India's myth of fair-skinned beauty - Bollywood's milky-complexioned stars contribute to a beauty culture in India where skin-whitening creams outsell Coca-Cola. Now the global fashion industry is embracing south Asia's darker-skinned models – but will it stop women favouring a fairer look?
Lakshmi Menon models for Zac Posen in New York. Photograph: Randy Brooke/WireImage
Widely regarded as India's first supermodel, Lakshmi Menon has worked with the fashion world's leading names from Jean Paul Gaultier to Hermés and is on the books of Storm – the agency that represents Kate Moss and Lily Cole.
Menon became fashion royalty last year when she was chosen for a 12-page editorial spread in US Vogue – a rare honour, which editor-in-chief Anna Wintour bestows on only her favourite muses.
But this remarkable success story only came about after the Bangalore-born beauty quit India three years ago at the age of 24.
Menon's career had come up against an invisible barrier – and it's one that "dark-skinned" Indians face every day.
"Back home very few people wanted to hire me. It became clear to me that my skin colour was not in demand," recalls Menon who has the deep brown shade of a typical Bangalorean.
"I didn't have much of a career apart from the odd editorial or campaign and the fact is that fairer-skinned models have found more success in India," she says.
The prejudice Menon faced is nothing new in the subcontinent. The misconception that darker skinned Indians are somehow inferior and less desirable than their fairer counterparts has existed for centuries.
"In the ancient scriptures, epics, or folk tales, the good character is always portrayed as being fair in complexion, suggesting that the fair are fair dealing and the dark complexioned has evil intentions," explains Shyamala Bhatia, an associate professor in history at the Bharati College, University of Delhi.
Add to that a history peppered with colonization by lighter-skinned invaders from the west, inequalities introduced by the caste system and 200 years of British rule, and it becomes clear why the concept of fairness being superior is embedded deep within the Indian psyche.
"During the Raj, the idea that those with fair skin were superior came with the packaging. It was never spoken about and there were no propaganda campaigns – it was just understood. The very fact the you were being ruled by pale skinned people meant that they were superior to the natives – you looked up to the white man," explains Dr Premen Addy, a senior lecturer in Asian and international history at Kellogg College, Oxford.
But even after the white rulers had long gone, India continued to be a slave to these misconceptions. From a succession of milky-complexioned Bollywood stars to a burgeoning market for skin-lightening creams, the notion never really went away.
But in today's India – an economic powerhouse with an ever-growing middle class who are proud of their Indian identity – there is a feeling that attitudes are beginning to change.
In April, Vogue India made a bold statement by featuring five "dark-skinned" models on its cover. The accompanying feature spoke of the need to celebrate the "true colour" of the Indian woman. The cover was lauded across the Indian media by journalists who see it as indicative of a wider shift in attitudes.
"Indians have a more international concept of beauty and we are now more in sync with global views and values," says Nonita Kalra, editor-in-chief of Elle India.
"The acceptance happened a long time ago and now it is an established fact."
Anil Chopra, CEO of Indian beauty and fashion giant Lakme Lever, regularly launches modelling careers by handing out big campaign contracts. Chopra doesn't see it as an issue any more: "Skin tone is becoming far less relevant. Just look at India fashion week – more than half the girls are on the duskier side. I sit in on the judging panel ever year and not once have I heard a comment about skin colour."
While the fashion industry may be evolving, it is Bollywood – the movie-churning super industry that really defines Indian values and attitudes. Here, the highest paid actresses tend to be several shades fairer than the average audience member.
According to Saibal Chatterjee, a leading Indian film critic, the industry is guilty of reinforcing these old attitudes. "Yes, we have made some headway with darker-skinned actresses coming through such as Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone, but the fair-faced stars like Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif still rule the Bollywood roost," he says.
"The word 'gori' – which literally means fair and has become a byword for a beautiful woman – is still very much a part of the lexicon of Hindi film.
"A bright complexion continues to be equated with pulchritude. Even Bollywood stars endorse skin-whitening creams – the film industry is very much part of the problem," he adds.
