by Dark Is Beautiful | Apr 10, 2013 | Blog, Dark is Beautiful
By Sreeja Raveendran | An UNfair & Beautiful contributor
Yes, I have been called mean names in school on account of being dark.
Yes, I have been rejected in the matrimonial space by parents of several non-eligible bachelors.
Yes, I have not been chosen to occupy the front line of dancers for a show.
Yes, I have been reminded of my colour several times at my workplace.
Yes, I have been asked at beauty product stores if I needed a fairness cream.
Yes, I was asked to cut a cake during my farewell at work which said, ‘Goodbye Blacky.’
Yes, I have created content for a fairness cream.
Dark, darker, darkest. Once you have been identified with a shade of dark, you are doomed to face one or all of those incidents stated above. With all the incidents mentioned above, I was surrounded by educated civilised humans who knew what they were doing.
Blatant taunts are many. But I can also go on and on about subtle references to my colour made by friends, relatives and colleagues at office, parties, or social gatherings. I have chosen to ignore these comments or appear unaffected by them. But deep down inside, as all of who have been in this situation know, I feel the sting.
I used to read and re-read the promises of fairness products. I would smear them all over myself and wait for the promised magical change. I hoped, in vain, to change something I had been born with. It was my desperate attempt to be wanted, to be accepted in the ‘fair world’. And then, something happened.
I was asked to create content for a leading fairness product. I experienced a stab of guilt. I had fallen prey to those false promises, and now I was being asked to convince others. I decided to research the fairness product—I was appalled at what I discovered.
Research reveals that, ‘No cream which promises fairness really does so. Creams have ingredients which improve your complexion and fairness is only a figment of your imagination. In other words, commercials play games with the insecure figment of your imagination.’
Research also shows that that sales of a category of fairness creams has increased/ doubled post the continuous screening of a commercial or a promising print ad. Brands take their cue from this pattern and pool in a massive budget to promote their products. In short, it is the consumers who are the creators of this colossal demand in the market.
Life is not fair, and I know it. We all know it. But when faced with staunch prejudice, we do have a choice. We can choose to seek refuge in products that promise us conventional fairness or we can choose to be different from the rest.
Forget the colour you were born with and focus on attaining a healthy and supple skin. Having a great complexion regardless of colour boosts your confidence.
This has been my learning: Stand apart, create a niche and make yourself heard through your actions. All you needs is confidence and attitude! Face every taunt with a smile. Be unnerved and harbour that fierceness in you. Look into the eyes of those who taunt you and say, “Yes! I am dark, and I am beautiful.”
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed here are my own and do not represent my employer, either past or present or anyone else that I’m affiliated with.
The Sreeja Raveendran Story is a part of the Surviving Discrimination posts. If you have overcome skin colour bias and would like to share your story to inspire change among young men and women, drop us a line at darkisbeautiful@gmail.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sreeja Raveendran is a Mar-com professional and a freelance consultant. She is also an art enthusiast. Check out her craft and art blog at http://craftmelange.blogspot.com
by Dark Is Beautiful | Mar 17, 2013 | Blog, Dark is Beautiful
By Chandra Vadhana | An UNfair & Beautiful contributor
Right from childhood I developed a BIG inferiority complex because I was dark.
I had the privilege of being schooled at one of the best convent schools in my locality, despite being born in a middle class family. In fact, I was one of the darkest in my class and hence the most “un-preferred” for any on-stage events. And that made me shy away from getting on the stage, even when I was sure of my capabilities.
I used to cry and shout at my mother for giving birth to me dark. She was actually fairer and I used to be jealous of her beauty. But she was a woman of substance. She always motivated me and instilled great strength in me. Her belief in me made me realize that i can achieve anything in life and that my abilities are never connected with my skin colour.
She did two good things after my convent education: first she put me in an aided college, where there were girls I could relate to and shared my dark skin. Secondly, she forced me to join NCC and sent me to all the leadership camps, which helped bring out my capabilities as a speaker, communicator and as a motivated leader.
The first NCC camp was rough, but I kept with it and went on to become the best cadet in Kerala, got selected for the Republic Day parade, went on a youth exchange program and won many medals. My NCC training also helped build my confidence.
