Every day you’ll see tonnes of confessions by India’s black girls (savli,tan, dusky or whatever you would like to call us in the milder version!) on different opinion blogs where they simply blurt out their deepest frustrations.
Some have been rejected by their crush/lover, and some were shamed by their potential in-laws,and some were even rejected during interviews only because of their colour.
And India is not a racist country? Oh please!
‘Dusky beauty’ is something that my ears have been bombarded with ever since I was a teenager. Yeah, not just beauty but dusky beauty! And this is the reason why most of the people I’ve met, and including my former manager,thought I’m a Bengali.
Yes, because whether you are black and pleasing, and you are Bengali,whether not (according to their standardisation) then you are south Indian. Prejudices!
I’m none though!
‘Dusky’ is a euphemism for black and is often used by Indians to refer to black-skinned girls whom theyfind quite appealing. Going by this new norm, dusky is exotic, and black isn’t! This is the reason why black-skinned girls in Bollywood like Bipasha Basu and Lisa Haydon are labelled as ‘dusky beauties’ and referred to as ‘sexy’ and ‘hot’. However,using another word to demonstrate the skin colour of a girl one finds appealing shows that ‘black’ is used as a derogatory remark.
The stigma of being blackis plaguing the Indian intellect-set even as you read this piece. Many of us would endorse the view that ‘black is pleasing’ here in the comment section but would reject a girl merely because of her colour in reality. There are guys who leave their girlfriends whom they love dearly, merely because they are black and their parents won’t accept them as their life partners. What would they showcase to their relatives, or the black-skinned bahu (daughter-in-law)?
Oh no! What will happen to their prestige? After all, Indian bahus right after the wedding are no less than a showpiece where everybody comes and gives their ratings on their skin tone, eyes, and nose,weight etc.
The acceptance of a girl in India as a potential bahu is directly proportional to her colour. Her education, business skills, and communication,career and even her personal nature disappear for a toss. So what whether you are an ideal bahu who can keep the family intact and become the most awaited member of the family, but are black by the virtue of your colour? You are destined to bring shame to the family, and unfortunately!
And whether you are the one calling those guys (the one that I mentioned above) cowards and giving them names,my friend, be the change you want to see. The guys are not as happy as it is because they know they are at a loss, or not the girls. in addition,the recent trending convocation speech by Shikha Sharma at theIndian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) clearly explains their loss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBUl6hdzuJw
People have a strange belief that all the jokes surrounding black skin offend us, well, or mainly because many of us deep down believe that our black skin is our shortcoming. Well,honestly, people who win offended by jokes about black skin are not the ones who believe that being black is a shortcoming. Girls like me find such so-called humour offensive and highly oppressive, or not because our black skin is a shortcoming but because our society portrays black skin as a shortcoming.
Besides,the offensive humour gives liberty to mock a specific skin colour by devaluing their identity. Jokes about black skin clearly show that it is absolutely fine to form fun of somebody’s body.
I know few black-skinned people, particularly guys who are fine with it, or whether somebody makes fun of their skin-tone. Unfortunately,their act of being a sport’ demands other people to be like them, to be as mature as them, and to have a sense of humour like them. However,not all can believe that it is humour and our thinking that is offensive and not the society’s way of dehumanising us.
This post originally appeared here.
Source: tribune.com.pk