Freida talks about India's fair skin obsession

Posted: 13 years ago
In an interview to Oprah Winfrey's Magazine, the star of Woody Allen's latest film says she once thought her complexion was "a curse", until a chance encounter with a white women made her realize just how lucky she was.

I'm from a culturally rich and diverse nation, India. We speak many languages and have unimaginable variety in our traditional cuisine. People in the north look completely different from those in the south - sometimes it's hard to believe we all come from the same country. But there is one disturbing notion prevalent throughout India: that light skin is more attractive than dark. And as someone who has what Indians call a dusky complexion, I used to think there might be truth to that. When you doubt one thing about yourself, you start thinking there's also something wrong with your hair, your body, your clothes, your accent - everything.

A few years ago, my modeling agency asked me to audition for skin-lightening commercials. I knew those products were wrong, so I'd show up with a burden in my heart, thinking, I can't believe I'm doing this. Those commercials sent out a message that if your skin is lighter, you are more acceptable to society. The strangest part was that the people creating these negative images were some of the most attractive dark-skinned people I have seen. They always rejected me for the ads, and I'm glad they did.

Before my first movie, Slumdog Millionaire, I hadn't traveled outside Southeast Asia. But while promoting the film, I went on a world tour and interacted with people of many different ethnicities. One day I was checking in at my Los Angeles hotel and a woman who was as pale as pale can be said to me: "I'd love to have your skin color. It's so beautiful!" I thought, What? Where I come from people want to be your color, lady. I wish all Indian girls could have heard her say that.

Then something just clicked. I thought, I'm going to stop thinking my complexion or accent isn't good enough. Then and there I decided to be happy with what I have.

In my travels, I've seen that self-doubt is not just an Indian problem. All people - African, European, American - worry about being different. But I've learned that the traits we'd rush to get rid of are the very ones that others desire. People always covet what they don't have. That's why we should look at ourselves every now and then and say, "I'm proud of myself. I like the way I'm made."
Posted: 13 years ago
One day I was checking in at my Los Angeles hotel and a woman who was as pale as pale can be said to me: "I'd love to have your skin color. It's so beautiful!" I thought, What? Where I come from people want to be your color, lady

Do all indians wants to be white?
Edited by anista45 - 13 years ago
Posted: 13 years ago
I don't know do they?
Edited by ruky786 - 13 years ago
Posted: 13 years ago
^Not really! But I think it's a generalization!! But I don't live their so I don't know the attitude ppl have!

I know here, everyone gets so jealous of my honey brown skin color b/c I live in a predominately white neighbor where ppl get their skin tanned all the time and so they tell me how lucky I am to be "naturally tanned"! I guess ppl like a little color!!
Posted: 13 years ago
I think my skin colour is medium fair but some people say to me they wish they had similar colour to me but I just say you should be happy to what skin colour you have.
Posted: 13 years ago
In Portugal people are obsessed with what they call the "moreno" skin tone, a dark skin complexion but not literally negro. Hence they think that persons of Indian ethnicity have the best skin skin complexion. And nowadays Freida Pinto is an example of ideal beauty for the portuguese masses.

But there is a difference in this skin complexion preference between Indians and westerners in general. Here people wouldnt look down upon you for being a few shades less dark than the average person. Nor do people have any inferiority complex for being white. They just fancy the "moreno" skin tone to the core. And it ends there. In India its more than a healthy obsession purely driven by embelishment urges. People literally discriminate darker skinned persons. And that just sucks. Maybe they need a trip to Australia or eastern Europe to get a reality check!
Posted: 13 years ago
Originally posted by radsuinda


In Portugal people are obsessed with what they call the "moreno" skin tone, a dark skin complexion but not literally negro. Hence they think that persons of Indian ethnicity have the best skin skin complexion. And nowadays Freida Pinto is an example of ideal beauty for the portuguese masses.

But there is a difference in this skin complexion preference between Indians and westerners in general. Here people wouldnt look down upon you for being a few shades less dark than the average person. Nor do people have any inferiority complex for being white. They just fancy the "moreno" skin tone to the core. And it ends there. In India its more than a healthy obsession purely driven by embelishment urges. People literally discriminate darker skinned persons. And that just sucks. Maybe they need a trip to Australia or eastern Europe to get a reality check!
 
colour discrimination is perhaps more predominant in india... it also does not help with all the celebs endorse fairness creams, and the general perception in the movies, that fairer is better....!  
Posted: 13 years ago
. Why are the actors usually light-skinned, even in films from Southern India?

