Obsession with Fair Skin: In South Asian societies, people are often judged based on their skin tone. For Desi people, the only acceptable complexion is white or pale, and any other skin, be it tan, brown, olive or even beige, all come under their title of “kaala/kaali”. Societies like these develop insecurities at an incredibly young age, where pre-teens think that having a dark complexion means that something is wrong with them.
Girls in South Asian societies are taught very early on that they are not supposed to wear light colours because they will make them look darker. A sanwali girl in a white kurta? Can you imagine? In addition to this, there are many other rules they are expected to follow, such as cleansing their face with a scrub that could easily remove burnt food from the oldest pot in your cabinet.
Local, small-scale companies later profit from these insecurities by marketing a product that will make their complexion lighter and more “fair”. Examples of such are Golden Pearl and the infamous Fair & Lovely. Such creams are full of harmful substances such as mercury and steroids, which are harmful to consume in the long term. The advertisement industry constantly characterises dark-skinned people as unhappy or even depressed; then, when they layer on foundation two to three shades too light for them, all of a sudden, they are shown as happy, confident and successful.
Moreover, the unlimited videos that circulate the web where celebrities, influencers or even dermatologists make up some desi totkay advising us to make a mask of baesan and chawal ka atta because apparently that will make our skin shade lighter, apart from home remedies, and the trending salons that are famous for making women’s skin shade lighter in one session by applying this mystery mask (which I’m sure is full of steroids) are other issues. But the question arises, why are there even desi totkay and mystery masks for making your skin shade lighter, as if it were a disease?
Women with a dark skin tone have revealed that they are constantly pressurised to bleach their skin by their waxing lady — we get that they’re just trying to make a profit, but their comments of ‘haw Baji apko is tarha bahir jatay sharam nahi ati?’ are downright wrong. Is making dark-skinned people self-conscious to the point where they are ashamed to go out really that necessary?
The Pakistani entertainment industry tends to target one’s skin tone, making racist jokes under the guise of humour. If you’re making jokes based on skin tones in 2025, you need to do some serious reflection. Why is it that it’s always dark-skinned actors who are shown as poor, unhygienic, selfish and gold diggers? Always given the secondary role, and then all of a sudden, when they get rich, they have a massive transformation where their skin brightens at least 3 shades lighter.
I remember during my high school farewell, a dark-skinned classmate of mine received the title of Parizad, which was based on the famous Hum TV series. Is this really the only memorable part the administration could’ve come up with? To remember him by his skin colour, completely disregarding his empathy, hard work, and resilience, is absolutely saddening to me.
For rishtas, desi families, especially from the groom’s side, first require that ‘larki surkh safaid honi chahiye’, and if, heaven forbid, she has olive skin, she is deemed completely unacceptable for their son, who barely passed college.
Why is it that a girl’s worth is directly proportional to her skin shade? If a girl is dark-skinned, then all her accomplishments no longer hold any value. However, on the other hand, if she is fair, then it will open many doors for her, even if she may not be intellectually that smart.
While the West remains obsessed with tanning their skin by spending hours under UV rays and spraying on countless harmful chemicals that are called ‘spray tans’, the East remains obsessed with lightening their skin, whether it is through makeup, steroids or even injections. It’s time that we leave this disgusting ideology in its rightful place (buried deep in a graveyard) and embrace our naturally alluring skin tones — whichever they may be!