‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’
Beauty is a term that cannot be objective, and yet people have been conceptualising it quite casually. Years and decades of brainwashing have pushed us to equate beauty to ‘fair’ skin tone. And this notion is so strongly ingrained into our belief system, that any uproar has been crushed underneath, until the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Pursuant to such existing stigmas and pre-conceived notions in the society, people of colour spend their lives to see the light of the day, when this society begins to see beyond their complexion.
In the Indian society, the post-independence remnant of British colonialisation is the European beauty standard of light skin and enslaving people of colour, which is propagated till the present date. The idea of fair-skinned being superior to dark-skinned has been derived from the difference in social classes, unlike the white supremacy in countries like the USA. The social conditioning starts from a very early stage of childhood, where the dark-skinned are looked down upon and something to seek to change in oneself. Dark skin is seen as an inherent flaw and obstacle to employment opportunities or rishtas, making skin-lightening a thriving business. Someone as powerful as Priyanka Chopra, who was supposed to champion women’s causes as Miss World, endorses fairness creams (like Ponds White Beauty and Garnier Light Beauty) which sends out the message that having dark skin makes you worthless; it condones the brashness that people had to battle all their lives and normalises the perpetuating colourism.
[Photo Source: Emirates 24/7]
Women of Worth, a non-profit based in India brought about a change with ‘Dark is Beautiful’, an awareness and advocacy campaign started back in 2009, which working at the grass-root level to dismantle colourism. It seeks to draw attention to the low act of skin colour-based bias, formed by cultural perspectives, fortified by media messages, and erosion of self-esteem of numerous individuals, young and old. Started by Kavitha Emmanuel and endorsed by the actor-turned-filmmaker Nandita Das, the volunteers have been conducting workshops to discourage complexion-based discrimination and have engaged over 2800 individuals. The campaign, on completion of 10 years in 2019, celebrated with a powerful video titled ‘India's Got Colour’, featuring prominent influencers and celebrities. "I have been supporting the Dark Is Beautiful Campaign since 2013 and while we must combat the various forms of discrimination based on caste, religion, gender, and sexual preference, the least we can do is to end the bias bases on skin colour. After all, we are more than 1.3 billion people and have that many shades of skin", said Nandita Das.
Taking a look back in the 1960s, a photographer, a group of models and a fashion show in Harlem kick-started a cultural and political movement ‘Black is Beautiful’ that still inspires today. On 28 January 1962, a large crowd gathered in front of Purple Manor, the nightclub in New York City, and sparked a movement in the United States that would change how black people were represented. A battle to undo all the damaging ideas brought about by a history of white supremacy and for an equal perception of the black people; was kept alive in our thoughts until a recent highlight of 2020, ‘Black Lives Matter’. The rise of the movement had a rippling effect across everything- brands claimed their stand against the systemic racial injustices, only recently. And the new focal point? The insensitivity of brands selling the same skin lightening products, just under a different banner. “77 percent of Nigerian women use skin-lightening products”, according to another report by World Health Organisation in 2011. Fitting into the so-called ‘societal norms’ comes at the cost of one’s health. A 2019 World Health Organisation report revealed that many skin lightening products contain mercury and other hazardous ingredients that cause anything from skin irritation to kidney damage.
Colourism in the Fashion Industry is prevalent since time immemorial. Lighter skin is often looked-for to accomplish success in the industry. Several interviews have marked struggles and hardships of dark-complexed models, about how they were made to view their complexion as an obstacle to their dreams. The inequality arising owing to such colour differences are deep-rooted to the very core in the industry; an instance being, the makeup artists or designers deny to work and get associated with dark-complexed models.
Media, being an extensive platform reaching out to masses, plays a major role in colourism. Almost all beauty products advertise dark skin as the reason for one's failure while fair skin associated with confidence, beauty and success. With the internet and particularly social media giving voice to experts and amateurs alike, accusations of racism have been fired up; taking over such platforms in recent times. Answers to all such allegations and accusations end with ‘we don’t have this kind of creative vision right now, but we shall definitely engage with you in the future’. However, the more one explores and engages with the profession vis-à-vis the issue, greater is the likelihood to realize that such statements being are repetitive, unimaginative and fake.
The Fashion Industry has never been famous for its inclusivity and diversity. As the industry is evolving and constant questioning has pushed it to accept creatives of colour. However, the idea of tokenism is turned away. Tokenism refers to a practice of including a few people of a minority sect and using the same faces to represent every single person of the community. Once a few dark-skinned models are found, they stop their search and work with that small group. Taking the instance of Lupita Nyong’o, who has been on the cover of Vogue four times; a proof of Vogue’s effortlessness by repeatedly showcasing the same woman of colour. Tokenism doesn’t improve a company’s image by including one minority, it portrays the bare minimum a company went through to be inclusive. It doesn’t improve the problem but masks the real issue of colourism and diversity; making it even worse because no real progress has been made.
Lupita Nyong’o on the cover of Vogue October 2015. Photo courtesy: The Pudding
The Fashion Industry, from time to time, has shown its support to movements fighting for social justice and progressive causes, but this act has been slammed for its hypocrisy as nothing has been done to end the entrenched colour bias. The industry has deliberately crafted itself to be an arbiter of taste and beauty; and people perceiving the industry from afar, comprehend that being dark is not beautiful. Not to ignore, but there has been marginal progress in the industry. Over the past year, several dark-coloured people have risen to prominence in the fashion world. The road is yet full with all stones and there lies no shortcut to promote the ones who deserve to be in the limelight, in true sense.
- Arpita Saxena
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