No you got that wrong Vennella. I'll write one more post just to clarify what I meant I'm not saying anything about supreme state of being. I have no clue myself about any such supreme state I am saying it is ok to be Angry, it is ok to criticize that MIL in anger - but criticize her for the mistake she did - namely she was being a moron for judging her DIL by color of the skin. But if in your anger you* do the same mistake that she (MIL) did, then there won't be any difference from what the MIL did, and that's all I suggested the refrain from. Never asked the MIL to be forgiven by the DIL (or her friend) for that or anything. That's upto the individuals on how they lead their life -if they forget/forgive and move on, or they resent for longer etc. Thats upto them. *you as in not you, just a general you PS: Thanks vjbunny and Citraquenchjika
The fundamental difference between west & east is that predominantly all westerners have similar skin tone but generally desire to have a tanned look (mostly it's associated to having a holiday abroad or a good sunny weather) but in India we come in different shades so when we classify having fair skin tone as beautiful, we are categorising the rest as not. This results in a social inequality and that I think is the basic difference. Now the adverts of tanning lotions and fairness cream are completely different. I absolutely hate the fair and lovely advert. They show a dark girl/boy and show as if they’re not desired or not achieving their potential because of their skin colour and after using fair and lovely they then become really desirable by others. This advert is really offensive, I personally would like to see it banned. I’ve never seen a tanning advert that does the comparison like that. JMO.
You know what amazes me the most about this topic? We Indians take so much pride in our history and heritage and fail to understand that our skin tone is product of the intermingling of the great cultures and people we are so proud of! Unfortunately, skin color became a parameter (may be “the” parameter) to judge one’s beauty. While there is nothing wrong with personal preference for a particular skin tone …using one’s skin tone to put them down is wrong. This is exactly what the fairness cream ads in India are doing. The bottom line for the companies that manufacture these fairness creams is money (No surprise there!). In India their work is made so much easier with the (majority) population so insecure about their skin color. Tell them how their skin color is holding them back and the world they can achieve…if only they had little paler skin tone. Throw in a few endorsements from the popular movie stars (again…the money is the bottom line)….boom – a steady demand for their products! People like us endlessly criticize this notion (fairness = beauty) and sometimes try rationalize its roots. More often we blame our colonial past. BUT we ceased to be a colony sixty damn years ago – a lifetime ago! While there are a few strong voices in the media and blogosphere that speak against this….they are NO match to the numerous ads that brainwash people every day in the media. What we need is committed activism – both at individual and societal levels. It will be nice to brainstorm on how to arouse this activism…otherwise we will continue this vicious cycle. K
Ofcourse Sally Dark is beautiful, White is also beautiful and every shade in between... If the OP was just about that I would have said " Way to go girl ! Be proud of who u are ! " BUT the OP was also about how ugly a fair MIL was ...hence my need for a hammer:bonk. I wanted to know the rational behind saying "How can someone call Dark ugly " and right behind that saying "Oh by the way that fair woman standing right there...she has such a short stubby nose and such wide cheek bones ..that looks so ugly" See my point... In what way is the OP different from the MIL..they have diff sticks to measure ..they are essentially doing the same things arent they?
Yo, wait up before you go about reading deeper than what was meant. The OP has NOTHING to do with how ugly/beautiful ANYBODY is. The ugliness originated from what thoughts would go through a person to criticize another based on something as superficial as color. THAT to me is ugly. It has nothing to do with features, which is what you guys are twisting it to be. Fortunately, the only person who understood what my original intent has explained it a lot better than I could. (The one by Kamala08) The who MIL-DIL is an example that many women here have gone through. So before you go about pointing fingers at me and judging me, try to not delve deeper than I intended it to be and therefore, misconstruing whatever I had to say. Actually, you can delve all you want, but don't go on to make this personal, which is what I see is happening. Just like you have your opinion of thinking everyone is beautiful, I have my opinion of judging beauty based on behavior and mindset. Biases exist everywhere. Oh PS: You meaning in general.
Those are very irritating ads indeed. Surya :bonk does not spare the Men either :bonk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgBevCTBTJw
hi all, as the topic says 'that stupid fairness cream' lets vent our anger at ads & media and stop picking on each other........... have you noticed we have stopped getting simple moistuisers in india or is it my experience only(i visit india once a year and generally stockpile cosmectics for an year).......i always used garnier moistuisers & all i could find was skin lighting cream or something along those lines.......i tried other brands & there also were ponds pearly white or such names............in the end i just settled for sunscreens. same with hubby dear.........now it seems obsession is further shifted to fair boys and all we find is skin lightning cream for men.......what is happening.these products are there in market because people demand it . i live in africa & have learnt to appreciate the beauty of colour black but here also the obsession is to somehow turn white.....maybe we want what we don't have regardless of what is good for us. pragati
You are my hero! Yes! I have noticed that trend too. I went to India and I love using Biotique's products since they are all natural. This time when I went back (about 6 months ago) I was shocked to see that my favorite cream now has a whitening agent in it :-| Turns out, this is an obsession in Thailand too. There's an obsession to be fair there as it symbolizes what community you come from. The darker you are, the lower is your status is society since it means you work in the fields and are constantly exposed to the sun. The cosmetic companies know where our weakness lies and therefore, it's easy for them to take advantage of us. It's always a 2 way street!
Chinni86, This holds true in our society too and I do not want to elaborate more on that.We have more complex issues as well.That is because people took it when they were suppose to question and it remained for long. Hats off too you Kamala08!It is nice to see such a constructive post when it had taken a twist inbetween.I would say that brits colonialism had a very big impact because if we go back to history , we can see how they used color,caste,creed and financial aspects to divide and rule the world.It is not only in India , the color thing goes on in other (ex-)colonialised countries as well than the (ex-)occupier countries. Has anyone seen the recent Fair & lovely AD.Disgusting is a mild word.The girl is so talented and has so many friends but keeps her distance from everyone as she is dark.I would strongly say that Fair & Lovely AD and the product should be banned.Will it not impact kids-future India more(forget adults) ?And it will take a toll on a teenager more.JMO. Yes, instead of cribbing or whining why cannot we have some nice ideas to erase this color inequality (or whatever you want to call). One thing I can think of being a good parent.Teach the children that any color is beautiful and no color is superior or inferior. Ban these ADs which says fair means successful.Hey ,on the other hand , why do we need such fairness creams(and ADs) if we are comfortable in our own skin? Just my 2 cents.
