The desire to look beautiful is in human nature. The oldest civilizations of the world also give evidence of human attraction to beauty, but beauty itself is a very mysterious concept/thing. One person who may seem very beautiful to some people, others may not like them at all. Why?
The question is also, whether, things are beautiful in themselves or the beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
However, everyone agrees that physical beauty does not depend on any particular thing. Hair, eyes, lips, skin colour and everything from height to gestures, affect physical beauty. There has been a constant increase in the efforts to make all of these more and more attractive. But within the last few decades, in many countries, especially in India, skin tone alone has gained so much importance that the desire for fair complexion has taken the form of an obsession. Newspapers and television are serving glamorous advertisements for skin whitening. Beauty parlours have opened in almost every street, and YouTube is filled with these skin whitening tips.
A key feature of these tips is that they assure you of instant fairness. The anxiety for colour replacement inherent in people’s minds is thus understandable. This anxiety is so prevalent that even in this dreaded phase of the corona epidemic, there are still, millions of people anxious to have fair skin.
But what is the evil in the desire to be fair?
If people want to change their skin colour just for hobby, as they do with hair, it wouldn’t have been such a big issue, but, the people who want to change their skin colour do so because they want to get rid of their dark complexion. It means that the attraction of fair complexion is associated with the hatred for dark or black skin. Not surprisingly, most North Indians tend to make a joke of South Indians for their dark skin tones and their racist prejudices are often seen against Africans/ blacks. It seems that we have completely forgotten that in the eyes of the colonisers, all Indians were black, irrespective of a fair complexion or a dark one.
Interestingly, this obsession for whiteness is not old but has been developed during the last three decades. Today’s standards about appearance are very different from the old ones because the criteria of beauty vary with time. In ancient tradition, the dark complexion was never a hindrance to beauty. In Sanskrit literature, there are many examples of the praise of dark complexion as well as fair skin. The most attractive deities of Hindus, Rama and Krishna, both are not white-skinned but dark-complexioned.
Due to the diversity that exists in India, a single criterion for appearance couldn’t have been applicable to everyone. Some scholars believe that due to the colonial experience this prejudice has developed in the minds of Indian people regarding fairness.
Before the modern era, skin colour was a thing of natural predisposition and hence the idea of changing it did not come in the mind of people, because we didn’t wish for things which could not be achieved. But with the beginning of liberalization in the 90s, the whole scenario changed. Changes in filmmaking techniques, the launch of hundreds of TV channels and the arrival of beauty products from MNCs started to manufacture a new myth.
Cinema and media began to create their content in a way that showed fairness and beauty as synonymous and what was not beautiful couldn’t be good either. Cosmetics manufacturers created prejudice in people’s minds that being black was shameful and unfortunate, and the use of beauty products could change their natural skin colour miraculously. With this, the desire for fair skin started turning into an obsession.
It would be childish to believe that this desire for fairness is present only among women. In the last few years, there has been a new change in the market that while earlier there were only a few cosmetic items for men like shaving cream and aftershave lotion, now hundreds of products are available in the market. Along with this, an amazing awareness of beauty seems to have emerged in teenagers and young boys as well.
This newborn market of male cosmetics has begun to compete with women’s cosmetics market – after all, they have more money in their pockets. Now grooming is not limited exclusively to women, some men have started taking more time than women to get ready. However, it would be naïve to believe that this will reduce the inequality between the two genders.
In a patriarchal society, the parameters of beauty are also patriarchal. If sacrifice, vulnerability and modesty are considered to be the qualities of women, then the parameters of beauty would also be in line with these qualities. If the images of female bodybuilders disturb most people, it is because they expect women in a different role and that is why they are not interested in the women’s muscles but in their body.
It is considered shameful for women to be like men and vice versa, and people who look like this are ridiculed and humiliated throughout their life. Despite the similarity of eyes, nose, ears, hair and lips etc., ways have been discovered in the name of beauty to present women and men in completely different light than each other. Although fairness is desirable by men and women both, there is no doubt that the pressure on young girls is much higher.
However, patriarchal norms of beauty do not differentiate only women and men. They also create differences between rich and poor. On the one hand, only rich people can afford the cost of grooming and enhancing the skin, on the other hand, hardship and extreme working conditions even change the innate skin colour of the poor. In such a situation, the colour of the skin becomes a symbol of status.
The patriarchal society, which considers beauty as the prime property of a woman, pays more attention to their skin than to their intelligence and qualities. Most matrimonial ads refer to the bride’s fair skin color as the primary condition for marriage. If beauty is the most demanded quality, then most of the potential would also be spent on the same. Obviously, in such a situation, they will not have enough time and capacity to develop or enhance their talent. Hence, beauty proves to be the greatest tool of patriarchy to keep girls deprived in the race of life. The attraction of attention and appreciation that is gained instantly by the appearance is so strong that identifying this conspiracy of patriarchy proves to be impossible.
It is to be noted that patriarchy is facing the most tremendous challenge in the present times. An intense attraction and reverence towards feminism have emerged in the minds of girls. Moving out of traditional roles, they have touched new peaks in the fields of education, employment, art and leadership. Even a portion of men have changed their thinking considerably and they’re putting in efforts to be liberal. But at the same time, patriarchy has made a tremendous comeback with the help of science and technology.
While on one hand, Android phones, and the Internet and social media have opened many closed doors for us, on the other hand, it has created an obsession to look and present ourselves nothing more than a beautiful body. The growing trend of clicking and posting selfies explains this. The boom in the beauty products market is pointing to this and the search for skin whitening prescriptions proves it. All this is a nexus of patriarchy, capitalism and science.
Of course, the skin is part of our personality and existence. But this glorification of fair skin is being done at the cost of our personality. The more importance that’s given to skin colour, the more the real value of the person behind it will fall.
One can ignore the violence that occurs on animals for making cosmetic products, or overlook the fatal effect of chemicals used in these products but the negative psychological impact of the desire of becoming white skinned can’t be ignored.
It can even cause serious psychological disorders such as Body Dysmorphia. People who hate their skin colour can become a victim of inferiority complexes for a lifetime. People who are being frustrated by trying out tips one after the other are unaware that they are pushing themselves towards depression.
What is important is that the skin be clean and healthy, whatever it’s colour . If it is wrong to think of yourself as superior because of your skin colour, then it is equally wrong to think yourself inferior to others because of it. If you want others to love you as you are, then, first you have to start loving yourself.
The first impression is the last impression is a fallacy. Human relationships are not formed by the first impression but by long term impressions. The truth is not that we love beautiful people, it’s that the people we love become beautiful to us. Don’t you think so too?