Why Are South Asians Obsessed with Fair skin?

[jeypore]

Well if you say so. You've been brainwashed by your Bollywood actors and actresses is my thinking.

Brainwash, huh? I don't even watch Hindi movies. Nevertheless, In Indian subcontinent tradition, when a couple gets married, before the day of the marriage, they put this yellow stuff on the face and the body (termaric, I believe). What do you think that represents? The intentions is to lighten the skin. Now did bollywood existed 1000+ years ago regarding this tradition.

 

[Xtremeownage]

Euro/American girls get tans all the time! Why don't you talk about that?

 

[Omar1984]

The Ads says the following:

1. Vitamin B3
2. Triple Sunscreen
3. Natural Milk proteins
4. Herbal
5. Antimarks
6. Oil Control

But in general the men and the women from the Western part of sub-continent have fairer skin as compared to the ones from the Eastern Part. It is not that Indians don’t have fair complexion (Kashmiri Pandit families are famous for their beauty). My Indian friends from Northern India, both the husband and the wife have blue eyes. Come on, what kind of debate is this?

Kashmiris are not Indians and North Indians (Punjabis) are a very small population (3&#37 in India. Almost all Indians are brown, dark brown/black in the south and medium/light brown in the north.

In US Indians call themselves brown just like Caucasian Americans call themselves white and African Americans call themselves black, but many African Americans are same color as Indians..look at President Obama he's lighter than most Indians.

 

[roadrunner]

Brainwash, huh? I don't even watch Hindi movies. Nevertheless, In Indian subcontinent tradition, when a couple gets married, before the day of the marriage, they put this yellow stuff on the face and the body (termaric, I believe). What do you think that represents? The intentions is to lighten the skin. Now did bollywood existed 1000+ years ago regarding this tradition.

Don't know. Never heard of it. Could be anything.

 

[A1Kaid]

The Ads says the following:

1. Vitamin B3
2. Triple Sunscreen
3. Natural Milk proteins
4. Herbal
5. Antimarks
6. Oil Control

But in general the men and the women from the Western part of sub-continent have fairer skin as compared to the ones from the Eastern Part. It is not that Indians don’t have fair complexion (Kashmiri Pandit families are famous for their beauty). My Indian friends from Northern India, both the husband and the wife have blue eyes. Come on, what kind of debate is this?

Please don't refer Kashmiris as Indians, trust me Kashmiris do not want to be associated with India. The two are a different people culturally, religiously, geographically (North Mountainous area vs hot humid subcontinent), racially, and genetically...Kashmiris are not Indians at all and will never be Indians, and historically have never been even considered Indians, they are their own people...

Anyways back to the topic.


There is no doubt Bollywood is playing a role in India's crazed obsession with "fair skin". I once read many Indians were envious of many Pakistani people's appearance because they saw Pakistanis as taller and fair skin, and they saw themselves as shorter and darker...

Also India's obsession with fair skin has not only hurt Indians but has hurt Nepalese women. Many Indian smugglers have engaged in human trafficking of Nepalese women, they kidnap young Nepalese girls (because Nepalese are fair skin and not dark skin like Indians), there is a high demand for fair skin Nepali girls in India, it is truly sickening and perverted what some people do...


"Trafficked girls are classified based on certain parameters"

"Complexion: Fair skin girls are preferred"

Please read the source for more info...

Source: Trafficking in Women and Children in ... - Google Book Search

 

[A1Kaid]

Euro/American girls get tans all the time! Why don't you talk about that?

True, some do it for health reasons and some do it for beauty reasons because they don't want to be too white, however tanning doesn't necessarily mean going dark skin it just provides a sharper tone...

Also these Euro/American girls are not getting tans because they want to improve their socioeconomic status (in most cases) but in India many dark skin people are using "fair skin creams" to improve their social life and job opportunity...

 

[jeypore]

Kashmiris are not Indians and North Indians (Punjabis) are a very small population (3%) in India. Almost all Indians are brown, dark brown/black in the south and medium/light brown in the north.

In US Indians call themselves brown just like Caucasian Americans call themselves white and African Americans call themselves black, but many African Americans are same color as Indians..look at President Obama he's lighter than most Indians.

So what do Pakistanie called themselves in America? Semi-white!!!

Mr. Omar, I would like to hear from you, be careful I do associate with Pakistanie's here, infact i am partner with one in buisness.

Thanks.

 

[Omar1984]

So what do Pakistanie called themselves in America? Semi-white!!!

Mr. Omar, I would like to hear from you, be careful I do associate with Pakistanie's here, infact i am partner with one in buisness.

Thanks.

We just call ourselves Pakistanis.

Pakistanis come in all different skin colors (brown, black, white, yellow) whereas almost all Indians are brown/black.

Theres way much more diversity in Pakistan than in India and your favorite Pakistani, Zaid Hamid, is proof of that.

The only naturally white skin people in India are the Khans and Kapoors working in Bollywood and they can trace their ancestors to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

[third eye]

It is simply a good marketing lead that has been picked up & good money is being made capitalizing on a primary requirement of all humans - to look good.

Further it is nothing to do with Indians , a look at traditional N Indian songs ( including Pak Punjab) would highlight the significance that is attached to ' Gora rang" - Kala ShaKala etc re some songs that come to mind. Somewhere in the past while latent desire to look better was always there ( which one of us would not like some part of ourselves to be diff - nose, belly , skin, eyes,height, shoulders etc) , I feel it is the Punjabi obsession with fair skin which led to the marketing bonanza for enterprising cosmetic companies.. thats all.

