An ideal Indian woman?

By Kavitha Emmanuel | Director, WOW

We often conclude that our worth is based on what we do or how we look. And for many of us, especially women, what we see in the mirror – or what we think we see in the mirror – shapes much of our identity. Added to these notions are our society’s norms on how a girl or a woman should look and behave. The Media sends us confusing messages about who we are and what we should look like often capitalizing on the norms that are already found in our society.

An ideal Indian woman! Who is she? She is tall, slim, with well defined features and FAIR!  

What do we read when we open the matrimonial sections of our newspapers? Have you ever tried to count the number of ‘fairness’ advertisements that you are exposed to on television everyday? It seems the marketing universe would have us believe that the majority of Indian girls and women need to lighten up!

Based on the Global Village Theory, if we were to shrink the whole world into a village of 100 people, 70 of us would be colored! And we are a nation made of up people with different shades and colours of skin – from yellow to light brown and darker shades of brown. To set ‘fair’ as the norm of beauty is so ‘Un-Fair.’

The Dark is Beautiful campaign is all about spreading the message that beauty is beyond colour. We are all citizens of one nation– tall or short , men or women, children or adults, Fair or Dark. Why make a big deal about skin colour when you are beautiful just the way you are?

Is it possible for us to shed our bias against dark skin and give everyone a ‘fair chance’ to be accepted, loved and represented in all walks of life?

Yes, it is possible!