The ugly side of beauty: Politics of the dark skin

By Kathya de Silva

What does it take for a woman to look beautiful? A ton of beauty cream and a load of fairness products? A majority in our society invariably associate fairness with being pretty and beautiful while those of the darker skin to be less attractive and less pretty. According to general understanding, a beautiful girl would ideally be fair. But to be polite to the 'less fortunate' who have darker skin, they would be referred to as, "good looking despite being dark" or told "if you were lighter, you'd be prettier." Many of us have no doubt heard such expressions but ever stopped to think of the external politics that led to this oppression?

Fairness products are flying out the shelves in large numbers on a daily basis especially in South Asia despite the health warnings. The skin whitening industry in India is worth US $40 million while the global cosmetic industry specifically skin lightening is set to grow to a whopping US$ 3.6 billion in 2014, according to statistics. There is nothing wrong in trying to look beautiful or handsome but when men and women are discriminated by the colour of their skin and young girls and boys made to think less of themselves, it becomes problematic at many levels. Encouraging people to bleach their skin to become fairer is in other words to say that they are not good enough and that they must change.

Going back in history, there are many examples to show that our society accepted and celebrated dark skin. When King Walagamba was fleeing from Soli invaders, a Niganta named Giri mockingly said Maha Kalu Sinhalaya pala yanawa, (the great black Sinhala man is fleeing), associating dark skin to a strong personality. King Kawantissa was considered to be Kakawarna, meaning 'black as the crow' but was considered to be very handsome. In the old lullaby Vaniyan kalu waniyan, a mother lovingly calls her baby kalu or 'the dark one' referring to dark skin with great adoration. Pre-colonial Sinhala names denoting dark skin such as Kaluethana and Kalubanda are considered to be good Sinhala names. Even Hinduism has never shown a preference for lighter skin and there are references to people with dark skins in Hindu scriptures. Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu is described as a person of dark complexion and his name means dark blue or black. However, he was the epitome of beauty and referred to as 'black as a full raincloud.' In Buddhism, we come across Arahath Mugalan whose skin is said to be dark blue or black and he was an Agasau of the Buddha who had great mental and physical powers.

Today, when society is still struggling to overcome racism which plagued humanity for centuries, colourism which discriminates a person in one's own community according to skin tone, has slyly crept into our lives. This is mostly prevalent among societies with a colonial history.

Roots of this self-loathing can be traced back to the colonial era when lighter skin was a sign of status-quo. In British India, those with fair skin enjoyed more opportunities than dark skinned Indians and they were considered to be more affluent. Anglo-Indians with more European features were often more upwardly mobile, according to Indian research.

Beyond South Asia, colourism goes back to slavery where African-Americans with lighter skins were more accepted in society than the darker ones. Slave owners were known to give special treatment to slaves of a lighter skin tone, according to historic records. They enjoyed better jobs than darker skinned slaves with opportunities to travel abroad and read while their darker-toned peers toiled in the fields and were even barred from reading.

Stephen Biko

Even within their community, darker skinned African-Americans were discriminated and they were excluded from social events. Entrance to special events operated on the 'brown paper bag' principle in the 1960s where it was customary to hang a brown paper bag on the door and anyone darker than the bag was denied entrance. Such oppression within the community and racism at large, led individuals to eliminate African-American traits by bleaching their skin and trying to be more like the Caucasians.

It is not uncommon for African-American women today to undergo skin bleaching. In a popular talk show in the US, a young African-American woman said that she wished she was lighter so that she will be considered pretty. She said she tries to make sure that the same fate does not befall her daughter and started to bleach her daughter's skin since she was only five years old. According to a CNN study, nearly 60 years after Segregation, the African-American society is heavily skin biased.

In a more recent incident reported in the St.Petersburg Times, a dark-skinned waiter of a restaurant in Jonesboro, near Atlanta filed a lawsuit against his light-skinned African-American manager alleging that during his work period, the manager repeatedly referred to him as a 'black monkey' and a 'tar baby'. The manager also told him to bleach his skin, and later was fired after he refused to do so.

In the Indian film industry, fair skinned actresses are preferred over dark skinned ones when they are cast as coming from upper class, powerful families. According to some film-makers, they are considered to be pretty and those of darker skin are considered to be more sexually promiscuous. During an interview with an Indian TV channel, a film-maker was asked whether he would cast a dark skinned woman in an advertisement and his reply was in the negative. The audience was also appalled to hear him say that dark skinned women are good to be taken to a hotel and a fair skinned girl to be taken to his mother.

Back home, Miss Earth Sri Lanka 2013 came under heavy criticism for winning the competition because of her dark skin. Some commented in websites that she is not attractive enough to represent Sri Lanka because she is dark. Some people suspect foul play forgetting that a majority of Sri Lankans are dark. In an interview with us she responded to her haters saying, "Everyone associates beauty with being fair but it's more than that. Everyone has their own opinion about beauty competitions and what beauty is, but I think I made a difference. I broke the colour barrier!"

In the modeling and film industry in Sri Lanka, preference is high for fair skinned women. A celebrity make up artist said that most models and actresses prefer to have their skin lightened with make up for photo shoots and films as the photographers and directors want their models to look fairer. When asked from an advertising agent regarding fair skinned models and actresses, he said that fair skinned women are in demand as opposed to dark skinned ones.

Fairer skinned babies are praised for their luck in genetics while mothers apply many kinds of traditional skin whitening lotions on their darker babies to make them look fairer. Daughters are constantly told by their elders not to go in the sun and to carry an umbrella to protect their skin.

Marriage is another area where skin bias is practiced heavily. Mothers looking for brides for their sons often search for fair skinned girls. One glance at the marriage proposals section in a newspaper is evidence that fair skinned brides are the order of the day. Brides too fall victim and they make sure to mention that their skin is fair in advertisements. Beauticians as a result, taking advantage of this ever-growing demand to be fair, draw large sums of money from brides-to-be assuring them that they will indeed look fair if the skin is 'treated'.

"I was told by my beautician to use one of their products which will make me look fair. When I refused to come for weekly facials for three months as recommended, she said she cannot take the responsibility if I look ugly on my wedding day," a bride-to-be who wished to remain anonymous said.

It has been 50 years since South African anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko challenged the belief that black people are insignificant and inherently unattractive. Yet, it seems that many have forgotten this glorious history. Black is Beautiful is the slogan he used founding the Black Consciousness Movement in 1962, explained it in his own words as, "man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being". Biko saw the struggle to restore African consciousness needed a 'psychological liberation' as well as a 'physical liberation'. Black is Beautiful later became the proud cry of the black people acknowledging that they are no less human.

The need for a movement such as this has arisen in modern society especially in South Asia to remind ourselves to stop being ashamed and learn to accept ourselves. It seems that the society is moving backwards as people are becoming victims of colourism everyday. The media must practice more restraint to give a better message to the younger generation to uplift their self-esteem.

Modern society has many reasons to celebrate as it has challenged many notions that lead to the marginalization of certain sections of society. Yet, colourism that has drawn little attention keeps raising its ugly head to setback the society's forward march. It is one of the worst dilemmas we face today as it saps our inner strength and tells us that we are not worthy. It is a continuous journey to heal from the epidemic of colourism which has been within society for hundreds of years. It is not easy, but change starts from the root by teaching our children to accept themselves first and overcome inner barriers before challenging the outside. Then we can proudly move forward with our heads held high to face the world.