There’s nothing hotter than a guy with that pale, sun-deprived skin. Well, at least that’s how things roll in India. Originally a huge hit as a beauty product for women, skin-whitening lotions are now a hot commodity among men.
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse with all these posts about skin color, but anyone who has lived in Asia knows that fair skin is apparently beautiful and people will go to some pretty hilarious lengths to keep their skin tan-free (e.g. fobby driving gloves and fobby “sun helmet” hats).
In India’s entertainment industry, the demand for fair skin even gets competitive because, as Darshan Gokani, 27, a model for TV and print commercials says, “Anyone who’s fair gets on Indian television.”
Maybe it’s a case of what you don’t have. In many Asian countries, the demand for porcelain-fair skin is mirrors the desire for that glowing, sun-kissed tan among Westerners. Still, I think it runs deeper than that–as NPR writes, the preference in India for fair skin reflects a history of biases based on caste, power and colonialism.
Read the full story here.
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That makes me sad that in Asia the preference towards lighter skin is so prevalent.
Pretty tragic actually…. It’s also crossed into the American Desi shopping experience as well- you can buy the Fair and Handsome box in the photo at the Indian grocer near my house….