There was a girl, darker than ebony.
Whether she was a go getter, we care not.
She dressed to kill, it mattered not.
Was she smack dab in the middle awesome, we suppose not.
She made merry and lived happily ever after in the LA-LA land without a care. For, two of the most unattainable goals that a girl could set for herself – well yeah, she had reached them both.
And, she was popular, Told you about the 521 likes, didn’t I?
To tell you the truth I was always under the impression that it was the teenagers of the 90’s who had this obsession with light skin, because quite frankly it was only in 90’s when I was a kid that I heard some elder girls say things like, ‘is she fairer than me?’ or It’s just tanning I am a lot more fairer than this.
But along came the 21st century and obsession with color seemed like a thing of past. May be it was because my horizon expanded as I grew up or whatever but never once did I hear a single girl crib over her complexion and I thought to myself what mindless duds were those girls back then.
In fact I saw girls celebrate brown skin with such gusto as never before—but off late it seems as though underneath all this impression that was being created the ugly truth still loomed large and that is that our love for anything white is very much there, I just did not notice it.
Or, is it that even after 6 decades of independence our colonial hangover isn’t still over and we still feel that – The Fairer The Better. For if it is so then where do we place ourselves as a nation?
Unpopular- Unnoticed and Unhappy , she went on with her
life.
Whether she was ambitious, we know not.Whether she was a go getter, we care not.
She dressed to kill, it mattered not.
Was she smack dab in the middle awesome, we suppose not.
For what we know is that one fine morning, she got up
applied OLAY NATURAL WHITE – or some such crap and la-la-la her life was set.
Guys wooed her. Mom and dad were finally happy for now to
find a nice Indian boy won’t be a trouble at all. She was suddenly so popular –
she had 521 likes on her picture – for crying out loud. And her life was set.She made merry and lived happily ever after in the LA-LA land without a care. For, two of the most unattainable goals that a girl could set for herself – well yeah, she had reached them both.
No, no, she did not find an alternative source of fuel or
stepped on Pluto.
Instead, She turned white, not to forget naturally so.And, she was popular, Told you about the 521 likes, didn’t I?
Ram Ram Ram, can
we sink any lower than this on the commercial
barrell? I mean, not that we were floating on top earlier. I have seen n number
of advertisements that make me want to screech my eyes right out. But this
brings us to a new low.
This obsession with white skin- has got to stop and as if it was not enough
that you throw in facebook too.
The fairer you are is directly proportional to the number of
likes on your facebook and that in turn is proportional to how happy you are in
life.
Can a commercial be anymore absurd and misleading?
Trust me, I am not making this up, see the commercial for
yourself.To tell you the truth I was always under the impression that it was the teenagers of the 90’s who had this obsession with light skin, because quite frankly it was only in 90’s when I was a kid that I heard some elder girls say things like, ‘is she fairer than me?’ or It’s just tanning I am a lot more fairer than this.
But along came the 21st century and obsession with color seemed like a thing of past. May be it was because my horizon expanded as I grew up or whatever but never once did I hear a single girl crib over her complexion and I thought to myself what mindless duds were those girls back then.
In fact I saw girls celebrate brown skin with such gusto as never before—but off late it seems as though underneath all this impression that was being created the ugly truth still loomed large and that is that our love for anything white is very much there, I just did not notice it.
Back in school once, we did not let Fair & Lovely,
sponsor our event because we found it hard to buy the concept that fair and
lovely comes up with every now and then. Trust, Fair and Lovely to believe that
to be anything from a commentator to an air hostess – you have to be fair- else
you should hide yourself in some ‘dark’ corner of your house. Besides, the name
itself is so unnerving… Why, Dark isn’t lovely?
The darkest of the female actors in the industry (men or
women) are airbrushed to look as if they have just stepped out of a tub full of
plaster of Paris. And the worst part is that they themselves don’t mind selling
it. Anyhow this post is just a way of venting out that
frustration and anger which finds no outlet. Are, we as a race, so dumb that we
can’t find more creative ways to sell our product that we don’t mind selling a
color that is not even essentially our color?
Have we lost it to this an extent that as a nation we not
only tolerate but also direct, feature in and come up with such absurd and
meaningless ideas? Or, is it that even after 6 decades of independence our colonial hangover isn’t still over and we still feel that – The Fairer The Better. For if it is so then where do we place ourselves as a nation?
This is a call to ban all such commercials or features that
celebrate fairness in any other thing but attitude.
