Saturday, September 14, 2013

India Examines Color of Beauty


In many parts of the world, people are judged by their skin color. Generally, we often see more light-skinned actresses or models in the media than we do dark-skinned. Personally, I think the world is evolving and now we see a lot more actresses who have a dark complexion on TV or in magazines. Every culture and every society has a particular view on what is beautiful and what is attractive. Sometimes it’s frustrating to see these people, especially women who try to alter they’re appearance by either using creams to enhance lightness or by going to tanning salons to get a darker complexion. It’s that standard of beauty that everyone wants to live up to that causes this to happen and instead of embracing what they’re born with and being comfortable in their own skin they follow these trends. As cliché as it sounds reading this article made me think of the phrase, “Beauty is only skin deep.” Beauty itself shouldn’t mainly be a physical thing, but it should be based on a person’s character. ~ Ashley



Women everywhere want to be considered beautiful; and all over the world there are different interpretations of beauty. In India, a woman who is more fair is considered the most beautiful. Throughout the country, represented on magazines, advertisements, and billboards, light-skinned women are dominating, and being portrayed as the ideal body type. Women have gone as far as to buy skin lighteners, to help enhance their beauty. It is interesting to see what women in other countries believe to be beautiful. Here, in sunny California, the land of the rich and famous, the interpretation of beauty, is Botox, extensions, thinness, and a spray tan. In America, women in advertisements, magazines, and billboards are depicted as being thin and dark skinned with a golden-bronze glow. Ironic really, that the Indian culture believes in fair skin beauty, while the American culture believes in the complete opposite of dark skin beauty. It seems as though our culture defines what is beautiful when in actuality, beauty should be determined by the individual. ~Chelsea 



Skin tone groups each individual person into a certain category.  Throughout the history of various countries, we have seen how light-skinned people have been viewed as wealthy since they did not have to be working outdoors (working class).  It is no different in India.  Women who are lighter-skinned are tied to the lighter-skinned Central Asian tribes who were the first to arrive in India and therefore are considered wealthier.  It is painful to see how women all around the world alter their appearance in order to fit society’s expectations of beauty.  There is an increasing sale of lightening creams in India, which bring in more than $100 million each year.  Personally, I have always felt that Indian women are one of the most beautiful.  I find their skin tone to be exotic and unique.  Although tanned skin is “in” here in America, I am quite fair-skinned and the exception to that rule.  I cannot get tanned; instead I instantly turn red causing me to have hundreds of different shades on my body (slight exaggeration).  I do use a lightening cream on my face and neck to even out my skin tone and get rid of acne scars but not to alter my skin tone.  I find beauty in light-skinned women and in dark-skinned women.   Women in India are also now starting to appreciate both instead of just wishing to be light-skinned, which I think is great.  The diversity of color is what makes the world beautiful; therefore we should not want to alter that beauty.  ~ Sandy



The only beautiful in this world is the unique differences among all human being. Society has created an ideal image of how beautiful is supposed to be portrayed. It is interesting to see that over the years, there are different color skin tones walking down the runways, seen on advertisements, etc. Not just different skin tones but also different ethnicities. There is never going to be an agreement of what beautiful in reality is. In every culture or part of the world, beauty is seen differently. Beauty has become this physical appearance rather than personality or inner beauty. I really admire and love how dove issued their beauty campaign to show people that there is a more than just physical appearance to beauty. ~Brenda  


       Sources: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/everyone-is-beautiful/images/17909778/title/dont-know-youre-beautiful-photo 
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dove+campaign+for+real+beauty+self+esteem&oq=dove+&gs_l=youtube.3.0.35i39j0l9.971.1782.0.2767.5.5.0.0.0.0.96.353.5.5.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.Fwg6CqmrOpw    

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