Media influence on Beauty perceptions

Fairness creams demand grows despite health hazards.

- Kanika Balani

Indian audiences are quite familiar with the age-old beauty advertisements, which bring with them an offer – of a handsome job and freedom of speech. Fair and flawless skin is always seen as an easy approach to relate with Asians. Directly or indirectly most of the advertisements point towards the beauty standards set by the media – fair is beautiful.

Why has it happened? Why are we made to believe in this hypothetical concept of beauty? Don’t we remember our childhood when teachers chose fair and beautiful students to stand in front row and all those with wheatish skin were to stand in the last row. The point is that social settings in which we are brought up have always encouraged selection of beautiful looks. Take for instance our very own Bollywood film industry. Most of the dancing girls (called extras) are today white-skin Russian or Ukrainian imports. It is very difficult for a brown skin model to get work. Even Bollywood’s dusky siren and mega star Kajol has acquired a mysterious white tone.

Is fair lovely?

We all are aware of the fact that negative appearances in films is always fixed for dark-skinned people and how audience percieves the dark and evil stigmas to stick. It cannot be denied that ‘non-fair’ actors have made their mark too but it is also undeniable that these actors rose after years of struggle and hard work. On the contrary, the acknowledged faces of Bollywood who had good looks, obtained easy fame.