Are you an Indian? You cannot have missed your Mom shout at you "Don't go out in the Sun, you'll turn Dark". Only in India, being DARK is considered a fate worse than any other. Believe ME this attitude starts right from the cradle.
How did this come along?
We live in a society that equates fairness with beauty. We must blame the multi-million dollar fairness cream industry for this stupidity spread strong amongst our people. Fairness Ads seem to be cultivating stereotypical beliefs among our people by glorifying fairer skin complexion and thereby promoting their products as savior for dark-skinned people.What are these ADs doing to us? Good girl = Good Looks = Thin + Fair.
Fairness of skin tone has been associated with being sexy and attractive. To make the matter worse, fairness cream ads continue to project themselves as a source of confidence, self-esteem and chances of employability. The blatant message they spread by these Ads is Fair --> Success. Such STUPIDITY. And Know what? We are letting them succeed splendidly.
Let's speak Science
Dark people possess more melanin than the light-skinned population and these Fairness cream ads promise to transform the user’s skin by reducing this melanin pigmentation. Neither do they speak up about the biochemical aftereffects nor do they come with a blatant disclaimer over the rampant use of fairness creams.Let me tell you one little thing, if the use of cream does not do the fairness magic to you, the Cancer cells can definitely do it for you. Yes! True! Reduced number of melanin is directly linked to skin cancer and melanoma. In fact, the risk is so high that many of them develop life threatening skin cancers before and during their reproductive years.
Case Study
Fairness Creams in reality, are trying to make us believe their promise to reverse 50,000 years effect of evolution and migration in a phenomenally short duration of time by tinkering with Melanin.Just read this Google Definition of ALBINO: an organism exhibiting deficient pigmentation; especially a human being that is congenitally deficient in pigment and usually has a milky or translucent skin.Statistical data suggest that,
- * More than 90% of Albino individuals living near the equator in Africa will die in their 30s or before, mainly because of skin cancer.
- * Out of more than 500 Tanzanians with albinism, nearly all died of skin cancer before the age of 40.
What must we know?
Skin complexion turns out to be adaptation in action. It is an evolutionary trait that resulted from natural selection and ultraviolet exposure over thousands of years. The lesser the radiation exposure, lighter the native population's skin color tends to be.Are you in a Hotter region? Are you sad because your Baby is born Dark?
Any Babycentre community can stand proof for this. There is sure to be atleast one mother in distress over her child's complexion. In a way, I'm guilty too.. Of praying for a little Melanin reduction from my Daughter's complexion. I finally understood how stupid I was. We simply don't have to blame our Karma and feel totally lost.
How will the future be?
My guilt paved way to write this article. After researching many fairness articles, I came to this conclusion - Nature loves my Child and wants her to survive as the Fittest. Who are we to deny? This is what I'll tell her when she grows up and thinks to try out any fairness atrocities. My sincere advice - Try changing your mindset, not your Child's skin tone.Mark my Words! There'll come a day when moisturisers and fairness creams get replaced by dark mud cake/paste in Ladies handbags.