All through my life, I have been reminded by someone or the other that I am dark and
usually in a very impolite way. My mom tried every possible way for getting my skin fairer: from dried orange peels to besan(gram flour) to milk. It did give me a good skin but not necessarily a fair one.And then 5 years ago, I landed in US. And all of a sudden, my skin color became the point of envy among people around me. People would lie in sun and endure excruciating heat to get a tan that can get them a skin tone closer to mine. They laugh at the idea of fairness cream. Why would anyone want to get fairer, they ask. They instead have creams that give them a tan while protecting them from sun-burn or dryness.
Life is good in US, if you ask me (well, duh!). I am considered attractive because of my skin tone here and not in-spite of my skin tone. Why would I want to leave this country now?
Ooh...I so know what you mean!!! I'm dark skinned as well for Indian standards and had to put up with relatives saying I was dark and worrying why I kept playing in the sun. But here in Aus all my friends (Aussies) envy me bcoz not only am I dark, I also tan really well and they get jealous it takes them ages and enduring a lot of pain! Indian culture sometimes...sigh.
ReplyDeleteI know. I so love my skin color here...
ReplyDeleteWell it's all about what one perceives as attractive. For example women from all over the world incluing India, always look for men who are tall. So what's the difference skin color or height? It's unfair to blame people who prefer lighter skin color since you would not prefer a shorter mate.
ReplyDeleteTo start with, judging someone based on looks is different than calling them names as was the case here.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I have finally found a place where people find me attractive because of the same attribute for which people in India called me names. My question was: why should I leave this place now to go back to India?