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Why folks are so obsessed over white skin?

Why folks are so obsessed over white skin?

Though I had seen this happening over and over again and there are many campaign against it and yet most of the movies work on this or selling sexism but I am just curious why people think white skins folks are good comparatively be it in professional work or personal relationship

Have you faced this discrimination personally?
And more importantly how to get over the inferiority complex?

View on r/India by kimyona_sekai

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41 Comments

  2. This is more like a global problem.
    I have lived in China, went to the beach once, it was bizarre to see ladies wearing hats, long sleeves and even carrying little umbrellas on the beach.
    For them the logic was simple, you have a dark skin then you are a peasant working on the fields and poor.
    You have a white skin, you are doing well and do not come from a poor background since you are not exposed to the sun.

    Reply

  3. For some white, the definition of beauty is white skin. I heard so many people saying “Gori hai, Sundar hai”. I know a family who rejected a marriage proposal because the girl was from the South of India, and I think you can guess the reason for rejection.
    Firstly the mindset needs to be changed, kaala/dark skin/sawla/black all these are adjectives, and should not be used as an insult.

    Reply

  5. Answering to your questions:

    1. I did face it during my school days and was bullied for it.
    2. It did take a huge toll on my confidence. I tried whitening it by applying fairness cream, they never worked. TBH I never saw one dark skinned girl/boy on the stage. Any speech, any event it was hosted by fair skinned students. The difference was evident. But in high school I had a good biology teacher who explained about DNA and made me realise that there is nothing wrong in my skin colour and I cant change it. This made me feel good and I started standing up to my bullies.

    As for the reason for people’s obsession on fair skin, I blame media for lack of representation and people who let their mind get rotten with such ideologies.

    Reply

  6. In India there is a whole complex with the upper classes always being fairer.

    Another aspect is that you can only maintain actual white skin by staying indoors and not working. Otherwise it tans or becomes pink. In the sun anyways. It’s probably subconsciously associate with lack of work, innocence, youthfulness, etc

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  8. It’s terrible how widespread skin lightening is amongst Bollywood actresses. The moment I found out, I unfollowed all of them on social media. They look horrible too, because their skin tone comes out a ghostly gray color, lol. It doesn’t look normal or natural at all.

    Reply

  12. This reminds me of an incident in school. So there was a play supposed to be set up by our class. The play had the character of a buffalo. I was away from school for 2 days for sickness and when I returned the teacher ( she was punjabi so extremely fair) hurried over excited to me saying that the entire class was waiting for me to come back so that the character of buffalo can be rehearsed. I was the only dusky girl in the whole class of fair girls so it’s like I would play buffalo , no other fair girl would take up the role. I felt so ashamed that I wasn’t even offered a choice , what if I wanted to play and had the guts to play the main character. That was like an introduction to the rest of my social life. Guys ignore or I am the last pick for the party after all the fair girls have been taken. Matrimony is no different. Guys have said to my face that we can go ahead since you are not fair. The guys whom I like reject me outright since all want to marry fair girls. My 5 year long relationship also ended when the guy’s mother said to me that they want fair grand kids which is not possible with me.

    So yeah , indian society is a fuckall place for me, my character, nature, skills, achievement all doesnot matter as long as I have fair skin. I refuse to undergo any whitening treatment despite ppl slyly suggesting it coz I am not ashamed of my color no matter how many attempts indian society makes to shame me.

    Reply

  14. Yes but it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s not my fault that some people were not raised right.

    My best friend used to tell me to get over it when people said colorist things to me. And that probably hurt my feelings more than the colorist things people said.

    Reply

  15. It’s everywhere. Most online shops have foreign models.
    Even your local store wala will use a stock image with a foreign model .

    I don’t understand as by the day you cuss outsiders but buy products in which they show up .

    Reply

  17. This is an issue in a lot of places. It describes the concept of colorism. In india I believe generally the rulers and lawmakers were of lighter skin tones the upper castes, the middle eastern rulers and finally the Europeans. So it makes sense that a natural inferiority has been built into people with darker skin even if they are educated or attractive.

    Reply

  18. Eurocentric standards of beauty.

    I had to go off on a friend of my husband. I called his wife beautiful, and he went on a rant about how she’s too dark and needs to be fairer. She needs to stay out of the sun and buy bleach cream.

