Does Skin Colour Matter in Success?
by It seems to be so, especially for girls. Is it colour or gender discrimination?
You may wonder if I am talking about racial discrimination. I am talking about colour discrimination. There is a difference between the two. A person belonging to one race discriminating another race, claiming superiority is racial discrimination.
Persons belonging to the same race can have different skin tones. Discrimination within a race, one person assuming superiority over the other because of a lighter skin tone, is colour discrimination. Skin colour has been given prominence in India for a long time. Some people argue that because of the British rule in India, Indians developed this adoration for the white skin. But this appreciation of the lighter skin was there even before the British rule. The ancient Indian literature mentions the colour of the skin to be the major requisite of beauty. Beauty is skin deep is a universal proverb. But when we use this proverb, we do not think of the transience of beauty the proverb implies; we rather visualise the image of a fair flawless skin, which is construed beauty.
India is a country having multiple religions, cultures and languages. India takes pride in proclaiming its righteous stance in discrimination of any kind. Government is trying to put an end to the caste system by reservations all over and the irony is, one has to keep on mentioning one’s caste while filling all the forms and wherever one goes to officialise one’s nationality. How this will help in eradicating the caste system, which has deeper roots in the society, is a different issue of debate, not relevant to this article.
We have no evidence of the ancients having looked at the darker skin shades with disdain. They might have preferred a fair spouse (wife) to a dark one, because men being the bread winners of the family had the authority to choose. Did they give preference for a lighter skin tone anywhere else? Dark colour was considered beautiful for men; many a hero of the epics was dark; some dark women were considered exceptionally beautiful.
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Post CommentMythili Kannan
On October 18, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Well said… I know few girls who suffered in their marriage life, bcoz of their color
Sourav
On October 18, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Well… you know, all of us are born racists. And you can not deny it. Remember racism doesn\\\’t only mean the discrimination between colors rather it can be of anything, like caste, religion etc. People discriminate within families. So I believe discrimination and racism were there in the past and it\\\’ll be in the future.
deep blue
On October 18, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Your post speaks well of the continous discrimination despite common ethical policies for the good of many.
Goodselfme
On October 18, 2009 at 4:14 pm
The thoughts ones has can be willfully changed. Some people just don’t want those changes. Tx for posting with such depth. Well done!
Ruby Hawk
On October 18, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Skin shouldn’t make any difference at all but we can all see that it does. Maybe someday we will learn to cherish what we have.
wonder
On October 18, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Just the right article.Excellent!
CHAN LEE PENG
On October 18, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I don’t skin color is that much important, because success is determined by patience, wisdom, knowledge and morale thinking.
wonder
On October 19, 2009 at 1:33 am
We are so carried away with the external and we forget the genetic factor behind these things.Who are we to sit in judgement about our genetic codes; fair or dark which one is better, the very thought is foolhardiness.And the cosmetics—-
I wont waste my time commenting on them.
giftarist
On October 19, 2009 at 8:16 am
Interesting thought.. I agree with what Ruby says.
Jane Jane
On October 19, 2009 at 8:56 am
It shouldn’t be but in reality it does matter especially the black and whites.
Vikram Chhabra
On October 19, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I have always found Indian preference for lighter skin color disgusting. You have rightly pointed it out in this article.
Anna Storer
On October 24, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Discrimination of any kind is the curse of mankind. Race, color, creed, man or woman or beauty. True success is not measured by any of this. One’s success is or should be measured by the ability of a person who has strived to achieve a better quality of life for all, be it for one’s self, home and family, community and the world as a whole. Whatever the achievements, large or small. We all belong to the family of man and are all God’s children and we are all responsiable not only for our success but for the success of others irrespective of our background.
Nikita K
On October 29, 2009 at 11:30 am
Wow, this is really horrible! How can you discriminate between colour and pick who gets to find love and who doesn’t. Seems really bad to me but I guess you have a reason for it which sounds pretty much reasonable. I’m fairly dark myself and it makes me think what I’ll be treated like :O A really good article that I learned a lot from.
rama
On December 3, 2010 at 4:29 am
This piece truly reflects the thoughts of a very dispassionate, balanced mind. Nice….