fairness Blah Blah comes to your rescue. Ta-Daaaa!

And then fair girl smears heaps of Ponds Flawless Fairness Blah Blah onto her cheeks (notice how the girls in all fairness cream advertisements will ignore the rest of their face) which will shock the viewers. Literally shock!! Because post-smearing, fair girl’s pale skin takes on a white hue that is abnormally ghastly and ‘ghostly’. Not only does fair girl transform into white girl now but she also manages to lose whatever little colour she had in her face. But apparently, white girl is ecstatic about her new ghostly skin colour and so is Mr. Shallow and they both disappear into a sunny landscape happily after.

Let’s rewind for one moment now. Firstly, you get a European girl to advertise for a fairness cream which is completely absurd. It’s one thing to show an Indian girl using fairness cream but it’s hilarity to have a fair-skinned girl sell fairness cream to a wheat-ish skinned audience. Also, WHAT is with the spooky white make-over that supposedly leverages the appeal of the fairness cream? Why would anyone want to look like they have been drained out of every ounce of blood? This commercial is a marvel in the way which it truly defies logic. Not only does it encourage Colorism but it also spreads the very unhealthy message that depressed are those who are dark-skinned.

Most fairness creams drive their products through the atrocious philosophy that success belongs to those who bleach their face to lighter hues. Do not mistake me...I am in no way commenting that Indians with dark skin have no right to want to be fairer. For someone who does not have a dark skin tone, I cannot afford to be judgemental and rubbish the fact that some dark skinned Indian women may desire a lighter skin tone. In a society which still believes that ‘fair is lovely’, it is not altogether unnatural for a dark skinned woman to want to make use of fairness products. Self-esteem issues may haunt the dark-skinned, especially in those families who attribute great value to light skin colour. But to have commercials whose sole objective is to entrench in people’s minds that dark-skinned will face failure in life is absolutely uncalled for.

Whatever does your skin-tone have to do with how well you can or cannot do something? How is your will and passion even remotely associated with your success in academics or your career? Unless your profession has to do with you looking good, like modelling for instance; and even then, dark skinned models are sultry! Whatever happened to ‘Tall, Dark and Handsome’? I have never quite understood the obsession that many guys have with their hair, but this new obsession with looking fairer just seems to take the trophy for idiocy! Having guys act like pansies is very disturbing indeed!

There is a very immediate need for a shift in the mind-set of Indians with regards to skin colour and success. Self-esteem and self-respect is ultimately all a matter of the mind. In fact, a guy who is intelligent is extremely attractive to me vis-a-vis some dude who spends 2 hours in front of the mirror. It is funny how most of my high school crushes have always been dark, quite unattractive but extremely intelligent individuals! I hate to sound passé, but beauty is skin-deep. And when I say skin-deep, I DO NOT refer to skin colour, but to the substance you are made up of.

Shallow are those who will judge you on the basis of your skin colour; so snap out of this obsession with looking fairer! Prove yourself by actually making something out of yourself, something which will make you proud and happy. In the end, would you rather spend time with someone whose fixation with flawless bleached skin drives you to spend frustrating hours in front of the mirror or with someone with whom you can just have plain fun?