color of the skin

[sansanwalamit]

hello,
as we know color of skin has played a major role in human history people have been even discriminated by it......but what surprises me most is the misconception that only caucasian people discrminate people ........I mean since my childhood i have seen people from our community prefering lighter complexion.....how should I say it....ok in points
-in northern India color plays a major role in beauty ...which shouldnt ...if a person has lighter skin he/she becomes better looking whereas doesnt matter if you ahve whatever features ...you can never be called equally good looking if you arent lightskinned.
-whenever we mention the word foreigner there is always a picture of a white person .....i mean in India african origin people are actually mocked at thoguh they do not understand it ....but people do not look beyond their skin....and it does happen infact we do address them as "kaaloo" dont we.
-there are 1000s of girls and guys(especially in our community) who get probelm when it come to wedding ...i mean either you can be rich(good finances paternal or your own) or you have to be fair coz thats what considered good looking......or else you will have problems and you will ahve to try fairness creams which are only available in india.
-people with lighter skins are also considered more prosperous .....if you are a DC and dark then you should know people respect you coz you are DC or else they willl think you are just another guy who isnt even good to look at .
-and there are many more points which should be added in here and i would appreciate if you can do so ......
and I would appreciate if you can give you views about why is it so......
some of my views are
- we are that ways coz we were colonised by fairskinned people since ages -turks, moguls and then the brits...thus i guess its in our genes to respect and look up at lighterskinned people and vice-versa.
-due to the cast system ...as according to my experiance people who belonged to lower castes were generally dark.thats why we even have a saying never trust a kala Brahmin.
-and I cannot think of many more ......
so plzzz finish this job and share your views .....and plzzz do not continue this "genetic deformity " that we guys have.
Amit Sansanwal

[vivek]

You have already posted reasons for Gori skin. Whatever the reasons, it is prevelent in all societies and races. Chinese, Philipinos, Japanese, Mullatos, Iranians...all have preference for lighter skin. However, in India it is magnified by caste system, and history. My sister is lighter skinned than me, and I remember how everyone compared that how much gori she was next to me (I rather that she was the gori one). I remember that I got scolded when I was a little kid and stayed out in the sun day and night during summer vacation, and got completely 'kala'. I remember that relations in India commented how my skin had become 'saaf' after I spent couple winters in Pittsburgh where the sun doesn't shine in winters...and I managed to lose my desi tan.

There was a Jat sangwan girl in Michigan, who was tall 5 ft 8", and a doctor, but is having trouble finding a boy, despite very pretty features...and I went to a jat gathering, and she was dissected. Among the drawback comments was..."Uska rang thora pakka hai".

[akdabas]

Kadwa Sach.....

[preity]

You are absolutely correct Mr. Sansanwal,

Skin color and good looks play a big part in a person life especially in his/her own self-esteem, confidence, and how other people treat them. It can (at times) make or break a persons personality because the “discrimination” starts at childhood. For example, my little nephew is really cute and has very fair skin and I have observed that he gets a lot more hugs, kisses, and attention from other people when we are at a party or visiting friends as compared to other kids present. Thus, it seems that people start treating you differently from childhood.

Another example I can recall is that there was a study conducted on attractiveness and the likely hood for getting a job. Results showed that attractive people were more likely to get the job offer than someone who is less attractive.

I also think that most women get more discriminated on how fat or skinny they look than their skin color, but that is a whole new “can of worms” I am opening up to this topic (so let’s not go there).

Priti

[indian]

Here is an example that I recall. On seeing my friend who had gone back from Arizona, one of the ladies from her in-laws side commented," yaa kite na laagti Amrica ja ke aayee hai, pehlan te bhi kaali lage hai"

[shokeen123]

The color bias is across all hemispheres of the world, point is how many of us are color blind?

[yvsgaawar]

Cannot Help, Humane nature. I remember a song our Collage canteen manager used to play:
" GORE RUNG KA JAMAANA
KABHI HOGA NA PURANA
GORI TUJHE DAR KISKA HAI ,
TERA TOU RUNG GORA HAI..".

