Every day you’ll see tonnes of confessions by India’s dark girls (savli, tan, dusky or whatever you would like to call us in the milder version!) on different opinion blogs where they simply blurt out their deepest frustrations.

Some have been rejected by their crush/lover, some were shamed by their potential in-laws and some were even rejected during interviews only because of their color.

And India is not a racist country? Oh please!!!!

“Dusky beauty” is something that my ears have been bombarded with ever since I was a teenager. Yeah, not just beauty but dusky beauty! And this is the reason why most of the people I met including my ex-manager thought I’m a Bengali.

Yes, because if you are dark and beautiful you are Bengali, if not (according to their standardization) then you are a South Indian. Prejudices!

I’m none though!

 

“Dusky” is a euphemism for dark and is often used by Indians to refer to dark-skinned girls whom they find quite attractive. Going by this new norm, dusky is exotic, dark isn’t!

This is the reason why dark skinned girls in Bollywood like Bipasha Basu and Lisa Haydon are labeled as “dusky beauties” and referred to as “sexy” and “hot”.

However, using another word to illustrate the skin color of a girl one finds attractive shows that “dark” is used as a derogatory remark.

The stigma of being dark is plaguing the Indian mindset even now as you read this piece. Many of us would endorse the idea “dark is beautiful” here in the comment section but would reject a girl merely because of her color in reality.

There are guys who leave their girlfriends whom they love dearly, merely because they are dark and their parents won’t accept them as their life partners. What would they showcase to their relatives – the dark-skinned bahu?

Oh no! What will happen to their prestige? After all, Indian bahus right after the wedding are no less than a showpiece where everybody comes and gives their ratings on their skin tone, eyes, nose, weight etc.

People have a strange belief that all the jokes surrounding dark skin offend us, well, mainly because, many of us deep down believe that our dark skin is our shortcoming. Well, honestly, people who get offended by jokes on the dark skin are not the ones who think that being dark is a shortcoming.

Besides, the offensive humor gives liberty to mock a particular skin color by devaluing their identity. Jokes about dark skin clearly show that it is absolutely fine to make fun of somebody’s body.

I know few dark-skinned people especially guys who are fine if somebody makes fun of their skin tone. Unfortunately, their act of being a “sport” demands other people to be like them, to be as mature as them, and to even have a sense of humor like them.

However, not all can believe that it is humor and it is our thinking that is offensive and not the society’s way of dehumanizing us.

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