[torryquine]

One of Bollywood's biggest film stars is being criticised by Asian campaigners for promoting a skin-lightening cream - a product that is now on the shelves of British shops.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ine/7010885.stm

Edited by torryquine, 26 September 2007 - 04:30 PM.

[priya]

I can't believe he would endorse something like this.   I'm right off him. (For the time being.)

Is Fair & Handsome the same as Dark & Lovely, (female lightening cream) which is sold here?  Ambi, another skin lightening cream, was banned here because of it's toxic ingredients and damage it caused to the skin after prolonged use.

I realize there is an unfounded stigma attached to being dark but hey, it's not the colour that counts - if only people the world over would accept this.

[crvlvr]

How is this any different than suntanning lotions advertised in the west?  BTW, Shah Rukh is not fair to begin with. So, its rather amusing that the company would choose  to use him..

[torryquine]

crvlvr, on Sep 26 2007, 07:36 PM, said:

How is this any different than suntanning lotions advertised in the west?  BTW, Shah Rukh is not fair to begin with. So, its rather amusing that the company would choose  to use him..

Being pale in the west does not damage your employment or marriage prospects ....... although being bald might ..... perhaps that's why so much advertising money is spent on hair restoration products here ....  

[cyberhippie]

Is that just a cultural difference you think TQ, going on from crvlvr comments, there are a host of characterisitics that we as define as good, sexy, intelligent; in the west, that taken from the top of the mountain are equally silly, erroneous  and in some cases detrimental to job prospects.

What do you think!

Quote

I can't believe he would endorse something like this. mad.gif I'm right off him. (For the time being.)

Dang after all the time I spent organising a TIT SRK meet in Zimbabwe     

I've a sneaking suspicion the girls won't be of him for too long  

[noflylist]

It is cultural, parents still aspire for fair skin complexion child! Even though the greatest hero on earth Krishna was dark!

[cyberhippie]

Kali would be seething!

[dzibead]

crvlvr, on Sep 26 2007, 11:36 AM, said:

How is this any different than suntanning lotions advertised in the west?

I think it is a little different because being pale  (btw, nice pun in the thread title, TQ!), doesn't hurt your marriage or job prospects or mark you as "inferior".  But as CH points out, we freely stigmatize other traits, many of which are beyond the individual's control, and I think that just as bad.

  

crvlvr, on Sep 26 2007, 11:36 AM, said:

BTW, Shah Rukh is not fair to begin with. So, its rather amusing that the company would choose  to use him..

  I thought of this, too! it's almost counter-productive to use him for the sales pitch - he's living proof that you don't need to use this product in order to have the girls swooning for you!

cyberhippie, on Sep 26 2007, 12:46 PM, said:

Is that just a cultural difference you think TQ, going on from crvlvr comments, there are a host of characterisitics that we as define as good, sexy, intelligent; in the west, that taken from the top of the mountain are equally silly, erroneous  and in some cases detrimental to job prospects.

Yes, there have been quite a few studies showing that people who are considered unattactive (by Western cultural standards)  have worse job prospects, are assumed to be less intelligent,  etc.  I think in the West (maybe especially in the U.S.) we're very sensitized to how inappropriate it is to characterize dark skin color as undesirable (as distinct from other traits that we label as undesirable without a second thought) because of the history of slavery and all the "racial inferiority" issues related to it.

cyberhippie, on Sep 26 2007, 12:46 PM, said:

Dang after all the time I spent organising a TIT SRK meet in Zimbabwe    

Let's change the venue to Northern California!

[dzibead]

noflylist, on Sep 26 2007, 12:56 PM, said:

It is cultural, parents still aspire for fair skin complexion child! Even though the greatest hero on earth Krishna was dark!

He was dark blue!  Is there a product for that?

[cyberhippie]

Quote

He was dark blue! Is there a product for that?

Spiritually speaking,    how do we attain "dark blue" a mixture of black and white..........no!

[noflylist]

I always tell my coworkers that my problems will be over if I had blonde hair!

[dzibead]

And then there's priya, always complaining about being "blonde" (as in "blonde jokes").  The grass is always greener ...

