I spent this past weekend at my cousin’s beautiful, four-day Indian wedding in sunny southern California. People who know me have probably realized that I’m sort of obsessed with my family. Well, I’m probably more than sort of. So, I was anxious for the weekend and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
This wedding was legit. There were video drones, open bars, English speaking Brahmans, a lion and open bars. Somehow, between seven outfit changes in those four days, we thought it might be fun to spend some free time hitting the hotel pool. After spending the past four months in the brutal North Carolina winter, I was craving some Vitamin D. However, I quickly found out that some of my cousins weren’t feeling the same urge.
So many of my cousins, both males and females, wouldn’t even consider going outside and risk getting dark, especially not days before a wedding. At this point, I wasn’t even surprised. This thought that fair is better and dark is lesser has been engrained in many young Indians since childhood. It’s disgusting.
I’ve heard both my grandparents and many of aunts and uncles constantly reminding my siblings and cousins that they shouldn’t get dark, but my grandparents hardly ever said why. If there was any sort of explanation, it was something along the lines of, “it just doesn’t look good,” or “why would you do that to yourself?” Fortunately for my siblings and me, my parents never enforced these white standards of beauty on us from a young age.
Sadly, this problem definitely isn’t something constrained to my family either. Just this past weekend while waiting for Holi to start on Clocktower Quad, I overheard a group of south Asian women hoping that they wouldn’t get “too dark,” waiting outside for the festivities to begin. It was a beautiful day outside and no one should feel so afraid of becoming dark that they aren’t able to enjoy themselves.
It has been well documented that Indian society perpetuates these outlandish white standards of beauty, which stretches back through colonization and also has strong connection to the rigid caste system. Light skin was associated with higher social standing, and Bollywood only further perpetuates this idea.
In 1978, Unilever launched Fair & Lovely cream, a line of whitening cleaners that many blame for worsening this obsession. What is even worse is the fact that there are dangerous effects that these products can have on your skin due to ingredients like steroids, hydroquinone and tretinoin. These chemicals have been known to potentially cause skin cancer, liver damage, mercury poisoning, and permanent pigmentation.
However, these products only exist because there continues to be a strong demand for them. Fair skin is more than just an obsession; it’s a fixation. It’s also important to note that while there is a misconception that lighter skin is associated with intellect or beauty, there still exists a clear connection between skin color and status through a wide prejudice against those with darker skin.
When Nina Davaluri was crowned Miss America 2014, many Indian-Americans and others were outraged by the amount of racism she faced by members of the American population. However, few outwardly recognized that Davaluri would likely never have won a pageant in South Asia since she is far darker than the currently distorted standards of beauty in the region.
But, America is far from off the hook when it comes to spreading white standards of beauty. There is a problem when young, south Asian girls that want to dress as a princess have the options of Jasmine or Jasmine. I mean until this month, the only remotely Indian emoji was a dude in a turban.
So often, I’ll hear Caucasian-Americans tell my Indian family members “it’s so funny that you don’t want to get darker, and we just want to get darker.” Here’s where I’m calling bullshit. You want to get tan, but you don’t want to get dark. And yes, there is definitely a difference. Young Indian girls are obsessing over their skin because society is obsessing over their skin. And I just want to hit the pool with my family.
Dillon Patel is a Trinity junior. His column runs every other Thursday.
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