I went on to do my MBA from CUSAT. I also did my M.Sc. in Psychology and I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in Psychometrics.
I love my job as an RJ and voice artist, where I get to use my talent to communicate with the community. In spite of my many accomplishments and awards, I do feel sad that I don’t get on-stage work as an anchor due to the colour of my skin.
I went on to marry a man who is fair and handsome, who loves me and my kids more than anything else and skin colour is never an issue in our home.
I can say I’m a successful and accomplished dark skinned woman! I have overcome my inferiority complex of dark skin and in the past many years, I have motivated a lot of youngsters by taking personality development classes.
Finally, I believe that the concept of inferiority complex is a pure business strategy for a billion dollar industry that’s thriving because of the fairness creams. I believe this stigma can be wiped away only when more and more dark skinned women are in media’s limelight!
And, yes, lets Throw Out That Tubeof fairness products right out the windows!
The Chandra Vadhana Story is the first of the Surviving Discrimination posts. If you have overcome skin colour bias and would like to share your story to inspire change among young men and women, drop us a line at darkisbeautiful@gmail.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chandra Vadhana is a Voice artist, Radio Jockey and a Trainer based at Cochin. She is also a blogger and publishes at www.ceeveescorner.blogspot.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/RJ-Chandra/425925877501447
by Dark Is Beautiful | Jan 6, 2013 | Blog, Dark is Beautiful
By Kavita Emmanuel | Founder Director, WOW
Each year on Independence Day I get to recite our National Pledge: ‘India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage. I shall always strive to be worthy of it…”
Are we really proud of our varied heritage? Do we accept each other as fellow citizens on the same level barring differences over caste, creed, and particularly, colour? Is skin colour bias an issue in our country?
The answer is obviously ‘yes’! And I would not be completely wrong to assume that skin colour bias is more pronounced among the educated and the most forward sections of society.
I often wonder where we inherited such blatant ‘wanted: fair brides’ sort of racism. It is estimated that more than 50 percent of the Indian people have darker skin tones. That the Dravidians are dark skinned people is an obvious fact. How they got to buy into the notion that “fair alone” is beautiful is unsolvable. Why haven’t we opened our eyes to see beauty that is evident in our own people?
Many trivialize the issue saying that in a country that is battling graver issues like poverty, terrorism, crime and abuse, an issue like skin colour bias is of no importance. But why should we wait till we eradicate these graver issues to address an issue that exposes our primitive prejudices? I often wonder if the issue of skin colour is deeper that what we think it is.
As a mature society, 65 years into “Free” India, we should have moved on to much greater heights of showing the world how people from such varied cultures and skin colours can actually live together as one nation in harmony.
People often ask me what prompted me to initiate this campaign. If you take a look at those widely circulated fairness shade cards, I am an ‘inch’ above what people might call ‘dark’ (Yes, they have invented a measuring scale for skin tones!) I belong to the category of lighter brown-skinned people.
I have to admit I haven’t been the victim of any life-changing discrimination from my fairer counterparts. But I have often felt the pressure to preserve or save the colour of my skin from the sun so I don’t get darker. I still hear comments like, “You were a fair baby, but now you have become so dark. Have you been roaming in the sun?”
However, the reasons that propelled me to initiate the campaign were the real life stories of my friends and women I have counseled. I know girls who have been rejected by potential marriage partners, subtly denied jobs and abused by husbands and in-laws because of their skin colour. I have seen children face rude remarks and given nick-names for being dark skinned. I have felt like crying alongside a mom who couldn’t hold back her tears as she talked about how people differentiate between her two children and show preference for the fairer one.
One story that stands out is of a friend who was willing to marry a man in a wheel chair. She chose to see the person beyond the handicap he suffered. To her surprise his family rejected her because, as they say, “she lacked colour.” I know girls who carry the scars of rejection for years and find it difficult to believe that they are of value.
I was not born a Dark is Beautiful campaigner. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the Change that you want to see.” Any change that I want to see has to begin with me. Campaigns bring awareness. Campaigns are not to judge people. I chose to become a campaigner against skin colour bias because I want to create a world free of skin colour bias for our children.
