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| Skin tone jibes against actor spark Indian debate over prejudice | Skin tone jibes against actor spark Indian debate over prejudice |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Tannishtha Chatterjee laughed along with the first jokes, but they stung. The Indian actor had agreed to attend a comedy roast to promote her latest film, Parched. But again and again, as the programme went on, the hosts’ jibes seemed to centre on one thing. | Tannishtha Chatterjee laughed along with the first jokes, but they stung. The Indian actor had agreed to attend a comedy roast to promote her latest film, Parched. But again and again, as the programme went on, the hosts’ jibes seemed to centre on one thing. |
| “You must like black plums. How many have you eaten since childhood?” one host quipped. | “You must like black plums. How many have you eaten since childhood?” one host quipped. |
| “To my utmost horror,” Chatterjee later wrote, “I soon realised that the only quality they found worth roasting about in me was my skin tone.” About halfway through she stormed off the programme. | “To my utmost horror,” Chatterjee later wrote, “I soon realised that the only quality they found worth roasting about in me was my skin tone.” About halfway through she stormed off the programme. |
| Her Facebook post airing her frustration has been shared hundreds of times and reprinted in most of the national newspapers, sparking debate over one of India’s most deeply pervasive, yet rarely pronounced, prejudices. | Her Facebook post airing her frustration has been shared hundreds of times and reprinted in most of the national newspapers, sparking debate over one of India’s most deeply pervasive, yet rarely pronounced, prejudices. |
| “I never expected such a huge response,” Chaterjee, 35, told the Guardian this week. | “I never expected such a huge response,” Chaterjee, 35, told the Guardian this week. |
| In her post she savaged the idea that skin colour, and the widespread bias against people with darker tones, could be a joking matter. “In a country where … people don’t get jobs because of their complexion, where every matrimonial advert demands a fair bride or groom … in a country where dark skin is marginalised, making fun of it is not a roast,” she wrote. | In her post she savaged the idea that skin colour, and the widespread bias against people with darker tones, could be a joking matter. “In a country where … people don’t get jobs because of their complexion, where every matrimonial advert demands a fair bride or groom … in a country where dark skin is marginalised, making fun of it is not a roast,” she wrote. |
| The open celebration of fair complexions in India can be striking. One of Bollywood’s most popular songs last year was the syrupy Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan, sung by a Sri Lankan actor, Jacqueline Fernandez. All the rage at Indian weddings, its refrain goes: “Please agree, take me shopping. Please listen, show me a romantic movie. I ask you, white wrists, I’ve got white wrists.” | The open celebration of fair complexions in India can be striking. One of Bollywood’s most popular songs last year was the syrupy Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan, sung by a Sri Lankan actor, Jacqueline Fernandez. All the rage at Indian weddings, its refrain goes: “Please agree, take me shopping. Please listen, show me a romantic movie. I ask you, white wrists, I’ve got white wrists.” |
| Virtually every chemist in Delhi stocks shelves of products such as Fair & Lovely, a powder or cream that is claimed to lighten a woman’s skin tone, and which its maker says helps consumers “get the confidence to pursue their dreams and ambition”. | Virtually every chemist in Delhi stocks shelves of products such as Fair & Lovely, a powder or cream that is claimed to lighten a woman’s skin tone, and which its maker says helps consumers “get the confidence to pursue their dreams and ambition”. |
| Western companies such as Lancôme and L’Oréal have muscled into the market with their own skin-whitening creams, keen for a slice of a global industry projected to be worth about $23bn (£18bn) within four years. | |
| In part the preference for light complexions in India is a colonial hangup. “Remember, we’ve been ruled by fair skin,” said Hansal Mehta, a veteran director, writer and actor from Mumbai. | |
| But Chatterjee, in her post and subsequent interviews, put the blame on an older blight: India’s tenacious caste system, a rigid social strata that some scholars trace back three millennia to the epic folklore that forms Hindu orthodoxy. | But Chatterjee, in her post and subsequent interviews, put the blame on an older blight: India’s tenacious caste system, a rigid social strata that some scholars trace back three millennia to the epic folklore that forms Hindu orthodoxy. |
