"Come get an exotic henna tatoo and enjoy hot-n-spicy samosas."
Wow.

But the Henna thing was done by the Indian Student Organization- doesn't that make it ok?

for indian people to say henna is exotic...so, you're auntie lakshmi is exotic all of a sudden? all 200 pounds of a woman who's cleaned up your diaper, and now she's exotic? yeah, right (sorry for the imagery)

if you're samasosas are too hot, cool them down. if they're too spicy, add less mirch

Unfortunately, most Indians don't recognise the subtle undercurrents of racism that pervade life here. There is no outright discrimination in most walks of life, although (as has been pointed many times on this blog) skin colour is a major factor in Bollywood and even the film industry down South. Sometimes this is manifest in weird ways - actors in the South, for example, tend to be largely local people and quite a few of them are dark skinned. Actresses, on the other hand, as is increasingly the trend, are second rung actresses from the North whose only selling point is their looks (read fair skin). In general, this kind of discrimination exists in businesses where people need to be presentable - airlines, hotels, media (news anchors) etc. (even receptionists). Most important of all though, there is a strong connect between lack of self-esteem and dark skin complexion for many. Financial well-being tends to offset this to a large extent, but I'm not really qualified to elaborate on that.

I can't wait for us to find aliens. Then we can finally have someone truly exotic. :-)

I'm no expert on this, but I have found self-esteem (vis-a-vis skin colour and race) to be somewhat low in Asian culutures, particularly in the sub-continent and to its east. I say that in the context of what I have observed among African-Ameicans, where there is a strong sense of pride (many think they're better than white people in ways). In countries like India, there's still a lot of fawning over white people - it'll be interesting to see how the upward mobility of middle class Indians combined with the communication and aviation revolutions will change things. May be about 85-90% of the population still remains unexposed to the world, and that is a major factor.

Then we can finally have someone truly exotic.

No such luck, if Hollywood had its way.

I just like how "samosas" is in quotes, like it's a double entendre or something. You know, come check out Auntie Lakshmi's hot-n-spicy "samosas"! ;)

Yes, that is one aspect of Indian culture which saddens me a lot. "Fair and Handsome" being the latest in that trend, unless you see it as a huge step towards gender inequality.

Here in my co-op in Mumbai, a friend of my dad's has a daughter who's 30, well-qualified, has a great and stable job as a teacher, and is having a hard time finding a husband coz she's very dark-skinned. This in the Bong community, most of whose members I know love to pride themselves on their progressiveness. Depressing.

On the other hand, I do see that the younger generation (Gen CC - call-center :) is getting more international and confident in its attitude. For example, there seems to be a bigger Asian (East Asian/Oriental - choose your PC term) presence in the culture in general. I loved this poster, which is part of the HelloMoto ad campaign in India. Never saw anything like this growing up.

I think, as a population, only when we are confident enough to deal with white people on our own terms, can we accept dark people (ourselves!) as beautiful. This, IMHO, is a few years away.

Ooops, I meant "gender equality"

Ever notice how the maidservants in any desi ad are dark-skinned? I'm reminded of a recent animated ad for "venita cucine". The family in the ad looked like the after part of a fair and lovely ad, while the maid was quite ebony coloured.

But the Henna thing was done by the Indian Student Organization- doesn't that make it ok?

No ;)

I'm no expert on this, but I have found self-esteem (vis-a-vis skin colour and race) to be somewhat low in Asian culutures, particularly in the sub-continent and to its east. I say that in the context of what I have observed among African-Ameicans, where there is a strong sense of pride...

Actresses, on the other hand, as is increasingly the trend, are second rung actresses from the North whose only selling point is their looks (read fair skin).

And even pre-white people colonization you see different communities with biases regarding fair skin. In some places it meant you were higher class b/c you weren't outside working in a field. So maybe this distinction has class ramifications that mimic the popular depictions?

punjabis do not have a problem with self esteem

braah

Ambar - The Veneta Cucine ad of which you speak is h o r r i f y i n g (for those who haven't seen it, the maid looks like a minstrel, the female equivalent of our old friend, Darkie). Who are the ad wizards who come up with such things?

Worse yet, I haven't heard any outcry - nay, not even a murmur - among Indians in Indians about this ad (but if someone knows otherwise, please post the 411!)

I guess the Fair and Handsome photographer did this photo as well

sorry, that last line of my post should have read 'Indians in India'...

I've seen that toothpaste in its new avatar! My Hokkien Malaysian friend uses it. I always thought the guy on the cover was a weird Charlie Chaplin version, and it reminded me of Tom's of Maine's natural toothpaste, which, in my opinion is quite gross. So i didn't try it. Should have now, and seen the difference :(

Hah! Like the Fair and Handsome. But to tell you the truth, is it really that different than white people going to their tanning salons?

To me "Fair and Handsome" always sounded like "Hand and Fearsome" - hardly a desirable set of descriptors.

In terms of the ramifications of these kind of issues that Indians have and have had and will have they are very very deep! The Indian consciousness is obivously still colonized. We seem to have sold out a long time ago. Maybe the onlaught of colonialism was just too thorough and powerful to the point where the color of skin is the first and foremost thing (besides caste/status of your family) places you at a certain level in society.

