Sudha G Tilak 10 Jul 2012
Some columnists believe the obsession with whitening products is symptomatic of racism [GALLO/GETTY]
"Whoever said beauty is only skin deep probably didn't foresee the popularity of whitening creams in modern India."
"Doctors, for their part, warn fairness products can cause physical harm."
Cosmetics for Indian women are assuming unhealthy tones.
A recent Indian advertisement for Clean and Dry, a vaginal
wash which promises women fairer private parts, has led to an outcry among many
in the country.
The television ad shows a woman unhappy in the company of
her husband, as he seems more interested in the morning paper than her. After a
liberal use of the vaginal wash, the woman appears in shorts and beckons the
man who swings her in his arms, suggesting happiness.
The tagline of the ad says: "Life for women will now be
fresher, cleaner and more importantly fairer and more intimate."
Fairly insulting
Blogs and tweets have decried the controversial
advertisement, as have columnists and physicians. Rupa Subramanya, popular on
Twitter, called the 25-second TV commercial, "the ultimate insult" to
the Indian woman. Columnist Deepanjana Pal wrote, "While Fair and Lovely
tapped in on our inherent racism with its early ad campaigns, the intent of
products like whitening deodorants, moisturisers and 'hygiene products' seems
more insidious now."
Fair and Lovely is an Indian face cream that promises to
make dark-skinned women more white. It has been a huge hit since its launch in
the country in 1978. The product-makers said, "Indian women finally found
hope in a tube," and claim to have discovered the "skin lightening
action of niacinamide" that led to the development of their product.
Since then, fairness creams and cosmetics have continued to
rule the Indian market and many foreign national brands, including Revlon,
Loreal and Garnier, have invaded the Indian cosmetic market with sun protection
or skin whitening creams and lotions.Clean and Dry, priced at Rs 100 ($1.60),
is considered to be more affordable than many of the foreign alternatives.
Alyque Padamsee, the Clean and Dry ad director, has told
sections of the Indian media that the reaction to the ad is overrated.
Defending the ad, he is reported to have said, "It is hard to deny that
fairness creams often get social commentators and activists all worked up.
Lipstick is used to make your lips redder, fairness cream is used to make you
fairer - so what's the problem?"
The problem, say social commentators, is that it presents a
distorted view of beauty based on skin tone to the predominantly dark-skinned
Indian woman. Even today in modern metropolises, the demand for fair-skinned
brides is prominent in matrimonial columns in newspapers and on websites.
Vaseline, a cosmestics brand, tried to promote its fairness
cream for men with a Facebook application designed to make their faces look
more white. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has endorsed whitening products including
Fair and Handsome cream, after shave and facial wash for men.
Health and fairness
Doctors, for their part, warn fairness
products can cause physical harm.
"We need to know the proper effect of such products
that seem useless playing on fancy notions of beauty in the minds of
women," said Dr Sachin Dhawan, a well-known dermatologist and beauty
consultant to many leading skin clinics in New Delhi and Gurgaon.
Many skin whitening or bleaching products may contain
lightening agents such as hydroquinone and alpha hydroxy. "On sensitive
skin these have the potential to cause irritation and allergic reactions after
prolonged use in the intimate areas by women," Dhawan said.
Dr Joyeeta Basu from Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science
and Research, New Delhi, said the long-term effects of whitening products are
still unclear. "Studies have not been conducted over many years to study
if these have harmful effects," she said, "so [they] cannot be
condemned conclusively for any toxicity until proven."
Cosmetic boom
Cautions aside, fairness creams are still selling well and
the Indian cosmetics industry is booming. According to recent research from the
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, the country's domestic
cosmetics industry is poised to grow to Rs 200bn ($3.6bn) by 2014.
The increased popularity of specialised products, including
skin tone lotions and creams, and anti-ageing cosmetics has been attributed to
the increase in the population of working women, growing disposable income among
consumers and aggressive marketing and advertising.
"The protests [against whitening products] are small in
number because Indian woman in both urban and rural areas of have taken to cosmetics, cosmetic surgery and
enhancement in a big way," said Dr Dhawan.
While feminists and social commentators find an independent
Indian woman's need for "fairness" unfair, the soaring sales of
fairness products tell another tale. Ammu Rao, a natural healing therapist in
Gurgaon, a city near the capital New Delhi, isn't averse to giving Clean and
Dry a try. "If we need fairness for our faces, why not for down
there?" she asks.
Whoever said beauty is only skin deep probably didn't
foresee the popularity of whitening creams in modern India.
4 comments:
Dear Indian Women !!!
Why bother using lotions or creams?
Everybody know how tattoo works,rigth?.
If your lover wants to see your special landscape whiten
up to become a "fairness zone", especially the area around
and on the Splitting Rock, Mound of Ever/Chinrest...,
I recommend using an overall white tattoo.But you have to
remember the crucial part of a one time painful process.
Instead of using black ink, you should use special white
organic base ink : Coconut milk,white premium Kaolin clay,
fresh rubber milk etc..mixed with you lover seed !!!
Keep it clean, Dr.Crazy !
All about money Dr greedy!...There is nothing wrong with dark complexion around your private area or anywhere else when you were born that way! The company that sold the products wants to make money by down grade Indian women to make her feel bad for herself and spent money to buy their products(whitenning cream) All is in your head, Dr greedy messes with your head to get you to buy their cream.
Nonsense Dr greedy,stop messes with people head,if prolong using of their cream will be result in damages your skin or irritation,alergy can cause your body to shut down,harmful to your health.
Nothing is wrong with your skin is dark,have ever heard the phrase that day "dark n lovely?"
Well,your Indian women are dark n lovely...Don't let people mess with your head,stop buying whitenning cream from this company save your money...
Khmer gentlmen prefer Srey Sraw Em !!!
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