    I was NICE at first, explained how most Americans view racism and colorism. Explained that white girls actually tan their skin to get darker. How insecurities in women are capitalized on, regardless of tone.

    But he kept on talking shit about his wife, so I went off on him. Said I don’t care if you’re “joking” or if somehow speaking badly about your spouse is south Asian culture. I don’t mess with racists and misogynists. So miss me with that nonsense.

    Black is beautiful. Brown is beautiful. Yellow is beautiful. Red is beautiful. Tan is beautiful. Beige is beautiful. White is beautiful. We’re ALL beautiful

    Reply

  20. Have been facing this everyday.
    Being brown and skinny really takes the life out of you, no matter what you do.
    And for the inferiority complex, even if you make yourself feel better someone or the other would pull you down no matter what.
    That’s the mentality of people which cannot be changed.

    Reply

  21. It’s a global problem of “haves” and “Not-Haves”.

    Indian/Mexican/South American Brown skin complexion is the “Ideal” skin tone and much sought after among the White populations where white skin is called “Pale” skin and they go to extreme lengths to get tanned.

    Conversely, Asians prefer white skin. Same mindset, we prefer what’s unique to us and deem it exotic.

    But It’s wrong when this leads to discrimination. The comedy of this situation is that people who are facing discrimination will actually be considered hot/attractive/exotic by the actual white/pale skinned people.

    Reply

  23. Because from childhood you have seen white skin is superior to black skin. I have seen so many Ads on Tv about how black skin doesn’t get a job or marriage once they use whitening cream they win in life.

    Reply

  27. Yes to having faced this discrimination personally. My mom’s side of the family is very fair. My father is wheatish to dark. I’ve naturally come out as some mishmash of the two of them (genetics). My Nani used to regularly comment on how I’m dark and therefore unattractive.

    It’s the bs narrative fed by the colonisers. It’s antiquated and outdated and frankly really stupid and irrelevant.

    You get over it by working on being comfortable with your skin tone. I understand that shame/trauma around this is hard to manage. But it’s not within your control anyway. Your skin colour is literally beyond your control.

    Please remember that it’s not you who is at fault here. we’ve been socialised into believing that being beautiful means being fair, when this couldn’t be further from the truth. It sucks that we are made to feel insecure about stuff like this.

    Also idk if this helps, but if being fair was so fucking attractive, white folk wouldn’t go out on a limb and lie on tanning beds and under the sun to get ‘Olive’ skin.

    Fuck what everyone says. Your beauty is not determined by the colour of your skin

    Reply

  30. Most people all over the globe tend to have a preference for pale skin and find it more beautiful

    And it’s not just because of colonization/western culture or what not. Those might be contributory factors but the main reason

    Even during ancient and mediaeval times, we have evidence of people from all over the globe – From India to Korea to Middle East and what not, finding pale skin more attractive

    Reply

  34. I was asking about a girl to my friend is she single blah blah, she was his girlfriend’s friend, but the girl friend told she will not be interested in me because I am brown and the girl was fairer than me. I have never dared to take initiative but when I did this is the answer I got. Maybe that’s why, I am never being approached by girls (girls usually don’t) but neither for friendly relations. I had never thought about that possibility my colour can be an obstacle.

    Reply

  35. Well I find light skin attractive and like my skin colour the way it is

    I’m seeing people in the comments calling out people for not letting themselves get tanned or staying out of the sun. Why is that wrong? Are people not allowed to choose how they look?

    Reply

  37. I don’t think that white skinned people are favoured over people with color, outside of Hollywood because they are white as a race. I simply believe it’s because of the ‘halo effect’ because white skin naturally looks good, now I know some of you would like to disagree with my comment but I am saying that on average.
    Racism outside of US of A is really rare, and I have never seen really attractive people of color not getting favors or getting less favors as compared to a white person of their peers I above also seen certain unattractive white people not getting any favors.

    So yeah, it’s usually because they look attractive as opposed to them being white.

    Reply

  40. White people in the western countries are literally regretting their own skin colour as lack of melanin causes a lot of skin diseases and a lot more.

    They have to always be conscious about their exposure to sun, pollution and they have to take a lot of care of their skin compared to people with brown skin.

    I’m proud of my skin colour.