The Dark is Beautiful campaign is an awareness initiative that is trying to wake people up to the reality of beauty in all skin tones. John Keats said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” For us today, a thing of beauty is work forever! It’s the ‘get fairer’, ‘get slimmer’, ‘get younger’ kind of syndrome that is driving people crazy – leaving them feeling tired, unloved and unlovely.
What makes a person truly beautiful is more than just what is seen on the outside. We need to let values like kindness, acceptance, helpfulness, tolerance, integrity and honesty regain their rightful status in our world.
Let’s together pave the way for a new wave of Independence that helps people truly celebrate who they are no matter what their skin colour!
 |
| Be Colour Blind & End Prejudice |
This article first appeared in theweekendleader.com: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/1318/It%E2%80%99s-not-fair.html
For more pictures visit http://zipporaphotography.blogspot.in/2012/09/beauty-beyond-colour.html
by Dark Is Beautiful | Jan 6, 2013 | Blog, Dark is Beautiful
By Zippora Madhukar | Photographer and WOW CORE Member
Vivacious, animated, a go-getter, vibrant – all these words came to mind when I first met Aparna – a professional dancer who challenges the norms of what a dancer should look like in our country.
Aparna Nagesh is the founder of Showstoppers INC, an arts promotion and event concept brand and the founder of High-Kicks, Chennai’s first and only all-girls performance crew.
She has now been in the dance and entertainment industry for over 14 years and she loves it to the core.
However, Aparna knows that it is not easy to hold your own when performing in a field where what you look like determines how far you will succeed – especially when you are not fair, tall, slim and therefore not ‘beautiful’.
Having gone through self-esteem issues raised by the notion that only fair is lovely, and having had her clashes with the image of the stereotypical dancer, Aparna was more than ready to share her story to help put a stop to this myth.
From back during her school days, she was always cast as the villain in school plays because of her dark skin, in spite of her talent.
To this day she can still re¬member the names she was called in school because of her dark skin. The colour of her skin was not something that she could change, so she had to put up with all the name-calling.
It was not easy for her to find a confident, dark-skinned woman role model in this day and in this country, which, for the most part, stereotypes beauty as someone with fair skin.
She tells of the many times she would run to her mother, who was a constant source of strength and comfort. Her mother would always reassure her that her skin colour did not matter, and that she was beautiful just as she is.
Another outlet for her feelings of rejection and low self-esteem was the therapy of dance. Dancing allowed her to vent all of her frustration and boost her self-worth.
This realization of empowerment by dancing helped her determine her future. She knew that she could teach many others that dance was not just an art form, but a therapeutic form of self expression – especially for the youngsters of today who are under so much pressure to look a certain way.
Aparna spent 12 years building her foundation with John Britto’s Dance Company where she wore many hats: dancer, assistant, instructor and choreographer.
She even played the roles of an official stylist, costume designer, manager of the training and performance division and Chief dance instructor. Suffice to say, she had a lot of experience as a dancer and as a performer.
In spite of her seniority and dancing ability, clients would often ask her to move from center stage to the sidelines because she didn’t fit the mould of the typical performance artist.
While fuming inwardly, Aparna learnt to keep a calm exterior. She dreamed of a day where dancers would be judged by how they danced and not by the colour of their skin.
She was one of four individuals from South India selected for full scholarship by the U.S. State Department to participate in a Culture Connect programme, organised by the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington DC.
She was the recipient of the Certificate of Excellence, International Student Program in Dance Performance and Vocal technique, Broadway Dance Center, New York.
These experiences compelled her to start something with her stamp on it, and something that would address issues that affected her. That was how Showstoppers INC. and High-Kicks were born.
Her desire is to change the way people look at and treat performers, and through her experiences and her dances prove that the medium of dance can be a source of help to young children and adults going through life’s struggles.
She wants to address social issues through her dances and is hoping to make a difference in the world around her by doing what she does best – dancing her way through life.
This journey eventually drew Aparna to a new campaign in the city to fight skin colour bias, called Dark is Beautiful, initiated by Women of Worth.
Being involved in the Dark is Beautiful campaign is one way Aparna hopes to make a difference. She is currently developing dance and movement activities for the DisB workshops aimed at helping children build their self esteem.
