Colourism is the daughter of racism

Colourism, which can be quite a virulent form of discrimination, is a global issue regardless of which criterion the discrimination is taking place

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?’’ The mirror says, “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land”. While this is the daily occurrence of pleasure to the Queen, suddenly, one very day the mirror replied, “Snow White, O Queen, is the fairest of them all.” And from then the hatred for snow white from the Queen’s side begins. I am pretty sure everyone more or less knows the basic storyline of the fairytale ‘Snow White’. However, the reason for which the reference of ‘Snow White’  is being dragged out here is pretty much predictable and that is ‘colourism’, a much discussed  issue of today’s world and quite obvious part of what is widely known as “ Body Shaming’’.

Colourism, which can be quite a virulent form of discrimination, is a global issue regardless of which criterion the discrimination is taking place. It is prevalent everywhere, in all cultures but especially in South Asian countries like ours. In Bangladesh, the society has developed a rigid inflexible standard to determine one’s beauty. As we know beauty is subjective and it’s not fixed thus the definition of beauty varies from person to person. Yet there is tradition here from that judge a person’s, more specifically a woman’s beauty, on the basis of a certain entrenched criterion. For example, “if someone is fair, she is beautiful’’, “if someone’s skin is flawless, freckles free, she is beautiful”. In most cases being fair is almost synonymous with being beautiful.

This criterion eventually makes a person, again basically women, ‘marriage material’. This has reached to some certain level of obsession. Earlier it used to be turmeric paste or other herbal concoctions which, if not much beneficial were not harmful. Now though many girls/ women are becoming desperate to go for different types of fairness creams intending with to have lighter skin tone. It must be stressed that ingredients found in fairness creams are, most health experts believe dangerous and makes your skin sensitive to sunlight, or even cause skin darkening. More often, it may leave marks on your face that will remain on a permanent basis and may even cause skin cancer. Most importantly, fairness cream reduces your skin tolerance making it lose its self-repair capabilities. Unfortunately, the after-effects of fairness creams will show up only after you begin using it and excessive use of cosmetics is sure to cause permanent damage to your skin. Even though many experts have spoken out against this obsession, the manufacturing and selling has not decreased because the idea of colourism is rooted here for a long period of time.  On the other hand, the scenario is ambiguous in many countries of the Western world. For skin color, they rarely lust for fair skin. Having fair skin is not something precious to them because they already have fair skin naturally.

So, why this issue has become so much acute with the passage of time? To understand this, we need to dive into this issue a bit. We need to dissect why these ideas are so rooted in our culture? To answer this, one cannot but talk about ‘colonisation’. We (the Indian sub continent) have a long history of being ruled by the Mughals and then the British people. Mughal rulers had Turk and Persian ethnicity hence. Their complexion was considered attractive. However, the main concept of oppression was brought to light at the time of the British rule because they sort of injected the idea that only people with fair complexion are superior and they have the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree. Since then, the society has been cherishing it as an abiding belief.

Even hundreds of years since the British left the idea of colourism, it is still deeply rooted in our cultures throughout South Asia. In our Bengali culture, unfortunately we still suffer from many of the ills of colonialism.  The darker ones skin is, the less beautiful they are perceived to be. This mentality has continued through generations. During the heydays of the British Raj, entry to restaurants and educational institutions was prohibited for “Black Indians” with entry boards clearly stating “Indians and dogs not allowed”. But the British needed Indians in their work force. Invariably, employments to Indians were reserved for odd jobs and low-ranks in army. Lighter skinned Indians got preference over their darker counterparts and hired more frequently. Decades later, this also sowed the seeds of the creation of Bangladesh. Tall and white Pakistani generals made fun of the black, diminutive Bengalis.

Be it print media or online, which are the most effective ways to convey any social message to a larger scale, the industry always seem to prefer model/actresses with fair complexion. Even, let’s think about the golden age of the most popular fairness cream brand ever introduced in Bangladesh. Surprisingly, the advertisements used to promote ideas of colourism yet people hardly raised voice over it. The advertisements were so improper because it conveyed message like fair complexion can get you a good job, you can be confident if you are fair etc. The socio cultural setting then allowed people to accept these unhealthy ideas. However, people are raising their voices now and that helped lowering down the use of those promotional punch lines. Yet even now, most people here show apparent ignorance about the practice of exclusion and discrimination based on the skin tone of a person although it is a deep-rooted problematic practice embraced by both the oppressor and the victim. A Bengali phrase one hears too often, addressing to girls with dark skin tone: “Or rong ta moyla” with absolutely no intention of insulting. This is simply put as a matter of fact because we have become indoctrinated with this norm.

Casual Colourism is one of the most self-destructive problems that pervade every aspect of our cultural consciousness. This unholy phenomenon can affect the psychology of the people who are dark skinned and their confidence level can be affected. The person who gets bullied for having darker complexion is more likely to feel alienated. Moreover, their innate potential can also be destroyed which is in no way acceptable.   Darker does not mean uglier. The mindset that considers only fair skinned people are beautiful must change.  