[Hyderabadi]

dzibead, on Sep 26 2007, 04:35 PM, said:

He was dark blue!  Is there a product for that?

Yes, not a product but a process (?), much like those 'tanning beds / sunbeds', only more complex and difficult since one has to achieve that particular pigmentation:

Find a lake with a resident multi-headed serpent. Jump in. Get the serpent so p***** off that it starts spewing venom. Make sure you win, and come out dancing on it's head(s).  Blue skin pigmentation should start now..



More @ : http://moralstories....ss.com/2006/06/

  

Edited by Hyderabadi, 27 September 2007 - 07:43 AM.

[priya]

cyberhippie, on Sep 26 2007, 09:46 PM, said:

Dang after all the time I spent organising a TIT SRK meet in Zimbabwe     

I've a sneaking suspicion the girls won't be of him for too long  

I've forgiven him already CH   As for the meetup in Zim -   it'll only be SRK and yours truly; unless you've thrown in an invite for yourself as well.  Perchance to dream...............

[dzibead]

priya, on Sep 26 2007, 11:40 PM, said:

I've forgiven him already CH   As for the meetup in Zim -   it'll only be SRK and yours truly; unless you've thrown in an invite for yourself as well.  Perchance to dream...............

Too late, priya.  It's all fixed for No.Cal.  

[priya]

You do realize dzibead that you'll have to share???  Maybe WWUSA is also a fan?  When he comes here, I'll have him all to myself.

[dzibead]

priya, on Sep 27 2007, 01:34 AM, said:

You do realize dzibead that you'll have to share???  Maybe WWUSA is also a fan?

Nah, she hates all things Bollywood.  Like Jyoti Da, it's only serious Indian cinema for WW!

[priya]

Uh oh, I've just thought of something.  WanderingKat maybe back in Cape Town by the time he get's here and she may gatecrash our cosy meet-up.  On the other hand, I feel pretty safe cos not many people can pluck up the courage to visit us here.

[torryquine]

cyberhippie, on Sep 26 2007, 08:46 PM, said:

Is that just a cultural difference you think TQ, going on from crvlvr comments, there are a host of characterisitics that we as define as good, sexy, intelligent; in the west, that taken from the top of the mountain are equally silly, erroneous  and in some cases detrimental to job prospects.

Yes, it is a cultural difference, but does that make it ok?.  And I probably am sensitive to the racist implications that a westerner would attach to colour predjudice.  Parts of the west are predjudiced against baldness (as I said before), obesity (or even plumpness) and to a lesser extent, red hair!  But is it an acceptable cultural difference to make jokes about ginger people?  Should celebrities endorse those predjudices, or worse still be paid for endorsing them?  

Well it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, in the same way as the air-brushed, super-skinny celebs that our culture seems obsessed with.  Or anything in fact, that needlessly knocks other peoples' self esteem - but particularly if it can lead to self harm by way of anorexia, plastic surgery, nasty skin/hair treatments, whatever.  If you make money out of someone else's insecurities - shame on you.

Re. Lord Krishna - I know the secret of a blue skin - it's not that difficult, you just spend a winter in North East Scotland!  Trust me - I'm not a picture of health come January.    

As for SRK - nah!  Not my cup of tea anyway, so have the meetup wherever you like.  I prefer Saif Ali Khan, and I really couldn't say who's darker or lighter.



Shall we have a poll on it?

[cyberhippie]

No TQ I suppose that doesn't make it ok but it's just the way it is. It's not like modern day Indians have this "fair advantage" foisted upon them, very many of them rich or poor embrace this benchmark with open arms.
I remember the dismay on the face of a lady we've known for a long time when her husband returned from the gulf and announced their new daughter was "very dark' poor lass spent a lot more time indoors after that!

If we are to say that is wrong, then we also have to be proactive as a society about some of the things you mention above.

Heroin thin Models (or even Amy Winehouse) long hair, blonds, fat people bald,are just some of the places we could start.

I'm not being antagonistic TQ it just seems to me we all carry prejudice in society, this just happens to be and Indian one.

I reckon it's inbuilt in the human character to look for imagined weaknesses in the physical make up of other people, it seems to make us feel better about ourselves.