Fair? - A documentary about skin colour in India

[Levina]

I think the associated connotations of white as symbol of cleanliness and black/brown as symbol of dirt is what extends into the aspect of beauty too. To me, a darker guy just has higher melanin in his skin, that's it!
Personally, to me skin colour is never an issue...but I prefer facial symmetry, as in I can't normally picture a wide-nosed, large eyed, square jawed Woman as beautiful. (pardon me on this)

To you a Chinese/african woman might not be pretty but to men from that part of the world she's pretty.
So its all about your preferences.I find guys with ugly shoes ugly(believe it or not).
To me it starts from their hair cut to their shoes.Now thats my preference....or it was...I am married now lol.

 

[Armstrong]

To you a Chinese woman might not be pretty but to chinese men she'll be.So its all about your preferences.I find guys with ugly shoes ugly(believe it or not).
To me it starts from their hair cut to their shoes.Now thats my preference....or it was...I am married now lol.

Does that mean that even if your Hubby starts looking an unkempt grizzly bear with a pot belly, saggy cheeks & an ardent desire to wear high heels - You'd still be alright with it because now you're married & you have no preference from hair cut to shoes anymore ?

 

[Indischer]

To you a Chinese woman might not be pretty but to chinese men she'll be.So its all about your preferences.I find guys with ugly shoes ugly(believe it or not).
To me it starts from their hair cut to their shoes.Now thats my preference....or it was...I am married now lol.

Yup...I did say 'personally'.
And No, I like the Mongoloid look. Think of what I said in an Indian girl.

Going back to skin color, I actually don't quite like the reddish-white skin tone found on many Caucasians. Racism goes both ways, I guess!

 

[ranjeet]

It's stupid to spend sh!t load amount of money on beauty products. Girls are crazy.

 

[hadoken]

No not Devyani......
Nandita Das started a campaign called "stay UNfair...stay beautiful" against the fairness creams.So my profile pic had to be her..

And i have not undesrtood why ppl (not just in india...but world over )love fairer skin???
Look at Chitrangada Singh,Deepika Padukone....hmm Freida Pinto...Biapsha Basu...they all look pretty without the added fairness.

And I guess lord Krishna and Rama were also supposed to be dark.

I think that comes with preconceived nothion that darker skin= people of the under class. British , and the Turko imperialism in India only built on to that understanding.

You would be lying to yourself if you did not admit that huge chunk of the Bollywood "A listers" look similar to only a fraction of minorities found only in the extreme north end of the country.

The hindu deities have folklore origins from different part of the subcontinent. And plus, physical description of each "gods" cannot be taken literally anyways.

 

[Indischer]

I think that comes with preconceived nothion that darker skin= people of the under class. British , and the Turko imperialism in India only built on to that understanding.

You would be lying to yourself if you did not admit that huge chunk of the Bollywood "A listers" look similar to only a fraction of minorities found only in the extreme north end of the country.

The hindu deities have folklore origins from different part of the subcontinent. And plus, physical description of each "gods" cannot be taken literally anyways.

But aversion to dark skin is not a uniquely Indian/South Asian phenomena. It's prevalent everywhere, isn't it?

 

[Levina]

Does that mean that even if your Hubby starts looking an unkempt grizzly bear with a pot belly, saggy cheeks & an ardent desire to wear high heels - You'd still be alright with it because now you're married & you have no preference from hair cut to shoes anymore ?

How much can you misconstrue???
He wont ever wear high heels because he's 6feet tall.Hair cut- he changes it often.I only hate his habit of biting nails.
And how can a human being ever stop having preferences??? I still get to decide his clothes.
And when I said "I am married" I meant I've stopped judging what other guys wear and do".

 

[hadoken]

 

[Levina]

Going back to skin color, I actually don't quite like the reddish-white skin tone found on many Caucasians. Racism goes both ways, I guess!

You deserve a bowdown...

you're the first guy who said that.

 

[hadoken]

But aversion to dark skin is not a uniquely Indian/South Asian phenomena. It's prevalent everywhere, isn't it?

ofcourse it is, but perception of whats considered beautiful (skin tone) is is result of many factors.

Its not just dark skin= tanned skin=labor worker! I think it goes a step beyond that.
Look at how the "gods" are painted now, vs how they were depicted back before the British rule . Even in south India.

 

[Indischer]

You deserve a bowdown...

you're the first guy who said that.

Why? What would the others say?

 

[Levina]

I think that comes with preconceived nothion that darker skin= people of the under class. British , and the Turko imperialism in India only built on to that understanding.

You would be lying to yourself if you did not admit that huge chunk of the Bollywood "A listers" look similar to only a fraction of minorities found only in the extreme north end of the country.

The hindu deities have folklore origins from different part of the subcontinent. And plus, physical description of each "gods" cannot be taken literally anyways.

Its not just in India,this deceptively harbored notion exists throughout the world.From china to America.

 

[Indischer]

ofcourse it is, but perception of whats considered beautiful (skin tone) is is result of many factors.

Its not just dark skin= tanned skin=labor worker! I think it goes a step beyond that.
Look at how the "gods" are painted now, vs how they were depicted back before the British rule . Even in south India.

Actually, many Gods are still shown as having dark/blue skin even today in South India.

But I feel that our most basal thoughts link white with purity/cleanliness and brown/black with dirt/unclean. One of those hard-coded behavoural traits, you know, like guys liking curvy girls and girls liking hunky guys.

 

[hadoken]

But there is a huge difference between worshiping ( for the lack of better word) and admiring lighter features you know.

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

are you even informed of Pakistani women's obsession with cosmetics and fairer skin treatments.?

I am not denying that there will be some dark/brown skin women in Pakistan with obsession of having fair/white skin. Most women use these sunscreen lotions not just for fairness but to remove dimples on their faces. The general populations of Pakistan are much more fairer than Indians and its very common to observe. Indian women are also more skinny and chubby. To be light or fair skinned in Indian society is a sign of superiority whereas to be dark skinned is a sign of inferiority. Low castes and dalits in Indian are mostly dark people that's why this skin colour stigma and racism exist more in Indian society. Ghandi expressed these views very passionately on his crusade to equality in India.

North indians and kashmiri are also right to claim that they are more fair than dark south Indians and brown rajastani people. I can even tell the difference. The south Indians have more of the aboriginal populations of India except that some South Indians (from Brahmin castes) have ancestry from the North which is why they can look similar to North Indians.