There is hardly any need to project this an " Indian" obsession when its only a example of sucessful Indian marketing.

 

[qsaark]

It is simply a good marketing lead that has been picked up & good money is being made capitalizing on a primary requirement of all humans - to look good

Very good point indeed.

There is hardly any need to project this an " Indian" obsession when its only a example of sucessful Indian marketing.

Well the market is based on the 'demand'. There is some 'obsession' somewhere that has resulted into these kinds of Ads. But yes, I won’t really like to label it as 'Indian Obsession'. People like to look good, and different people have different definitions of 'good'. On a side note, let me say that almost all the Indians I have met, I have found them very simple. Not into wearing expensive cloths and makeup etc. On the other hand, I have found most Pakistani fellows really very much into 'to look good' business (men and women alike).

 

[third eye]

Well the market is based on the 'demand'. There is some 'obsession' somewhere that has resulted into these kinds of Ads. But yes, I won’t really like to label it as 'Indian Obsession'. People like to look good, and different people have different definitions of 'good'. On a side note, let me say that almost all the Indians I have met, I have found them very simple. Not into wearing expensive cloths and makeup etc. On the other hand, I have found most Pakistani fellows really very much into 'to look good' business (men and women alike).

Thats what marketing is all about, create a demand even where there is none, make it appear as the ans to your dreams, sell it cheap to begin with , eliminate cometetion & than gradually hike the price to recover your costs & make a killing.

Our grandmothers used natural things like Shikakai for their hair & 'Malai" / Mustard oil for the skin.. now ladies parlours charge an amount my Grand dad must've spent in almost a year for one trip the ladies make.

 

[A1Kaid]

This article is relevant to the discussion.

Sat, Apr 25 08:40 AM

Johannesburg, April 25 (IANS) Just as the Indian Premier League (IPL) was getting South Africans worried about Bollywood's obsession with the fair-skinned actresses , two dusky beauties were chosen at Cape Town and Durban games over the past few days to participate in the Miss Bollywood contest.

Neresha Chetty of Durban was selected to represent the Chennai Super Kings in the search for Miss Bollywood SA from the crowd attending the IPL match between the Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, at Sahara Kingsmead on Thursday.

A day earlier Carla Dennis was picked from the crowd in Cape Town during the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals held at Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa.

The IPL is choosing a winner at each game who will go through to the finals round to choose a single Miss Bollywood SA who will win 50,000 rands and a trip to India as the guest of Shah Rukh Khan to star in a movie with him.

Written off by some as a publicity stunt by the IPL, the competition appears to have angered some would-be Bollywood stars.

'Who and how are the winners decided? By a cameraman who could be choosing someone he knows?' a disgruntled Shazia Karim of Cape Town told IANS. Karim said she had been trying to land a local movie role unsuccessfully for three years now, despite formal training in film studies.

'It looks like 'light is right', just like it's always been in Bollywood.

'I went to every game in Cape Town so far in an attempt to get spotted, but all they showed on the screen were light-skinned Indian and white girls all the time. Maybe I should head to Chennai for a role there,' Karim quipped.

There was also some concern about why there had been no indigenous African winners so far, although organisers at the stadiums were quick to point out that young African women attending cricket games were few and far between.

IPL organisers did not react to a question about this from IANS.

Source: IPL breaks Bollywood's obsession with fair skin - Yahoo! India News

 

[A1Kaid]

This article is relevant to the discussion.

Sat, Apr 25 08:40 AM

Johannesburg, April 25 (IANS) Just as the Indian Premier League (IPL) was getting South Africans worried about Bollywood's obsession with the fair-skinned actresses , two dusky beauties were chosen at Cape Town and Durban games over the past few days to participate in the Miss Bollywood contest.

Neresha Chetty of Durban was selected to represent the Chennai Super Kings in the search for Miss Bollywood SA from the crowd attending the IPL match between the Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, at Sahara Kingsmead on Thursday.

A day earlier Carla Dennis was picked from the crowd in Cape Town during the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals held at Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa.

The IPL is choosing a winner at each game who will go through to the finals round to choose a single Miss Bollywood SA who will win 50,000 rands and a trip to India as the guest of Shah Rukh Khan to star in a movie with him.

Written off by some as a publicity stunt by the IPL, the competition appears to have angered some would-be Bollywood stars.

'Who and how are the winners decided? By a cameraman who could be choosing someone he knows?' a disgruntled Shazia Karim of Cape Town told IANS. Karim said she had been trying to land a local movie role unsuccessfully for three years now, despite formal training in film studies.

'It looks like 'light is right', just like it's always been in Bollywood.

'I went to every game in Cape Town so far in an attempt to get spotted, but all they showed on the screen were light-skinned Indian and white girls all the time. Maybe I should head to Chennai for a role there,' Karim quipped.

There was also some concern about why there had been no indigenous African winners so far, although organisers at the stadiums were quick to point out that young African women attending cricket games were few and far between.

IPL organisers did not react to a question about this from IANS.

Source: IPL breaks Bollywood's obsession with fair skin - Yahoo! India News

 

[Omar1984]

^ The funny thing is that most fair skin Bollywood actors/actresses trace their ancestors outside of India and the ones who have ancestors belonging to India dont seem to have fair skin without makeup.

 

[Musalman]

Sheeshay key ghar mai hum bhi bethay hai