How bold of many families of South Asian descent to demand themselves a wife of professional background, a prominent caste, a family background of great power, and the most important; to be fair skinned.

This ideology exists in many parts of the Sub-Continent, where fair skinned women are a preference of not only the men of the house, but also the families that seek an arranged marriage for their sons. It is a deeply backward and unfortunately put, slave mentality approach towards other beings.

The Brown nation has always been insecure of its skin tone, although there are signs of these issues diminishing, it is still a topic that prevails even today. So why does this topic exist? Why do individuals seek such petty requests, and why do these requests make life changing decisions?

The answer is two fold:

The first unfortunate reality is, that the skin tone of local women was never prevalent in cinema within the sub-continent, even if they were naturally some what tanned skin(sanwal), the actresses that chose to play most roles belonged predominantly to two attributing areas: The Khyber and Kashmir localities. Most of the inhabitants that migrated from their rural regions to larger cities such as Bombay, Delhi, Lahore and Karachi, set a trend of being fair skinned beauties.

Fair skinned women have dominated Sub-Continent media, and unfortunately, the beauties that werent fair skinned, were unable to be shown positively. This was an issue since movie posters that were made prior to the 80s were all made in a form of a painting, and most painters couldn’t create the result of a certain tan skin tone, for once it was on the wall it was too dark and unfortunately blamed for not garnering an audience from the locals.

There is a deep rooted reality behind these results, needs, and demands, both in film and in reality. The rulers of the Subcontinent were mostly fair skinned individuals, who claimed to be chosen by God. Then came the rule of the British, who themselves white skinned, were masters of a majority of people and out-shined the local rulers, via whatever evil tactic they had used. This gave them a reputation of a fierce power, and their rule of 100 years left behind an insecure India, with an insecure and under developed mentality of the locals.

White skin is associated with those who once ruled, although not entirely true as the founder of India, Chandragupta himself was known not to be a fair skinned individual. The tropics of this region disallow for fair skinned attributes to pass on or prosper. White skin is ruled by the unfortunate term of “Masters”. The White Masters who conquered the whole of India, had set a bar for the locals of what attributed to kings.

The greatest off-set of this reality was that people who fell prey to this mentality were a majority of those who served the British, in the literal sense. The servants and caretakers of the British were predominantly dark skinned individuals, and so they would turn out either or from the constant work that they were put to do in the heat of Indian summers. Those who did not work, remained indoors and within great villas, leaving them unharmed from the Indian sun. This mentality lived on to then create an unfortunate trend, where fairskinned was a sign of wealth and good belonging.

The most unfair reality, is the people who demand this feat. Those who demand such features and attributes can be traced back to slaves and workers during the British Raj. They were most likely those who developed an intrigue for white skin, as they were ruled by white skin and were most likely exposed to extreme sunlight during labor hours.

As this may all sound very disturbing and highly unlikely, the reality is very straightforward. The fair skinned individuals of India all can be traced back to their descendency of cooler and mountainous regions, I.e. Kashmir, Khyber, Gilgit, Hunza etc. Those who are of a darker complexion can be found in the southern regions of Pakistan, and the Eastern regions of India. Lahore has been known for its beauty with a larger Kashmiri population of women, thus fair skinned. The same feat was given to Sikhs and people of Delhi, who believed their skin was of superior genetics.

This unfortunate mentality exists today. It may not be uttered as openly as we have deciphered it, but it exists very prominently in many parts of the Sub-Continent today. It is a sign of lower-caste individuals, it is a sign of slaves of the British raj, on those who believe that fair skin is the greatest attribute. Those who demand this feat, rarely do make positive differences in others lives, and are rarely themselves worthy of a second glance.

It is mindbogglingly concerning, that factors of weather, insecurities of a forgotten empire, and menial thinking dictate wedding proposals and matrimony. A good wife is not attributed by character but by the colour of her skin. The unfair reality also, where many men and women in Pakistan get procedures done to come across more fair skinned. The leftovers of the colonial era still haunt the ground where the most beautiful women of Eastern heritage exist. Their jewels, their features, their built, all great culture within one being, the woman of the East. The skin resembling a wet mud, so smooth and clean, a feature of greater strength lives in that exact tone. How unlucky, to be stuck in a century old narrative, whilst Goddesses roam around you.