[akdabas]

YagyaVir Singh Gaawar (Jan 15, 2003 10:12 a.m.):
Cannot Help, Humane nature. I remember a song our Collage canteen manager used to play:
" GORE RUNG KA JAMAANA
KABHI HOGA NA PURANA
GORI TUJHE DAR KISKA HAI ,
TERA TOU RUNG GORA HAI..".


:D Gaawar bhai Do Line Or...........

Gore Rung Pe Na Itana Gumaan Kar,

Gora Rung Do Din Me Dhal Jaayega !!

Ha..Ha..Ha.................................!!

[vivek]

I am sure that we are all guilty of color bias. We all have observed how the lighter skinned relatives have been directly or indirectly praised for their skin color, and fair kids treated better. We all want the best for our kids, and it just becomes logical to seek out fairer sex for our partners.

World is not fair, and sometimes you have to do best with what you have. Its rather naive and idealistic to think that with education, there will be no prejudices in the world. It will always be there....

[sansanwalamit]

hello,
it is actually naive to think of a world without prejudices ....its more like a "crazy man's utopia"......but what we have to see in here that were we actually like that since forever .....I mean didnt we inherit this color bias from external influences....
what I am trying to say is that ....we come from Land of Krishna,Shiva,( dark skinnned Gods) and then so many of our kings have been dark skinned, apart from that Mahatma Gandhi was dark too....and the list can go on forever .....thus after having such examples right in front of us ....we still feel or rather fall for fair color.....what is this ....I would rather balme it on jumping on the band wagon phenomena ....i assume that we adopted this like so many ideas we are foolishly incorporating in our lives in today's world ....and I would also assume the abundance of this phenomena is more likely in communities(villages) around the cities and in cities ......coz I personnaly find people from viallges generally have a higher level of thinking (do not quote me on this please) ......I mean they overlook at things like your color, height etc...al they say is that why arent you robust ....u dont eat or what.....but in cities ...u can actuallly feel it in the air that ur color is an issue......now why is it so .....

[rsdalal]

Color is one of many things, which are gifted(To name few, Hieght, weigth, Nak/Naksh etc etc), so it also comes with its benefit, just like other features.
In my opinion it should get credit just like other features. But at the same time it should get only that much credit, no more.

[akdabas]

I think if the guy takes bath everyday then color of the skin does not matter.

Sirf man ko samjhana parega kisi achchi baat ke liye ki sirf rang saaf hone se aadmi saaf nahin ho jata.

[shokeen123]

Amit Sansanwal (Jan 15, 2003 12:31 p.m.):

I personnaly find people from viallges generally have a higher level of thinking (do not quote me on this please) ......I mean they overlook at things like your color, height etc...al they say is that why arent you robust ....u dont eat or what.....but in cities ...u can actuallly feel it in the air that ur color is an issue......now why is it so .....




Amit:

It is so because they do have more tolerance, and better acceptance of humans. They know so because, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity!" Life for them focuses on the next crop rather than the next door neighbor's color. They don't have time to be judgmental about such things, although the same can't be said about education.

Whether one is of Tagore's belief (O beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror) or follower of Confucius theory (When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.) the perception and reaction to any behavior ultimately rests on one's own conscience. We make a conscious dicision for every action we take.

If we are trying to look the other side and deny the truth (that some one or the other within our own family is not so-called fair-skinned) I will find that statement to be absurd!

Great thinking on your part to raise, rather to bring the awareness to surface.

PS: You are right we are product of our community, what has been ingrained on our minds for decades will be hard to erase with a stroke of our pen here!

[akdalal]

By reading everybody's views I tend to believe that there are TWO colours in life - Gora aur Kala. Rest falls in between.

Any Mota gora (fat white person) looks ackward and any healthy Kala looks smart.

It should be thoughts and perception which matters.

I am of the following scientific view:

" When you mix all rainbow colours - it become WHITE and the BLACK colour is good absorbant, hence more powerful than white, so black is more colourful than white as it includes white".

Cheers!