Bollywood's shady record in this area was underlined recently when its highest grossing star Shah Rukh Khan fronted a campaign for a skin-lightening cream aimed at men. A-list also actresses continue to promote whitening ranges – Sonam Kapoor appears in adverts for L'Oreal White Perfect, while Katrina Kaif promotes Olay's Natural White range.
With Bollywood continuing to encourage the notion that fairness epitomises beauty, skin-lightening creams are, meanwhile, outselling Coca-Cola in India.
In Britain the fairness-fetish is still very much alive, and a lucrative industry selling potentially harmful whitening creams continues to rise.
Brands such as Lightenex, Nur76, Fade Out and Fair & Lovely fill the shelves of ethnic stores, and are advertised across glossy Asian women's magazines and television channels.
Perhaps even more sinister is a thriving black market for under-the-counter creams pumped with banned lightening ingredients such as mercury and hydroquinone.
The scale of the problem is all too evident to Harley Street dermatologist Dr Aamer Khan who has seen a rise in women suffering from serious skin conditions as a result of trying to bleach their skin.
"I see patients with hypo-pigmentation (loss of pigment) resulting in white patches and hyper-pigmentation leading to darker areas – both are caused by skin bleaching agents. People buy these creams that offer false hopes, but the fact is, there is no safe way to whiten your skin. There needs to be more stringent moderating of these products, as it is a very serious problem."
For south Asians perhaps the most worrying aspect of all this is that the only evidence that suggests we may be finally embracing our true, natural appearance and skin shade is to be found in India.
It is "back home" where, the middle classes in particular, are regaining confidence and self respect lost during colonization.
But are British Asians living in our own modern-day Raj – subconsciously wanting to look more like the whites who ruled over us?
"The fair complexion is still sought by the people from the subcontinent [living] in the UK, because they may believe that it would make them more acceptable in their adopted land, which they want to call their own," says Bhatia.
Dr Addy adds: "Look at the cabinet - it is full of indigenous white people. So just as the Indians in the Raj looked up to the whites – here the whites have power, so perhaps we look up to them.
"But Indians now carry prestige in every industry – from medical, pharmaceutical, science, teaching and even prime-time television. We see Indian news broadcasters, so why one would want to change their skin colour is beyond me." ( guardian.co.uk )
Lakshmi Menon models for Zac Posen in New York. Photograph: Randy Brooke/WireImage
Widely regarded as India's first supermodel, Lakshmi Menon has worked with the fashion world's leading names from Jean Paul Gaultier to Hermés and is on the books of Storm – the agency that represents Kate Moss and Lily Cole.
Menon became fashion royalty last year when she was chosen for a 12-page editorial spread in US Vogue – a rare honour, which editor-in-chief Anna Wintour bestows on only her favourite muses.
But this remarkable success story only came about after the Bangalore-born beauty quit India three years ago at the age of 24.
Menon's career had come up against an invisible barrier – and it's one that "dark-skinned" Indians face every day.
"Back home very few people wanted to hire me. It became clear to me that my skin colour was not in demand," recalls Menon who has the deep brown shade of a typical Bangalorean.
"I didn't have much of a career apart from the odd editorial or campaign and the fact is that fairer-skinned models have found more success in India," she says.
The prejudice Menon faced is nothing new in the subcontinent. The misconception that darker skinned Indians are somehow inferior and less desirable than their fairer counterparts has existed for centuries.
"In the ancient scriptures, epics, or folk tales, the good character is always portrayed as being fair in complexion, suggesting that the fair are fair dealing and the dark complexioned has evil intentions," explains Shyamala Bhatia, an associate professor in history at the Bharati College, University of Delhi.
Add to that a history peppered with colonization by lighter-skinned invaders from the west, inequalities introduced by the caste system and 200 years of British rule, and it becomes clear why the concept of fairness being superior is embedded deep within the Indian psyche.
"During the Raj, the idea that those with fair skin were superior came with the packaging. It was never spoken about and there were no propaganda campaigns – it was just understood. The very fact the you were being ruled by pale skinned people meant that they were superior to the natives – you looked up to the white man," explains Dr Premen Addy, a senior lecturer in Asian and international history at Kellogg College, Oxford.