    Reply

  41. Even Whites like white skin. There must be something bioLOGICAL in it. Joseph Conrad has praised it in The Rover, Bronte did it in Pride and Prejudice. What “slave/colonial mentality” were those suffering from, I wonder!

    Reply

  42. Light skin fetish is a strange human behavior observed across multiple human societies globally. East Asians, West Asians, Europeans, South Asians. What are the reasons that most of the world population is inclined towards it? Can it be brushed away, labeling, colonial hangover? Nope. Every human behavior you see today is based upon biological and social conditioning over ages.

    The answer lies in science, our biological conditioning, and cultural conditioning.

    1.) Science : humans are visual creatures. We rely on our sense of vision more than other senses combined, and it is pretty obvious people will react to visual stimulus more. Light skin scientifically reflects more light. It traps attention faster. Your facial harmony and facial fratures are visible more. In a country where common skintone is brown, light skin is something rare, and people do not get to see it daily. Rarity is what makes it exotic, and people incline towards it more.

    2.) Biological conditioning : This is a widely studied biological phenomenon. Your face is a report card to your biological health. Moles, pimples, rashes, etc. are a direct indicator of your health. How free is your system of pathogens and worms. How strong is your body. During evolution, the preference had a shift towards more biologically fit males/females for reproduction so that offspring is better and stronger. Facial harmony, clear face, facial symmetry, even skin tone are all indicators of strong genes. Club that with light skin and your facial features comes into highlight even more.

    3.) Social/cultural conditioning : Since time immemorial nobles have been indoor, and workers, labors, peasantry classes have been doing all the physical work in sun. The lower economic section of society tend to become darker than kings, nobles, ministers, and wealthy classes. Therefore, you see a direct class association also.

    Reply

  43. Anything that’s RARE or HARD TO HAVE subconsciously gives a Feel Of Achievement or Brag Worthy Thing when you have it

    For eg. –
    6 pack abs, A big penis, Fair skin, Blue eyes, A luxury watch/ Car/ house

    Some brag-worthy things I have heard while working in other states are as follows-

    Owning a gun, a bike (especially Royal Enfield-Bullet), apple company products, sexual pleasure experience

    Reply

  47. Some things stay the way, they are, no matter how much you don’t like it.People can go on saying every body is beautiful, all eye colors are good etc, but in the end beautiful people will always be white skinned, blue eyes or(I don’t know what it’s called in Hindi)Ghare dole etc. It’s just the way we are hardwired.Even, we can relate this to the transgender situation or the fat bodies look good etc., no matter how hard you try to incept an idea into the majority of people, their is a way our brains process, and it’s very hard for someone to accept it

    BTW, this is coming from someone who isn’t white skinned

    Reply

  48. I think it’s a camera thing too. Most.cameras to date, especially cheap ones, are optimised to make lighter skin more vibrant especially in poor light. Any time brown skinned people are in a photo the lighting is terrible.

    Modern smartphones have started to address this. Google pixel did a whole marketing campaign around it. Anyway, on camera, lighter skin has always ‘looked’ better. Same in print which most of the time just couldn’t deal with the contrast in darker and less darker areas.

    There’s the old ‘worker’ hangup too for people who spend time in the sun. And invaders into India for millennia have tended to be light skinned so there’s that too. Combination of factors has created quite a toxic racist mess.

    Reply

  51. I’m a guy with a dusky complexion. And here’s what I observed.
    1. Clothes’ colors go better with fair skin. Give it a thought, you’ve probably heard and agreed on this your entire life. I’m dark and I choose to not wear darker colors.

    2. Dark skin conceals features. Fair skinned people (could) have rosy cheeks and the glow on their skin is more clearly visible. These features represent youthfulness.
    Dark skinned people tend to have even darker skin on elbows and other regions due to excess melanin (especially when they are also fat) and also are more likely to have darker eyebags further worsening their appearance. All in all, fair skinned people do seem to do a better job “looking” more youthful than dark people do before they indeed become old. (Feel free to correct me on this one tho, this doesn’t come from research, just observation)

    3. Darker people with a complex tend to be less interested in grooming themselves, so they look immediately worse.
    Especially true for boys. Among us boys, we only ever think about grooming if we have a groomable face. Otherwise we would better spend our time someplace else saying “Beauty and all not my thing macha”.
    On the brighter side, I think this attitude kinda helps darker guys move on where girls take it too seriously and ruin their moods.

    Reply

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