Its evident that our society follows a lot of western culture, from clothes to food to lifestyle. But that’s not the only thing we try to possess. Girls, from a very tender age, are taught to take care of their skin, not because it should be healthy, but because it should be fair. taught that the fairer they are the better they will marry, a thought process that is highly problematic.
Whenever a guy’s family visits a girl’s parents to ask for her hand in marriage for their beloved son, they often frown upon a girl being…. not so fair skinned, for lack of a better phrase.completely ignoring the fact that the girl probably, often has an excellent academic background, with a stable career path, and is very skilled in her home-making duties. But all that takes a backseat if she is of a tan or we daresay, dark complexion. Ever wondered where this stems from? We think we can shed some light on one of the many theories behind this cultural stigma.
Remember the English? How they came over to the Indian Subcontinent and took over everything? Well, not only did they rob Hindustan of its heritage, they robbed Hindustanis of their self confidence in the way they looked. With signage that said “Dogs and Indians Not Allowed” hanging outside a fancy restaurant. or Indians being brutally treated at the hands of the fair skinned Europeans, one simply cannot be surprised by this obsession our society has with fair skin. It was once the signature of a well-to-do person, of superiority, of success and beauty and wealth
Unfortunately, we are still stuck in that same time with the same mindset, when the entire world has moved onto better, freer thoughts and approaches to life and become so much more accepting of themselves and others around them. Maybe its time we shed those so-called traditions that were never ours to begin with and to let dawn on ourselves the age of acceptance and self-appreciation. Brown, White, Black, Green, Purple, no matter what the color of our skin, we are ALL BEAUTIFUL!
