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Skin lightening creams won't go out of business any time soon. What is important is to start being comfortable in your own skin, says this thoughtful piece.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alc_chris/9723710634
Skin lightening creams won’t go out of business any time soon. What is important is to start being comfortable in your own skin, says this thoughtful piece.
I had been to a store recently, as I urgently needed to pick up a skin cream. To my surprise, I came across rows and rows of skin lightening creams. I was dumbfounded. With much difficulty, I finally found a skin cream of my choice. Does this prove that we still aren’t comfortable with our skin colour? Are we still living with the false notion that only being fair is beautiful? I hope not.
Besides my personal experience, I’m sure we all have come across matrimonial sites that pay emphasis to the bride or groom’s skin colour, haven’t we ? Since times immemorial, external beauty of a woman has been given a lot of emphasis. Women adorned themselves with loads of jewellery, and fair complexion was associated with true beauty. But not anymore. Beauty is way beyond that. I think our generation has come a long way in understanding what true beauty is.
It doesn’t only mean being beautiful on the exterior. Being beautiful means having inner beauty, character, and a good personality. Like everything else, there are always exceptions. There would still be a handful of people who pay importance to skin colour. They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. The freedom of judging who is beautiful rests with an individual. However, it’s surprising to see that there are still many people who limit their views on beauty to skin colour.
That is superficial, and it reflects their unfamiliarity with the subject. Skin colour bias has been a hot topic of debate since aeons. It’s been a major cause of concern not only in India but foreign countries too. It makes me wonder – why is it so difficult to accept people the way they are ? These are shackles created by human beings and we need to break them for the sake of unity and brotherhood.
New guidelines need to be introduced in advertisements, because advertising should be responsible. It should not demean or hurt the sentiments of people in any way while promoting products like skin lightening creams. It should not be a source of discrimination and pressure. In no way should ads degrade someone’s physical appearance, as discussing skin colour can be a delicate matter. While promoting facial creams, the emphasis should be given to a healthier skin.
India is home to several famous personalities who are dusky and beautiful. Let’s begin with Nandita Das. She’s dusky, and she is an epitome of Indian beauty. Her face, opinions, and personality has played an immense role in the ‘ Dark is beautiful’ campaign. She’s proved that she’s a woman of substance by the way she has chosen her films and the campaigns she’s been a part of.
Next on my list is Deepika Padukone, the reigning queen of bollywood. She looks stunning with her dusky skin colour. She’s proved her talent in acting and her dusky complexion has in no way been a hindrance to her growth in her career. She exudes confidence and she has no qualms about her dusky appearance. This clearly proves that our skin colour should not be a barrier to our growth and development. We need to rise above these misconceptions.
There is more to a human being than their skin colour. It’s unfair to judge anyone based on their colour. Being comfortable with our skin colour exudes our self confidence, irrespective of whether we are fair or dark. We must learn to love ourselves and accept our bodies the way they are. Every person should be comfortable in their own skin. It’s time we throw away age-old biases and move towards fulfilling our dreams.
Pic credit: alc_chris (Used under a CC license)
Diana has worked as an Editor/Writer and Content Manager for various digital platforms and hopes that each word written in this space supports, motivates and inspires her readers in India or across seas. Besides read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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