[icernet] Indian Women Criticize 'Fair and Lovely' Ideal

[Arul Selvan]

  Two attractive young women are sitting in a bedroom having an intimate 
conversation. The lighter-skinned woman has a boyfriend and, 
consequently, is happy. The darker-skinned woman, lacking a boyfriend, 
is not. Her friend's advice? Use a bar of soap to wash away the dark 
skin that's keeping men from flocking.

Hindustan Lever Limited, one of India's largest manufacturing and 
marketing conglomerates, discontinued two of its television 
advertisements for Fair and Lovely Fairness Cold Cream this month, after 
a year-long campaign led by the All India Democratic Women's 
Association. Increasing public criticism may be initiating a change in 
cultural attitudes towards skin whitening in India, a country where the 
fairness industry accounts for 60 percent of skincare sales, bringing in 
$140 million a year. The company is the Indian subsidiary of Unilever 
PLC, based in London.

In a memo to India's National Human Rights Commission, Brinda Karat, 
general secretary of the women's association, calls one of the ads 
"discriminatory on the basis of the color of skin," and "an affront to a 
woman's dignity," because it shows fairer women having greater job 
success based on their sexuality.

Fair and Lovely, one of Hindustan Lever's "power brands," is marketed in 
over 38 countries. Its frequently-aired ads typically show a depressed 
woman with few prospects gaining a brighter future by attaining a 
boyfriend or job after becoming markedly fairer (emphasized by several 
silhouettes of her face lined up dark to light). On its Web site the 
company calls its product, "the miracle worker," which is "proven to 
deliver one to three shades of change."

The ad targeted by the women's association shows a woman, whose father 
had lamented not having a son to support the family, landing a 
well-paying job as an airline attendant after using the product.

Hindustan Lever failed to respond to All India Democratic Women's 
Association's complaints, first sent in March and April 2002. The 
women's association then appealed to the Human Rights Commission, which 
passed its complaints on to the Ministry of Information and 
Broadcasting. The government recently issued notices of the complaints 
to the company. Karat credits this intervention, rather than any "sudden 
awakening to the feelings that women have when they see those ads," with 
triggering the company's about-face. "We're not for heavy-duty 
censorship," she said, but "when the companies don't respond we have no 
alternative."

If there is evidence that public opinion has changed, it is not to be 
found in the Indian matrimonial ads, with their "grooms" and "brides 
wanted" sections that families use to arrange suitable alliances. These 
ads, hundreds of which appear in India's daily newspapers, reflect the 
country's remarkable diversity in their attempts to solicit individuals 
with the appropriate religion, caste, regional ancestry, professional 
and educational qualifications, and frequently, skin color.

Even in the growing numbers of ads that announce "caste no bar," the 
adjective "fair" still regularly precedes professional qualifications. A 
typical example shows that having a medical or graduate business degree 
is only part of the package: "Wanted really b'ful fair medico for h'some 
smart Doctor."

Source:
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1308