‘Am I pretty?’ 60 percent of Indian girls feel pressured to look beautiful

The survey done by Dove found that more than half of the women respondents did not have high body esteem

By: Kanishk Singh |
January 29, 2018 5:54 pm

In a survey conducted by Dove discussed at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2018, 60 per cent of Indian girls responded that they felt pressured to ‘look beautiful’. The respondents blamed the beauty standards promoted by media and its ‘portrayals of beauty’ for their lack of confidence. As per the survey results, due to the conventional standards of beauty being sold, more than half of the women surveyed did not have high body esteem and 65 percent of them avoided engaging in activities outside the house.

Many films and adverts sell traditional concepts of beauty and some even look down upon dark skin. An ad regarding a beauty cream produced by Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali came under fire after it referred to dark complexion as a ‘skin ailment’.

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Again. There is a history of racism in cleansing products. No way anyone didn’t notice that in the dove ad pic.twitter.com/rXNd6144V3

— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) October 8, 2017

Such advertisements also have an impact on the overall satisfaction and self-esteem of women. The obsession with fair skin is such that more people in India buy fairness cream than they do soft drink giant Coke, according to The Guardian,

Skin-whitening products like skin bleaches contain chemicals that restrict the production of melanin, which makes the skin lighter rapidly. Some creams also contain ‘hydroquinone’ – a skin-bleaching agent. If applied excessively, it removes melanin completely from the skin, not only leaving it prone to cancer but also leads to ochronosis – formation of dark patches after due to the build-up of homogentistic acid.

Are things changing?
Short answer – yes. In 2014, India officially banned any form of colourist advertising which portrays dark-skinned people as inferior to those with a relatively fairer skin. Last year, Abhay Deol pointed out just how many celebrities endorsed products such as Fair and Lovely and other skin-lightening creams. Recently, Sushant Singh Rajput turned down a lucrative offer to be the face of a fairness product. In an ad of skincare brand Pretty 24, four Indian women of different skin complexions talk about how skin creams in India sell false hopes to women by promising them fairer skin.

ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra regrets endorsing fairness creams and we’re glad she spoke about this skin colour obsession

In fact, there is an increasing realization and acceptance of the fact that very few women look like the ones in films and TV adverts, the survey found out.