Tired of other people's advice to whiten her skin during childhood, Indian student Chandrana Hiran is currently struggling against the Asian obsession with whitening skin, and she has become more determined about her position after the global anti-racist demonstrations.
This young woman launched an electronic petition against the Fair and Lovely complexion from Unilever, collecting tens of thousands of signatures. The student scored a victory early last month following the group’s decision in the cosmetic industry to change the names of its products bearing the words “Fatih” and “White”.
Under pressure from the "Blacks Life Is Important" movement, giant groups in the sector, including "L'Oreal" and "Johnson & Johnson", have taken similar measures. However, opposition to discrimination based on the degree of whiteness in Asia believes that these initiatives eliminate the root causes of the problem represented by deep-rooted stereotypes. In the soul.
And in India in particular, the light skin color is linked to richness and beauty, especially for women.
"People believe that people with darker skin will not succeed in life," says Chandana Hiran, 22. Bollywood films have contributed to the consolidation of these stereotypes, as the actresses are often fair-skinned, as well as advertisements, and advertisements for arranged marriages are spreading in Indian newspapers requesting girls with "pure white" skin.
Sima, a 29-year-old domestic worker in New Delhi, puts Fair & Lovely 14 years ago, as do all the women in her family and even her 12-year-old daughter. She says, "When I see ads for skin-whitening products, it seems to me that they are good products as they show that people find jobs and receive marriage requests when their skin becomes whiter." This trend was reinforced by British colonialism in India, but university professors believe it is strongly linked to the traditional class system that governs society in this giant country of 1.3 billion people. "The prevailing idea is that members of the upper classes have complexion of a lighter color than those of the lower classes," explains a sociology professor at Christ University in Bangalore Subarna Kar.
discrimination
White skin preference is not exclusive to India, but is widespread in Asia, the most populated continent on the globe. Skin-lightening products companies are one of the most dynamic markets in the cosmetics sector, and are expected to total about $ 30 billion in the world by 2024, according to the World Health Organization, while some may cause serious health problems.
Thailand and the Philippines
In Thailand, advertisements for skin-lightening cosmetics are spread across giant panels throughout Bangkok, and these products are among the best-selling in the cosmetic market, which locally represents about six billion dollars. Blogger Natawawadi «Suzy» Waikalo, who has a large following on social media, denounces this approach, which glorifies the light skin in Thai society. In the Philippines, too, many men and women use skin-whitening products to differentiate in a country where the majority of the population has a significantly darker complexion.
Bollywood films have cemented stereotypes about light skinned people.
The prevailing idea is that the upper classes have a lighter complexion than belonging to the lower classes.