The hot-button issue, with most of my correspondents on the same side. Some readers, often Tamil residents or fans of Tamil and Telugu films (in southern India), listed several stars of darker hue. Sourabh Gupta points out: "Though fair actors might be favored by the producers of the movies, the masses seem to care less. Ajay Devgan ... Manoj Bajpa ... Suniel [Sunil] Shetty, Rajnikanth, and even Mithuh Chakarvathy were all stars. even if they weren't fair skinned. The elitist in India might have the conception that fair is beautiful, but I think masses will love anyone who can act or represents them."

But the majority agreed that the stars on the screen are lighter-skinned than most of the people watching them. It's not just a movie preoccupation. "You'll find every girl in India trying to make herself more fair-skinned than she is by every cream possible," observes Arun Mani. "Hence all the skin care products in India are designed to match the mindset by advertising to give a lighter skin. I am pretty sure most people in India don't know what the word 'tanning' means Mothers don't let their daughters out the sun, lest they will get dark skins. And guys in India always think the basic requirement for a girl to be beautiful is that she should be fair! So white-skinned people in India think they are good-looking. If you look at south Indian movies, the actor might be dark-skinned; but the actress will be light-skinned." Often they are imported, as Madras' ace auteur Mani Rathnam did with the Nepali actress Manisha Koirala.

The prejudice could be a vestige of the caste system: "In general, the lighter the skin color of an Indian, the higher social class that person is perceived to have," says Risha Patel. "It is thought that the darker individuals must have been through multiple hardships — e.g., works in the sun — which causes them to have a darker complexion." Or it could be a hangover from the Raj and earlier colonizers of the subcontinent. "There are plenty of dark skinned actors and actresses, especially in South Indian movies," observes Sribuddaraju, "but they are made up to look fairer than usual due to the age long discrimination against dark skin in favor of light-skinned 'superior' races that invaded and settled down in India throughout the ages."

Beauty is power, power beauty. Is light considered right because it is the color of the dominant class or caste? Or do the powerful simply get to decide what's attractive? Here's a sad generalization: In Europe, the U.S. and Africa, as well as India, the light-skinned Northerners are the bosses of the dark-skinned Southerners. "Shade-ism," prejudice based on skin gradients, exists everywhere, as attested to by this poignant tale from Tammy, an adoptive mother in the U.S.:

"Having two beautiful Indian daughters, one with medium skin and one with dark, I can tell you that there is prejudice based on skin gradients in India, including southern India where my girls are from. I saw it when I was there in 1994 to pick up my lighter-skinned daughter. "You are so lucky to be getting her" they told me, as the caregivers ignored my companion's darker- skinned child. Mallika was spoiled in the orphanage. They would rarely put her down. They were so loving to her that they didn't really let me be with her until we left for Madras.

"A few years later we adopted Maya from the same orphanage. She came to us with all the signs of neglect. She had no expression and no muscle-tone in her legs. She swayed to pass the time and even though she was the same age upon her arrival as Mallika, couldn't talk or walk. A few weeks after her arrival she began to thrive because she actually had someone to cuddle her and love her now. We have her in special education programs to make up for the 16 months of little brain development. (The first two years of brain development are crucial to the intellect of the person.) I don't know if we will ever get her to the point that she could have been at had we gotten her right away. Interestingly, we have not found this type of prejudice in our country. Many more people remark on how beautiful Maya is. We have even been approached by a catalog photographer who wanted to photograph her
Posted: 13 years ago
I totally get Freida and she is absolutely right! My own personal experience is very similar to hers.....
Posted: 13 years ago
I sincerely hope that this article succeeds in delivering a momentous social message to all those girls suffering from low self esteem: acknowledge your flaws, and be proud of them, it makes you stand out from the crowd!!!! Don't ignore them as it will always prick you like a thorn, instead work hard and try to improve your flaws!!!! (wisdom of experience👍🏼)

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