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In all fairness?
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The successful and the beautiful have one thing in common — fair skin. That's what ads and serials would have us believe
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ALL FOR A FAIR SKIN. The cosmetic industry fuels the craze.
She walked in, a confident, bold and assured woman. She came out shaken and unsure of her place in the world order. She had only walked into a health store to ogle at all the new fangled products so attractively displayed there. (Only ogle, as she couldn't possibly afford even an ounce of anything). But then she fell for the oldest line in the book, "It is free." "Ma'am would you care to have a free skin analysis done? You don't have to pay anything and we will tell you about your skin," said a young woman with a persuasive smile. She sat herself down, the young lady held a small gadget to her cheek and moved it around. "M'aam, your skin... ." And her voice trailed off... The woman was alarmed and asked the girl what was wrong ... "It is very (in a sympathetic whisper) tanned!" She stared uncomprehendingly and misunderstanding her silence for speechless horror, the shop girl hurried on saying, comfortingly, "No problem ma'am; we have just the thing for you. It is a skin whitener."
What is with a fair skin and us? There is an entire serial that is devoted to the pitfalls of being dark skinned. In it the heroine is accused repeatedly of bringing nothing but disgrace to her family, till good sense prevails. Why? Well, because her parents are fair, as is her brother and her obnoxious younger sister. Only she is a murky brown. Being the elder daughter, she needs to get married first. But whoever marries her will have to be lured to the mandap with a hefty dowry. And that dowry will come from the rich girl, the heroine's brother will have to marry... But he loves a girl from a lower caste. And so it goes on. There is gender bias, there is colour discrimination, there is dowry and there is caste.
What do the ads promote?
Is it really 58 years since we got rid of the whites? Why do we still hanker after their skin colour? Check out the ads that flood the television screen. Fairness creams and bleaches, lotions and soaps, scrubs and solutions. You are unpopular in college? Use a certain cream and you will be queen. Want to impress the mapillai from Michigan? Lucky girl, there are so many fairness creams that will guarantee he will be ensnared. Rejected in an interview? Use the whitening cream and the job is yours for the asking. From a cricket commentator, to an airhostess, to an actress to a wannabe bride, the fairness cream is the one stop solution to all problems.
Quick fix solutions
There are quick fix solutions to everything these days. Whether it is learning English in a month or losing fat in three months there is a market that caters to your every need. And if your heart's desire is to have that milk and roses complexion then you are in luck because there is no dearth of beauty parlours or skin clinics that promise to deliver it to you. The ads tell you that they are using techniques that have been closely guarded secrets in our ancient texts. So a mélange of exotic herbs and spices and even precious metals are turned into unguents by processes thousands of years old that will surely have you glowing like a pearl in no time. If you place no faith in our old texts then there are fairness creams that have "hydra-novil" or "nanosomes of pro-retinol A" that is sure to impress you. All of the above promise great texture, reduced bags under the eyes, less wrinkles and of course a more brilliant and glowing skin that is of course a euphemism for a fairer skin.
Have you seen the ad for the fancy modular kitchen? Note how the memsaab and her family are all fair while the hardworking maid is a chocolaty brown. Does that say something to you?
In conclusion, let an obituary be written to the TDH (Tall Dark and Handsome) man. He is dead. Now the real man has a cream specially made for his skin that is sure to bring the roses back into his cheeks. Ask Shah Rukh Khan. He was last seen wallowing in a rose petal bath...
PANKAJA SRINIVASAN
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