“Dark is Beautiful is a campaign that is obviously very close to my heart because I have been the butt of many jokes,” says Aparna, adding, “The campaign is aimed at creating awareness amongst all strata of people to remove the stigma of skin colour especially amongst young impressionable children. Hopefully we can change mindsets at least one at a time!”
You may recognize the title of this article “There’s a brown girl in the ring” as the song made famous by Boney M. It seemed particularly apt for Aparna – a confident, dark-skinned woman who dances like a dream.
What you may not know was this song is a traditional song in the West Indies, sung while children play a ring game/dance, viewed as a source of pride about their brown coloured skin.
Aparna’s story challenges us to do the same – as a nation, to be proud of ALL the varying skin tones– white, ‘wheatish’ (whatever that is), brown, yellow and black. We don’t have to write a song about this, but we should be proud of who we are and how diverse we are.
Celebrate Beauty Beyond Colour!
This article first appeared in theweekendleader.com: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/1144/Brown-girl.html
For more pictures visit http://zipporaphotography.blogspot.in/2012/06/aparna.html
by Dark Is Beautiful | Jan 6, 2013 | Blog, Dark is Beautiful
By Lydia Durairaj
Have you witnessed any of these statements or realities around you:
• Buying Double-whitening-action cream to get fair in three days?
• Not casting fair-skinned actors to play the role of a housemaid, the evil nemesis, or the outcast?
• Families looking out for a ‘fair bride’?
• Making pregnant mothers bathe in milk and saffron and eating lots of nuts so that the child is born with fair skin; and if that doesn’t work, then buying the double-whitening-action cream?
These ideologies have not changed since the days of our grandmothers. For generations now we have been saturating in the belief that dark skin is undesirable – to the point where we, consciously, start to discriminate and create divides between the fair and dark skinned people.
Even in the 21st century, when issues like poverty, hunger, and war are ravaging our lands, we have contributed to the booming half-billion-dollar skin whitening industry.
 |
| Advertisers play on our insecurities and market products that endorse discriminatory philosophies |
As a nation, we have swept the issue of skin colour bias under a mountain of other social issues and have convinced ourselves that it’s not important to speak against the blatant discrimination against dark skin.
We have blinded ourselves to the psychological effects it has on the psyche of our society, including the minds of our children.
We allow advertisers to play on our insecurities and market products that endorse discriminatory philosophies. It’s time we introduced new adjectives to describe dark-skin other than dirty, dusky, raunchy, or ugly.
In response to the prevailing bias, Women of Worth launched the Dark is Beautiful campaign in 2009 and challenged the iniquitous belief that the value and beauty of an Indian woman is determined by the fairness of her skin.
It aims to replace the dogma that corrodes the self-worth of countless girls and women with the message that beauty is beyond colour. While it would appear that skin colour is an issue that primarily affects women, the campaign has drawn a strong response from men too.
 |
| A ‘Dark is Beautiful’ campaign van in Chennai |
As the Executive Director of WOW, Kavita Emmanuel says, “We all need to celebrate who we are – the way God made us! Dark, yellow, brown, or white. But there are confusing messages around us compelling us to fit a certain mold to be considered beautiful. Let’s teach our children and youth to filter such messages that our being constantly thrown at us.”
Actress Anu Hasan spokesperson for the campaign since March 2012 says, “People are focusing on the wrong things. Indian society gives you the impression that fair is beautiful. It is wrong to discriminate against skin color; you lose out on appreciating what is real and what is truly beautiful.”
In a culture where we me make several lists and checklists to help us function effectively, here’s a list with just six simple suggestions to beat the bias:
- Don’t compare siblings who are of different skin tones
- Teach children to include friends of many different colours
- Learn to see beauty in all skin tones
- Don’t believe the false notion that you are not beautiful because of your skin colour
- When it comes to marriage don’t choose partners simply based on their skin colour
“Our message to our children,” says Kavita, “is that every complexion is equally beautiful. Appreciate who you are, and celebrate the way you are made.”
This article first appeared in theweekendleader.com: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Causes/1098/Be-yourself.html
