Fair But Not so Lovely

Whether it lies in food, culture, or appearance, our world is full of diversity. Unfortunately for humans, accepting diversity has proven to be difficult. In history, people tended to favor those who fit the "ideal standard" over those who diverged from it. However, that leads me to ask, what is this "ideal standard"?

Unsurprisingly, beauty standards differ across the globe. For example, in America, it is said that we favor slender women to those who are curvier, whereas, in some other countries, a curvier woman is preferred because of her "ability to bear children". If we have so many different opinions on beauty, what is even considered beautiful?

When I did some further research, I found something that was somewhat universal. The emphasis on skin tone is heavy in most countries. Here, the idea of racism solely exists for the fact that people with whiter skin were treated better in history than those with darker skin. Today, the theme of lighter skin being "better" is still prominent. For instance, in India, skin-whitening creams (some of which are dangerous) have become extremely popular. Brands such as Fair and Lovely put out advertisements where a woman with darker skin explains how the cream gave her a better life by simply giving her lighter skin. Meanwhile, in America, the tanning industry booms, with people trying to achieve a darker skin tone through the use of tanning beds and self-tanning products. It's baffling to me how people across the world spend so much money to try to be like each other, believing that the other's appearance is more desirable. 
"So North exists because South does...South is just south of North..."   - Toni Morrison
Though this quote may not seem applicable to the subject at hand, I would like to remind you all that just like the "North" and the "South", all of these beauty standards and skin tone ideas are just man-made. We spend our lives trying to better our appearances to fit a standard when in reality, no perfect standard exists. With so many different beauty ideals out there, we have to realize that everyone is beautiful and should be treated the same, regardless of their appearance.

An advertisement for the Indian brand "Fair and Lovely". Make sure to turn on subtitles!

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