The Effects of Colorism in Asian Media on Society

Abstract

In the Indian film, “Kala Shah Kala” made in 2019, the main character was seen negatively by society and struggled to find love due to his dark-complexioned skin. Despite the blatant offensive stereotypical dialogue, the film was received relatively well by the general public. This is an indication of the deep-rooted assimilation of Indian cinema. This is one of the latest examples of a stereotypical ideology known as colorism, coined by Alice Walker. So what even is colorism? Dating back to the European colonization era, their influences have had the most significant impact on the drastic changes in beauty standards throughout India from accepting medium-complexioned skin to light-complexioned skin. This effect is known as eurocentrism, coined by Samir Amin. These ideals had substantially impacted the Indian public into believing that “fair” and “beautiful” are synonymous. So, pressure on women to strive for the Western beauty “ideal” replaces human beauty's great diversity. Because being fair is now the only culturally accepted skin tone, the Indian population started to use skin-lightening products to be able to fit in society. Looking at a study done by Neha Mishra from the University of Melbourne, it’s shown that the desire to be lighter is associated with the usage of harmful skin-lightening products. About 84% of females and 16% of males are aware of the significant harm that comes from using skin-lightening products such as an increased chance of skin cancer, skin thinning, and premature aging, but they all still continue to use them. Because of the impacts on adolescents, educational institutions should be held responsible for introducing initiatives to help win the fight against colorism.  So, how can educational institutions destigmatize colorism in the younger age demographics of India?