Common people wake up! The aryan invasion theory seems to be one of the things at the root of the ever controversial issue of skin color. You know that thoery that states that Indian culture at least the good parts of it came from somewhere else like Europe. Man... F**k that. I remember being radically opposed to the theory about 5 yrs ago when I found that it had no solid evidence. But it has taken up until now for people to start reconsidering the credibility of the theory. It really makes me mad that children to this day in India and all over the world encounter that theory in their textbooks on Indian history. No wonder we have such a deep-rooted complex about our own skin color!

I am sorry I just do not understand the fear and the negativity towards brown-black skin. Obviously we come in all colors, but thats the beauty of our country we are such a vast mix of colors, hues, races, cultures, religions, etc.
Why cannot that reality be represented?????? What is it that we fear? How long are we going to keep actin like coconuts... brown on the outside/white on the inside?

What is socially acceptable in Taiwan concerning blackness and dark skin was kind of shocking to my American sensibilities. They sell blackie toothpaste because it seems that black people have whiter teeth. See "the blackie" with the fro on the toothpast bottle. And then of course, "More White, More Beautiful". There are a range of beauty products to make one more white, by all the standard international companies, L'Oreal, Nivea, etc. . . .They even make whitening deodorant??? You can see the pictures at www.homepage.mac.com/janerubio/PhotoAlbum40.html. And then I saw a disturbing advertisement to help world hunger with the stereotypical poor African women, breastfeeding her starving baby. It was pretty graphic.

Here in Lebanon, my favorite candy is a big chocolate-covered marshmallow, known as Ras al-Abd, "the Head of the Slave." Even in this day and age, people use the word "Abd" in Arabic to refer to black people. There is actually a newer term, which I use, called Tarboush, the red, fez, Ottoman-style hat. But when I use that word, the local shop owners don't know what I'm talking about. [Link]

Hah! Like the Fair and Handsome. But to tell you the truth, is it really that different than white people going to their tanning salons?

At first glance, no. However, the twist is that white people have not had a history of being colonised/dominated by darker brown people.

Since the reverse is unfortunately a historical fact for brown people in quite a few locations around the world, I guess the idea of darker people deliberately wanting to lighten their skin tone is perhaps a little more controversial because of this. Even though white people tanning and brown people doing the opposite are both ostensibly being done for purely aesthetic reasons.

There are a range of beauty products to make one more white, by all the standard international companies, L'Oreal, Nivea, etc. . . .They even make whitening deodorant???

I think the whitening deoderant is for women who shave their underarms, which sometimes causes them to darken over time. Waxing is better since it doesn't cause this. I don't think that (a) people are checking out the fairness of others' armpits or (b) anyone would go through the trouble of trying to whiten their underarms if they don't have the shaving issue.

but in India color preference seems to be deeper than the british preference? i'm not sure, but the british were only in some parts of india for a hundred years, of that time parts of it were deeply contested. were the british even part of indian society at the village level? how many people saw british people? i'm not sure this issue is totally the same as the british issue

This is simply a colonizer mind trick. First they invade with military weapons then to control the population for generations, they plant mental inferiority/superiority skin complexes in the children who grow to adults and pass it on to their decendants.

Brown is Beautiful!

Yes... even if Migrations had indeed happened they would have indeed happened and they would have been
a small trickle

I have discussed this in the site www.sujayraom.com

Sujay

sorry ,

Let me correct the statement. Even if they had indeed happened,
they would have been a small trickle and they would have happened
much much earlier

www.sujayraom.com

Sujay

"I say that in the context of what I have observed among African-Ameicans, where there is a strong sense of pride (many think they're better than white people in ways"
- Nandi Kishore
Are u mental u may have observed wrong how do "many " belive their better than whites when the white are the ones who basically run this country And nothing is wrong with pride u moron Like it or not be happy about your nationality after being through more than any other ethnic group or religious followers in history a little pride is called for asss!!!

Hey guys
I'm a student from Sydney doing my year 12 major work on the whole fair skin issue in India, and why it came about etc. Since you guys seem to be interested in this topic, tf any of you had the time to leave a comment on my site www.elizapip.blogspot.com, it would be much appreciated as I could use it as my primary research for my major work. Thanks a lot!

Hi,

Im doing research on similar topics of the 'gori-chitti'phenoneman in India.I was wondering if you have come across personal stories of people who have been discriminated against because of their skin colour - specifically talking about the educated upper middle class in India.
With the push towards needing to be fair forming the crux of everything from being confident in school/college, to getting a cool job to getting married (SIC) Im sure some have expereinced this ridiculous phenonmena.

Looking forward to comments..please feel free to email me!

Thanks!

Nitin wrote:

I am sorry I just do not understand the fear and the negativity towards brown-black skin.

for those of you who have already previously posted that there is nothing wrong with dark skin, I understand what u guys mean completely, but what I would like to add is that there is nothing wrong with having light skin either. Everyone looks best in their NATURAL skin colour, regardless of whether it is light or dark, but it should also be known that skin only darkens over time due to sun exposure.

With this in mind, I say that anyone who wants to lighten their skin using fairness creams to reach their natural colour should go for it, for that is the colour that would best suit them.