But even after the white rulers had long gone, India continued to be a slave to these misconceptions. From a succession of milky-complexioned Bollywood stars to a burgeoning market for skin-lightening creams, the notion never really went away.
But in today's India – an economic powerhouse with an ever-growing middle class who are proud of their Indian identity – there is a feeling that attitudes are beginning to change.
In April, Vogue India made a bold statement by featuring five "dark-skinned" models on its cover. The accompanying feature spoke of the need to celebrate the "true colour" of the Indian woman. The cover was lauded across the Indian media by journalists who see it as indicative of a wider shift in attitudes.
"Indians have a more international concept of beauty and we are now more in sync with global views and values," says Nonita Kalra, editor-in-chief of Elle India.
"The acceptance happened a long time ago and now it is an established fact."
Anil Chopra, CEO of Indian beauty and fashion giant Lakme Lever, regularly launches modelling careers by handing out big campaign contracts. Chopra doesn't see it as an issue any more: "Skin tone is becoming far less relevant. Just look at India fashion week – more than half the girls are on the duskier side. I sit in on the judging panel ever year and not once have I heard a comment about skin colour."
While the fashion industry may be evolving, it is Bollywood – the movie-churning super industry that really defines Indian values and attitudes. Here, the highest paid actresses tend to be several shades fairer than the average audience member.
According to Saibal Chatterjee, a leading Indian film critic, the industry is guilty of reinforcing these old attitudes. "Yes, we have made some headway with darker-skinned actresses coming through such as Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone, but the fair-faced stars like Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif still rule the Bollywood roost," he says.
"The word 'gori' – which literally means fair and has become a byword for a beautiful woman – is still very much a part of the lexicon of Hindi film.
"A bright complexion continues to be equated with pulchritude. Even Bollywood stars endorse skin-whitening creams – the film industry is very much part of the problem," he adds.
Bollywood's shady record in this area was underlined recently when its highest grossing star Shah Rukh Khan fronted a campaign for a skin-lightening cream aimed at men. A-list also actresses continue to promote whitening ranges – Sonam Kapoor appears in adverts for L'Oreal White Perfect, while Katrina Kaif promotes Olay's Natural White range.
With Bollywood continuing to encourage the notion that fairness epitomises beauty, skin-lightening creams are, meanwhile, outselling Coca-Cola in India.
In Britain the fairness-fetish is still very much alive, and a lucrative industry selling potentially harmful whitening creams continues to rise.
Brands such as Lightenex, Nur76, Fade Out and Fair & Lovely fill the shelves of ethnic stores, and are advertised across glossy Asian women's magazines and television channels.
Perhaps even more sinister is a thriving black market for under-the-counter creams pumped with banned lightening ingredients such as mercury and hydroquinone.
The scale of the problem is all too evident to Harley Street dermatologist Dr Aamer Khan who has seen a rise in women suffering from serious skin conditions as a result of trying to bleach their skin.
"I see patients with hypo-pigmentation (loss of pigment) resulting in white patches and hyper-pigmentation leading to darker areas – both are caused by skin bleaching agents. People buy these creams that offer false hopes, but the fact is, there is no safe way to whiten your skin. There needs to be more stringent moderating of these products, as it is a very serious problem."
For south Asians perhaps the most worrying aspect of all this is that the only evidence that suggests we may be finally embracing our true, natural appearance and skin shade is to be found in India.
It is "back home" where, the middle classes in particular, are regaining confidence and self respect lost during colonization.
But are British Asians living in our own modern-day Raj – subconsciously wanting to look more like the whites who ruled over us?
"The fair complexion is still sought by the people from the subcontinent [living] in the UK, because they may believe that it would make them more acceptable in their adopted land, which they want to call their own," says Bhatia.
Dr Addy adds: "Look at the cabinet - it is full of indigenous white people. So just as the Indians in the Raj looked up to the whites – here the whites have power, so perhaps we look up to them.
"But Indians now carry prestige in every industry – from medical, pharmaceutical, science, teaching and even prime-time television. We see Indian news broadcasters, so why one would want to change their skin colour is beyond me." ( guardian.co.uk )
Blog : The Compatibility | India's myth of fair-skinned beauty
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