[Reader-list] two strange stories about women in india

Yousuf ysaeed7 at yahoo.com
Tue Jul 15 09:51:37 IST 2008


Dear Rob and Noora
I am copying below the short discussion over this issue on facebook (for those who can't access) that talks about both the preferences for whitening and darkening creams:

Gita Madhu wrote:
July 14 at 7:09am

As an Indian in India, I was quite immune to the "bhav" placed on "fair skin" and could really laugh it off.
In retrospect I find that although Fair and Lovely is an Indian product, it is not held in great respect in India and mostly all enjoyed a good laugh at it.
However, in my 3 years in malaysia I'm learning how much skin colour matters.
The Chinese here openly talk about black Indians and go on and on about preserving their fairness- dark skin is dirty. At one shop when the cashier realised that I'm not Malaysian, he said: "Ah ! Black Indian!" So comfortably!
It is hard to find any cosmetics here that are not whitening. In India one would feel shy to talk of this or to buy such products. No shame in it at all in Malaysia. Actually so many issues are not worth discussing in this country! You have to move out to know the true worth of India and its freedom of speech and the level of consciousness of its great people.
Another reason to salute India!

==== 

Devaki Khanna wrote:
July 14 at 11:58am
Frankly, I think skin whitening ads should be banned--the products in any case are so utterly ridiculous. Now we don't just have Fair and Lovely, we also have Kaya, with that wretched girl on the train platform. And what about the Garnier skin lightening cream, with Esha Deol as the model? It angers me a little, to see the lengths that women will go to, to acheive what they consider to be physical perfection. Is that all there is to a woman?
I'm sorry to hear what you have to say about Malaysia, Gita--I'd always expected a certain amount of solidarity amongst nations that had suffered from the impact of colonial rule. Of course, the emphasis on fair skin in India does not just date from the time of the British, but from the Vedic period onwards, yet we have two of the most attractive people in literature--Krishna and Draupadi--who were both dark-skinned.

=====
 
Shailendra Mudgal:
July 14 at 8:33pm
no doubt that the ad is stupid but that way so many ads are. concerning the skin colour, i see similar ads in Europe on products promising to tan your skin and making fun of white skin women!
 
=====

Devaki Khanna
July 14 at 9:17pm
Sanjay,
Yes, white skin in Europe is a sign of women who stay indoors or who cannot go abroad for a holiday. However, what is their response to women who are naturally brown or black? 


--- On Tue, 7/15/08, Noora Zul <noorazul at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Noora Zul <noorazul at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] two strange stories about women in india
> To: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com, "Rob van Kranenburg" <kranenbu at xs4all.nl>
> Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 8:38 AM
> Dear Yousuf & Rob
> 
> I couldn't resist adding this. I'm actually from
> Singapore, and Malay in
> terms of ethnicity (in terms of skin colour, we tend
> towards being brown).
> The skin-whitening ad 'phenomenon' also exists
> here, and similarly in
> Malaysia and Indonesia (which is more preponderantly Malay
> peoples). And it
> does seem to break racial boundaries, because there are ads
> too targeting at
> the Chinese women. It is quite an obsession, with products
> ranging from
> specific whitening creams to things like compacts boasting
> additional
> whitening properties. There is (strangely) the ambition to
> be fair in an
> extremely sunny tropical region, where getting a tan is
> more easily
> achieved. This was kinda sharpened for me when I noticed
> that when I was
> living in London, it seemed that tanning products were more
> of 'the rage'.
> 
> Noora
> 
> On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 11:48 PM, Yousuf
> <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Dear Rob
> > I posted your last link about the skin-whitening
> adverts to some friends on
> > facebook, and it seems to be leading to an interesting
> debate there,
> > especially the fact that the skin-whitening is not
> only an Indian phenomena
> > - strange tendencies are still emerging about the
> colour of the skin even
> > outside India...
> >
> >
> http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1004356748350
> >
> > I guess you'll need to log in to facebook with an
> ID to see this.
> >
> > Yousuf
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Sun, 7/13/08, Rob van Kranenburg
> <kranenbu at xs4all.nl> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Rob van Kranenburg
> <kranenbu at xs4all.nl>
> > > Subject: [Reader-list] two strange stories about
> women in india
> > > To:
> > > Cc: "sarai list"
> <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > > Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008, 9:00 PM
> > > hi,
> > >
> > > i can not make sense of it, but maybe someone
> can:
> > >
> > > two strange stories about women in india:
> > >
> > > one on the ratio male - female
> > >
> > >
> http://www.actionaid.org.uk/doc_lib/disappearing_daughters_0608.pdf
> > >
> http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/10896/93/
> > > http://actionaidindia.org/camp_violence.htm
> > >
> > > and one very scary ad:
> > >
> > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKEF-8XkWMU
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/skinwhitening-adverts-ignite-race-row-in-india-863936.html
> > >
> > > greetings, rob
> > > _________________________________________
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