Is Beauty Only Skin Deep?

Imagine a modern, educated, Indian family watching T.V. and an advertisement comes on- an aspiring air-hostess, who is well qualified, excitedly applies for a job. But, wait, twist in the story. She doesn’t get the job because she’s not of a “high caste”. Her best friend comes to her and tells her that if she wants to get somewhere in life she will need to somehow get rid of her background and change her caste and then proposes some brilliant solution as to how she can change her caste.
Can you imagine this without shock and disgust washing over you?
Can you imagine the audience watching this ad without getting enraged and protesting against it?
Why? Because one’s caste is something that one is born into. Because nobody has anything to do with which one you are. It has no effect on your value as a person. Because to portray some people as inferior or unqualified solely because of their work is unjust. It is an irrelevant scale to measure one’s merits by. Because we have woken up that it is an unfair practice.
Imagine another ad, similar, but rather than caste, the girl is denied the opportunity to fulfill her dream because she is too dark. Her well-wisher in this case, gives her the magical solution in the form of a tube of fairness cream. And what do you know? The girl who once didn’t qualify for the job, soon is the face of the airline because she is no longer held back by her colour.
You don’t have to bother imagining the second ad- just turn on the T.V.
Do you see the connection?
Your colour is something you are just born with. You have no choice, no option as to what shade of complexion you inherit. It has nothing to do with your value as a person. Now, is it not unjust to portray someone as unqualified for a job because of their skin colour? Is it not an irrelevant scale to measure someone’s merits by? Why haven’t we woken up the unfairness of the absurd prejudice that we as a society have against dark skin in India?
If we see the outright idiocy and shamelessness of the first ad, then why don’t we feel anything when the second one says that your success is determined by how fair you are?
The worst part is that it IS true. In our society, any achievement related to beauty requires a fair complexion. Take the Hindi film industry for example- how many actors represent the average skin colour of an Indian? Not more than a handful. How many times have you heard someone attempt to insult another by calling them “kaala”?
How did we let ourselves get so brainwashed? And what really is making us stay so? Why do we treat our own kind and colour with such contempt? Take a minute, think about it. Is it not an unfair ideal of beauty imposed by us on our own selves? The next time you buy a fairness cream, or think about how “dark” someone is, take a minute to think about whether your idea of beauty is really that shallow. Take pride in yourself. Fair or dark, you are lovely.
-A

Confessions of a Size 4

8th grade-
New school, new people. I was very nervous. Will people find me fat? Will they find me beautiful? I kept asking myself these questions on the way to school.
All year long, I compulsively controlled my diet, freaking out if my calorie intake went even a little bit over the required amount. All year long, I spent hours in front of the mirror, daily, checking from every angle to make sure that I looked "perfect". All year long, I made fun of the other girls- teasing them, and gossiping about them, insulting their appearance, as though the value of a human being decreased if they looked different from a fashion model.

9th grade-
As I started to focus on high school courses, and the academic curriculum, I had to work harder to remain skinny. I played tennis regularly and that gave me enough exercise to be healthy, however, as worried as I was about my figure, I did not want to take it easy. I joined a gym, and started skipping meals. As a result, I was always tired. My grades slipped. But, I lost some weight, and people noticed me more. Compliments like, "You look so skinny", or "You have lost so much weight" gave me a strange sense of satisfaction, and superiority. Another year that I lost; completely engrossed in my appearance.

10th grade-
I let it slip. Over the summer, I'd gained a few pounds- 10 to be exact. My weight was still perfectly healthy 112 pounds, on my 5 foot stature. However, all the compliments I'd received earlier disappeared. Other girls lost weight, and they became popular. I took a back seat, I was forgotten. I felt unhappy, and under confident. Over one year, struggling to cope up with both studies and my weight, I lost 8 pounds, again to gain a sense of achievement.

But, there was still something that didn't quite fit right.
Was my worth dependent on my body? Was it determined by how I look? Why couldn't anybody look through my shape, my shade, my size? Why couldn't I myself look beyond the reflection in the mirror to who I was on the inside?

So, what is the point of my long story? The point is that over the past year, I figured that this isn't just MY story. It is the story of almost everyone who lives in modern society. This is the way we've started thinking.
The point of the story is that now, many people wouldn't even see something wrong in this. They wouldn't notice that there is something fundamentally unhealthy in this way of life.
The point is that this is a grave matter, with grave consequences. And that there is an urgent need for us to start doing something about this issue- the issue of "body image".

What happened to "beauty is only skin deep"? It seems like that is completely lost. The youth, on a large scale, will often go to unnecessary lengths to look a certain way. One's physical appearance is of too much importance to people.
Does this concern you? Bother you in any way? Do you think that the pressures people feel today are out of hand? Whose fault do you think this is? Do share your views!

-R