| “Upper caste equals fair skin equals touchable. Lower caste equals dark skin equals untouchable,” Chatterjee wrote in her post. “Yes, I have pronounced it. Probably most of us will not admit that our hatred for dark skin also comes from caste bias.” | “Upper caste equals fair skin equals touchable. Lower caste equals dark skin equals untouchable,” Chatterjee wrote in her post. “Yes, I have pronounced it. Probably most of us will not admit that our hatred for dark skin also comes from caste bias.” |
| Caste continues to determine the shape of hundreds of millions of Indian lives, but in the country’s increasingly affluent cities “it’s not a cool thing to talk about”, Chatterjee said. “But in the back of our minds we all still have those biases.” | |
| She recounted roles where she played a wealthier, educated woman, “and the makeup artist says: can I make you one or two shades lighter? This is a bit of an upper-middle class character.” | |
| Independent Indian cinema often confronts issues of colour, caste and gender prejudice, and some of Bollywood’s biggest stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, are members of the country’s marginalised Muslim minority. | |
| But Mehta said popular cinema often ended up reflecting the country’s biases rather than challenging them. “Bollywood films are consumed by the popular masses, and we supply what the audience wants. So the bias gets reinforced,” he said. “I don’t think people in Bollywood really subscribe to the colour bias per se, but they have to enforce it. Because how else do you make the film work? | But Mehta said popular cinema often ended up reflecting the country’s biases rather than challenging them. “Bollywood films are consumed by the popular masses, and we supply what the audience wants. So the bias gets reinforced,” he said. “I don’t think people in Bollywood really subscribe to the colour bias per se, but they have to enforce it. Because how else do you make the film work? |
| “This bias isn’t Indian in nature,” he added. “In Hollywood, how often do you see a dark man with a white woman?” | “This bias isn’t Indian in nature,” he added. “In Hollywood, how often do you see a dark man with a white woman?” |
| The reaction to Chatterjee’s Facebook post has pleased Agnes Joseph, a spokeswoman for the Dark is Beautiful campaign, which aims to change Indian mindsets about skin. | The reaction to Chatterjee’s Facebook post has pleased Agnes Joseph, a spokeswoman for the Dark is Beautiful campaign, which aims to change Indian mindsets about skin. |
| “About 95% of people in India are dark-skinned, yet a lot of us are forced to lighten,” she said. “It’s the influence of the media and cinema which is constantly projecting light-skinned women, so the normal population thinks that’s what it takes to look beautiful.” | “About 95% of people in India are dark-skinned, yet a lot of us are forced to lighten,” she said. “It’s the influence of the media and cinema which is constantly projecting light-skinned women, so the normal population thinks that’s what it takes to look beautiful.” |
| The campaign goes into schools and colleges, teaching young people how to interpret the output of the country’s media and entertainment industry. “We tell people you don’t have to believe everything you see on the screen. We’re not saying that fair isn’t beautiful, but the point is dark is also beautiful,” she said. | The campaign goes into schools and colleges, teaching young people how to interpret the output of the country’s media and entertainment industry. “We tell people you don’t have to believe everything you see on the screen. We’re not saying that fair isn’t beautiful, but the point is dark is also beautiful,” she said. |
| All agree that such a deeply rooted mindset won’t change overnight, but Mehta said the deep penetration of social media among India’s middle classes meant debates over colour and caste – and other issues, such as homosexuality – could now be forced into the spotlight more easily. | All agree that such a deeply rooted mindset won’t change overnight, but Mehta said the deep penetration of social media among India’s middle classes meant debates over colour and caste – and other issues, such as homosexuality – could now be forced into the spotlight more easily. |
| “It’s a result of the digital era,” he said. “Deeply rooted biases can be brought out into the open.” | “It’s a result of the digital era,” he said. “Deeply rooted biases can be brought out into the open.” |