The writer is a journalist of

The Independent

 

Colourism is the daughter of racism

Colourism, which can be quite a virulent form of discrimination, is a global issue regardless of which criterion the discrimination is taking place

Mirror, mirror on the wall, whos the fairest of them all? The mirror says, Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land. While this is the daily occurrence of pleasure to the Queen, suddenly, one very day the mirror replied, Snow White, O Queen, is the fairest of them all. And from then the hatred for snow white from the Queens side begins. I am pretty sure everyone more or less knows the basic storyline of the fairytale Snow White. However, the reason for which the reference of Snow White is being dragged out here is pretty much predictable and that is colourism, a much discussed issue of todays world and quite obvious part of what is widely known as Body Shaming. Colourism, which can be quite a virulent form of discrimination, is a global issue regardless of which criterion the discrimination is taking place. It is prevalent everywhere, in all cultures but especially in South Asian countries like ours. In Bangladesh, the society has developed a rigid inflexible standard to determine ones beauty. As we know beauty is subjective and its not fixed thus the definition of beauty varies from person to person. Yet there is tradition here from that judge a persons, more specifically a womans beauty, on the basis of a certain entrenched criterion. For example, if someone is fair, she is beautiful, if someones skin is flawless, freckles free, she is beautiful. In most cases being fair is almost synonymous with being beautiful. This criterion eventually makes a person, again basically women, marriage material. This has reached to some certain level of obsession. Earlier it used to be turmeric paste or other herbal concoctions which, if not much beneficial were not harmful. Now though many girls/ women are becoming desperate to go for different types of fairness creams intending with to have lighter skin tone. It must be stressed that ingredients found in fairness creams are, most health experts believe dangerous and makes your skin sensitive to sunlight, or even cause skin darkening. More often, it may leave marks on your face that will remain on a permanent basis and may even cause skin cancer. Most importantly, fairness cream reduces your skin tolerance making it lose its self-repair capabilities. Unfortunately, the after-effects of fairness creams will show up only after you begin using it and excessive use of cosmetics is sure to cause permanent damage to your skin. Even though many experts have spoken out against this obsession, the manufacturing and selling has not decreased because the idea of colourism is rooted here for a long period of time. On the other hand, the scenario is ambiguous in many countries of the Western world. For skin color, they rarely lust for fair skin. Having fair skin is not something precious to them because they already have fair skin naturally. So, why this issue has become so much acute with the passage of time? To understand this, we need to dive into this issue a bit. We need to dissect why these ideas are so rooted in our culture? To answer this, one cannot but talk about colonisation. We (the Indian sub continent) have a long history of being ruled by the Mughals and then the British people. Mughal rulers had Turk and Persian ethnicity hence. Their complexion was considered attractive. However, the main concept of oppression was brought to light at the time of the British rule because they sort of injected the idea that only people with fair complexion are superior and they have the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree. Since then, the society has been cherishing it as an abiding belief. Even hundreds of years since the British left the idea of colourism, it is still deeply rooted in our cultures throughout South Asia. In our Bengali culture, unfortunately we still suffer from many of the ills of colonialism. The darker ones skin is, the less beautiful they are perceived to be. This mentality has continued through generations. During the heydays of the British Raj, entry to restaurants and educational institutions was prohibited for Black Indians with entry boards clearly stating Indians and dogs not allowed. But the British needed Indians in their work force. Invariably, employments to Indians were reserved for odd jobs and low-ranks in army. Lighter skinned Indians got preference over their darker counterparts and hired more frequently. Decades later, this also sowed the seeds of the creation of Bangladesh. Tall and white Pakistani generals made fun of the black, diminutive Bengalis. Be it print media or online, which are the most effective ways to convey any social message to a larger scale, the industry always seem to prefer model/actresses with fair complexion. Even, lets think about the golden age of the most popular fairness cream brand ever introduced in Bangladesh. Surprisingly, the advertisements used to promote ideas of colourism yet people hardly raised voice over it. The advertisements were so improper because it conveyed message like fair complexion can get you a good job, you can be confident if you are fair etc. The socio cultural setting then allowed people to accept these unhealthy ideas. However, people are raising their voices now and that helped lowering down the use of those promotional punch lines. Yet even now, most people here show apparent ignorance about the practice of exclusion and discrimination based on the skin tone of a person although it is a deep-rooted problematic practice embraced by both the oppressor and the victim. A Bengali phrase one hears too often, addressing to girls with dark skin tone: Or rong ta moyla with absolutely no intention of insulting. This is simply put as a matter of fact because we have become indoctrinated with this norm. Casual Colourism is one of the most self-destructive problems that pervade every aspect of our cultural consciousness. This unholy phenomenon can affect the psychology of the people who are dark skinned and their confidence level can be affected. The person who gets bullied for having darker complexion is more likely to feel alienated. Moreover, their innate potential can also be destroyed which is in no way acceptable. Darker does not mean uglier. The mindset that considers only fair skinned people are beautiful must change. The writer is a journalist of The Independent