If you grew up in India or in an Indian household, you'd have spent quite a lot of time watching advertisements for fairness creams on TV. I guess we are some kind of a "fair and lovely generation". I have always been annoyed by the kind of importance Indian society has given to fair skin color. An article I read recently about a young woman who had faced humiliation throughout her childhood on the basis of her dark skin color, inspired me to go ahead and write about it. I believe these fairness cream advertisements and the perceptions of our society force young girls to believe that in order to become anything in life or to feel confident about themselves, one must have a certain kind of appearance. That is definitely not the kind of thought young girls should grow up with. The problem is not just with glorifying fair skin complexion but with the fact that these commercials make it seem as though external appearance plays the most important role in leading a happy life.
Fairness cream commercials have made it look like a fair complexion is quintessential to achieving things in life. Life is terrible for the girl before she starts using the fairness cream. Her dark complexion is a barrier between her and all the good things in life. Then, a well wishing, fair complexioned friend gives her the best gift ever - a tube of a fairness cream. The girl then applies this magical concoction on her face and voila! Life turns around. She now has the confidence to outperform others on a job interview and get her dream job, win that dance competition, get the guy of her dreams to notice (and fall in love with) her. She no longer gets bullied by her classmates, but stuns them with her new found "beauty". She now comes out of her long spell of self pity and has the confidence to face the world. Everything is perfect. Seriously?
When you think about it, your complexion and facial features tell nothing about you as a person. Your appearance is decided by the genes you inherited from your parents. You had nothing to do with it. However, what you are on the inside, your beliefs, interests, passions, attitude, talents and behavior have a lot to tell the world about you. Those are the components that you brought into your life. Then, shouldn't those be the driving forces that help you succeed? Think about it girls. To get your dream job, your talents and belief in yourself should give you the self confidence you need. Do you think a fair complexion is going to help you do well at that job? What about that competition you wanted to win at? Is fair skin going to play a bigger role than your skills and talent in helping you win? And about that man of your dreams, would you like someone to love you just because of something as superficial as your external appearance? Of all those wonderful qualities that you have instilled within you, why would you want someone to love you for the appearance that you had no say in?
Girls, embrace yourselves the way you are. What a smile and a little dose of confidence can do to enhance your appearance, surpass everything that any fairness cream can do for you. If I were to tell you that looking good doesn't really matter, I'd neither be honest with myself nor with you. Looking good does matter, but we need to slightly modify our definition of "looking good". Looking good has nothing to do with having fair, spotless skin. Let's be honest. How many of us actually do look like that? Looking good depends a lot on how you carry yourself and how comfortable you are in your own skin. A content, confident and happy person is naturally beautiful, and skin complexion has no role to play in that. So, let's work towards the essential things - living a content life, being a better person, setting goals and achieving them. Beauty will follow.
Fairness cream commercials have made it look like a fair complexion is quintessential to achieving things in life. Life is terrible for the girl before she starts using the fairness cream. Her dark complexion is a barrier between her and all the good things in life. Then, a well wishing, fair complexioned friend gives her the best gift ever - a tube of a fairness cream. The girl then applies this magical concoction on her face and voila! Life turns around. She now has the confidence to outperform others on a job interview and get her dream job, win that dance competition, get the guy of her dreams to notice (and fall in love with) her. She no longer gets bullied by her classmates, but stuns them with her new found "beauty". She now comes out of her long spell of self pity and has the confidence to face the world. Everything is perfect. Seriously?
When you think about it, your complexion and facial features tell nothing about you as a person. Your appearance is decided by the genes you inherited from your parents. You had nothing to do with it. However, what you are on the inside, your beliefs, interests, passions, attitude, talents and behavior have a lot to tell the world about you. Those are the components that you brought into your life. Then, shouldn't those be the driving forces that help you succeed? Think about it girls. To get your dream job, your talents and belief in yourself should give you the self confidence you need. Do you think a fair complexion is going to help you do well at that job? What about that competition you wanted to win at? Is fair skin going to play a bigger role than your skills and talent in helping you win? And about that man of your dreams, would you like someone to love you just because of something as superficial as your external appearance? Of all those wonderful qualities that you have instilled within you, why would you want someone to love you for the appearance that you had no say in?
Girls, embrace yourselves the way you are. What a smile and a little dose of confidence can do to enhance your appearance, surpass everything that any fairness cream can do for you. If I were to tell you that looking good doesn't really matter, I'd neither be honest with myself nor with you. Looking good does matter, but we need to slightly modify our definition of "looking good". Looking good has nothing to do with having fair, spotless skin. Let's be honest. How many of us actually do look like that? Looking good depends a lot on how you carry yourself and how comfortable you are in your own skin. A content, confident and happy person is naturally beautiful, and skin complexion has no role to play in that. So, let's work towards the essential things - living a content life, being a better person, setting goals and achieving them. Beauty will follow.
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