TV Commercials Give Way To Social Discriminations

Saturday, January 9, 2010, 10:31

Television commercials are inundated with advertisements of fairness creams, but the question is do they really have any beautifying effects? Rather, such commercials generate an urge among the young girls to have a fairer complexion, so that they are not just socially accepted but professionally do well too.

Most of these commercials show a girl with dark complexion who strives to excel in life, until she finds the right fairness cream to change her skin colour. Owing to the effects of the cream, the girl is shown either getting a job or being accepted by the society.

Such depictions send out wrong messages to the society and alters the way people look at life.

Skin colour is determined by the amount and type of melanin present in the skin. Melanin is the pigmentation of the skin which decides the skin colour. Skin complexions depend on the genes and not on external factors like environment and cosmetics.

Logically and practically success is only associated with education and hard work. Looks and skin tones can't decide one's fate for success. Had it been true, actresses like Naomi Campbell, Keri Washington, Bipasha Basu would not have been where they are today. Models with dark skin complexions also steal all eyes. So why such discrimination?

Psychologists say that girls with dark skin colour are low on confidence. Advertisements like these further make them feel socially rejected and make them suffer from an inferiority complex. There should be strict rules to ban such advertisements. In this era, our aim should be to reject all social discriminations and not give way to them.

So it is time to unlearn statements like fairness creams make your skin tone lighter in a few weeks, people having fairer complexion can climb the professional ladder easily and those with dark skin colour are not socially appreciated.

Ironically, while we waste our time and energy trying to switch to a fairer complexion, white skinned people in sub tropical regions try hard to get this tanned look. “The bronze finish make up which gives a tanned look is the new trend. Most of the brides are opting for the tanned look."