Originally posted by: TexanHolden
that is ridiculous. It makes me want to dislike desi girls a lot. they seem so insecure with their skin. No I wonder why desi women never run after an african-america... or african.
Yes, many desi women are insecure about their skin color. However, I would not blame them for it. It is desi society that breaks them to be so insecure. There is a fairness obsession amidst desi. Do a google search for fairness creams, all products are directed towards desis. You don't see the fairness obsession amidst other darker skinned ethnicities.
A dark girl in India, from her childhood is told that she is too dark and has to be fairer to be more attractive. She is constantly told to try fairness products, apply all sorts of ointments to her face and skin to appear fairer. Matrimonial ads always use the keywords like 'fair', 'wheatish complexion' etc, signaling that dark skinned girls are not desirable. One of my own friends own mother used to chide her because she was extremely dark. Her sister was fairer, and her mother would put her down saying how difficult it will be for them to find a groom in the future. She was told to avoid the sun as it would make her darker and advised to try all sorts of remedies for lightening. How is any girl supposed to feel confident about her skin tone in this environment?
Even I've had people tell me to stop playing in the sun so much as it was making me very tan. Fortunately, family also did not believe in these standards. My mom is quite dark skinned and my family never ever commented on or considered skin tone as part of beauty or necessary in marriage alliances. I also think I was lucky not to be too dark by Indian standards, if not I would have been chided. As a kid even I had people tell me not to play so much in the sun, I was getting dark. I used to be delusional about skin color myself due to the external influences and show my tan lines to prove I was fairer. I don't care at all anymore. I actually love my skin color. So many people are always jealous of me because I get such even natural tans. People have often said "I wish I could tan like you" and it amuses me to think there was a time in my life that this was supposed to be a bad thing.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Anupamaa
