When nearly 30% ads on Indian Television are fairness creams, it makes you wonder if we are promoting a certain type of racism in India. That means 1 in 3 ads is promoting fairness as a means of boosting your confidence and making your family/spouse proud of you. How is this short of racism towards dark skinned women?
Now that the ads have done enough about exposing the "bad effects" of melanin and dark pigmentation of skin, they are now gunning for even your underarms. (Really Anushka Sharma? You want to promote fairness of the underarms?). As it is we have matrimonial ads asking for "fair" brides. I won't wonder if they ask for fair underarms in the coming times.
I am not sure who is crazy about the fair ladies alone. Dusky ladies have their own following too. So why doesn't that translate well into our fairness-crazy culture? I can understand ads on reducing wrinkles, dark spots etc. (OK even that to an extent is belittling nature, but who is to stop those who want to look younger forever). But ads that appallingly present a background story where fairness creams can get you that prized job, that handsome groom, the pride of their parents and the attention of the spouse is sad. That too in a world where women are breaking all barriers to rise up in their personal and professional lives - the emphasis on fairness ads is shameful. To top it all, successful beautiful Indian women promoting such products coming from reputed global manufacturing companies, is blasphemous.
Even 17 year old Zooey Deschanel knew better (as she wrote in this letter to Vogue dated 1997. Courtesy: @LettersOfNote)
Even 17 year old Zooey Deschanel knew better (as she wrote in this letter to Vogue dated 1997. Courtesy: @LettersOfNote)
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