Ever since Nina Davuluri has been crowned Miss America a
discussion was sparked due to her Indian descent. I found an article that talks about the women
of the Indian culture wanting to be lighter skinned because white skin or fair
skin is perceived to be more beautiful (Basu, 2013). After Davuluri, who is of dark complexion, was
crowned people began to ask the question: Could someone who is of dark
complexion like Davuluri win a pageant in the country of her heritage? (Basu,
2013). In New Delhi, India, an Indian
woman named Tanupriya Khurana talks about how being white is the preference. “A woman’s complexion has been a very big deal
in my native land,” she says (Basu, 2013).
For as long as she can remember being fair skinned is what women strive
for and they have a problem with acceptance (Basu, 2013). They can’t be happy with the skin color they
have, the fairer the better. They will
buy creams or foundations to make their skin look lighter. While arranged marriages still happen in the
Southeastern Asian culture there will be matrimonial ads in India that read: “Seeking
match for beautiful, tall, fair girl…” (Basu, 2013). It can be easy to see why women in this
culture are having a hard time accepting their skin color. Even the advertisements and posters around
stores promote a look that is not attainable for most Indians. “Many Indians
feel their country’s disturbing obsession with fairness has been compounded in
recent years with the invasion of European and American retail outlets and
widespread access to information via the Internet,” (Basu, 2013). The article mentioned having someone like Oprah Winfrey come to their country and make them feel beautiful like she did for black women. My advice to them would be that you are the only person that can make yourself feel beautiful. Sure others can help but it is ultimately your beliefs.
The article says American culture places a lot of importance
on looks and I completely agree with that (Basu, 2013). Look at all the people who suffer from eating
disorders and have a lot of cosmetic surgery. They do certain things they believe will make
them look better and our society/culture has influenced that. Things aren’t as
bad as they used to be, though. There
are a lot more people standing up for what they believe is beautiful and I
think that is great. I think some woman in the Indian culture are having
trouble with their cultural identity because in order to have an understanding
of your own cultural identity you need acceptance and some don’t seem to have
that (Erford & Hays, 2014). It seems there is a little bit of rebellion
going on with their culture and want to be like a different culture. This kind
of reminds me of acculturation, but they aren’t immigrants living in a host
society (Erford & Hays, 2014). The
women seem to be bracing one culture over another regarding the look of their
skin. Diversity is a beautiful thing and
I wish these Indian women they are talking about in the article saw that. A diversity of faces for Cover Girl and other
make-up companies have been emerging and I hope that the diversity of the
faces, or darker complexion, is seen as a beautiful thing not just for the
Indian women but to the men as well.
Article:
Basu, M. (2013, September 26). 'White is beautiful:' why
India needs its own Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/25/world/asia/indian-ideal-of-beauty/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
Reference:
Erford, B., & Hays, D. (2014). Developing
multicultural counseling competence: A systems approach. (2nd ed.). Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
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