This is the case throughout Africa and even in the Western world as well. Pretty much anywhere that people are dark-skinned, "lighter" skin tones are preferred. I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that in the old days, the darker skinned people were associated with outdoor labor. I run a coffee shop with a Dominican theme. We have pictures on the walls of kids (both Dominican and Haitian) from poor villages in the country who happen to be dark-skinned. We actually had a Dominican customer come in and complain that we were showing off the worst part of the country, and that we should have more light-skinned people on the walls.
History tells me that you should probably do what the customer says. Either that, or lockup your garbage cans when you close for the night.
I darken easily so I try to stay out of the sun. When I do go out, I wear long sleeved shirts and hats to avoid direct sun exposure. I'm Latino but most people think I'm white.
It's funny that you bring this up. I was just discussing this with a friend the other day. I totally agree with you. Especially when parents are trying to set up arranged marriages for their children, they are always looking for "light skinned" guys or girls. It's really sad how racist we are to our own kind.
woh bohot kali hai... I've heard my mom say that multiple times referring to other Indian women, and she insists I put on this magical cream that will whiten me up...
A good friend of mine in college was a very pretty indian girl. Every now and then she would be mistaken to be mexican. She would get royally, and I mean way-beyond-anything-necessary pissed. Very odd. Until we got to know some or her family, who were all quite thoroughly racist, albeit in a non-descript way.
That's different in the sense that they can still be identified Caucasian and it's usually not a deliberate attempt to look like a different race.
True. That's why tanning salons in the USA and not in India. The pale people slap on bronzer and tan products, while dark people use whitening creams.
How are these indians trying to look like a Caucasian? Isn't the dark skinned indian in the commercial trying to only get skin like the light skinned indian? I could see him trying to be white, if they had him put on some "American" clothes like jeans and Gap T-shirt to go with his skin change. However, he still looks like another indian.
You've always struck me as the prototypical Tamil (South Indian). Qualitative oriented, disciplined, and ruled by logic and safe judgment. I take it you don't like risks. It's a case of the grass being greener on the other side, and an attempt for the world to find a balance. The lower your IQ, the more susceptible you are to falling to an extreme end of the spectrum (overdosing on whitening lotions, daily visits to the tan salon, etc.).
I admit, I find the whole light skin thing to be stupid and overly superficial. But I am not sure it's trying to be more like Caucasians. There have been fair-skinned Indians for thousands of years, it's not like the British showed up and the sub-continent all of a sudden went whitey. Fact is the entire world is overly obsessed with something. Religion, race, hair color, waist line, chest size, penis size, balding, noses, aging, thighs, eyes, eye color, white teeth, height, and the list goes on and on and on.... I mean, there's a freakin cream to make you more like anything you can imagine...this is just one example of the pathetic nature of humankind.
I know this is also the case in Oriental cultures, even before the colonial days. I don't see the big deal here personally. A lot of body features are considered bad because they're associated with poor people who work all day. Heck, before everyone started becoming obese, being skinny was pretty big turn off.
<br> My best friend is this Indian chick who is darker skinned, but drop dead gorgeous. Best part about it is, she's never used anything like "fair and lovely" (real name, I kid you not) and probably wont. I'm a hell of a lot lighter, and I tease her about it all the time, but neither of us actually cares. I just don't get why most of my race (I'm actually Pakistani) is so uptight about it. As for the racism... I think the entire race just hates everyone. Literally, I have never heard Indians/Pakistanis consistently like any race. Even their own!! My dad always talks about how bad Punjabi's are, and I'm half Punjabi! They seem to find something wrong with every single person in the world. Its not just my household. In fact, I'd say we do it a lot less as a result of being so Americanized. However, I hear your average Joe Indian/Paki dude say what can be considered racist comments all the time. I don't think they're actually racist though. They just don't like anyone except for themselves.
