The grocery store was humid and the air was sticky. It made my hair stand up and I hurried to push it down as my mother grasped my hand and pulled me toward another aisle. I was looking at the celery when she led me toward one of her friends. He asked me to introduce myself, and when I did, he chuckled. “She lives up to her name.”
My name is Gauri. In Hindi, this name has many meanings*, but the meaning he was referring to was fair, or of a light complexion. My mother smiled and thanked him, but I was confused. Why is being light considered a compliment?
Then I remembered another conversation I had with my mother. When I was just five years old, I was warned against the sun. I had been playing outside all day with my friends, running around, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, when my mother, alarmed, rushed to pull me inside. She hurriedly told me that the sun would make my skin darker, and to try to avoid it at all times. I was crushed. Being told to avoid the warmth and friendliness of the sun was something I simply could not comprehend at the time. Why is it wrong to be dark? When I asked her, she said that being fair was far more preferable than being dark.
This experience is not mine alone. Several people around the world have faced what I have. Why is a lighter complexion considered more beautiful than one that is dark? This is a question I have asked for several years. I’ve seen the blatant colorism not only in my own family, but in my own religion and culture as well. In fact, beauty and skin products have been made and even advertised to lighten skin. Fair and Lovely** is one of many products that promise to lighten skin, and it’s labeled as a cleaning product. Is a dark complexion dirty?
One could say that colonization may be one of the reasons why a darker complexion is considered less attractive. When colonizers, mostly of a lighter complexion, took over, they established their own beauty standards. People repeatedly witnessed that those with darker skin were treated as less of a human being than those with lighter skin. Now, the widely recognized beauty standard consists of a lighter complexion with Eurocentric features. Many forms of media also promote this beauty standard. Take for instance, the many movies that mainly cast white actors and actresses as leads. Could colonization really have such a big impact on how people see those with darker skin, even within a culture that mostly has those with darker skin?
There are many theories (societal bias, upbringing, etc.), but at the end of the day, the simple fact is that a lighter complexion is seen as better, or more preferable, than a darker one. I admit that steps are being taken to undo this (products are being banned or called out, more people are recognizing the colorist beauty standard), but we must focus on the traumatizing effects this colorism has on young children, girls especially. The correlation of beauty and light skin causes many young girls and women to have a lower self esteem over something they can’t change. Moreover, a darker complexion is not uglier than a lighter one! All complexions are beautiful in their own way, and it is when we as a society finally realize this that we can truly celebrate all cultures. The racism within cultures is appalling, the global obsession with light skin is appalling, and we must seek out to inform and educate those who believe in the current beauty standard that lighter skin is more attractive than darker skin. All complexions are beautiful and perfectly unique.
*My parents named me this because it was a combination of both their names and the name of a Hindu Goddess. The third meaning was just a coincidence, and was the one used in this scenario.
**Fair and Lovely has since changed its name to Glow and Lovely, but the purpose of the product is the same.