Does fair mean beautiful?
| 12:52 UK time, Wednesday, 24 March 2010
India's appetite for skin whitening creams is huge and growing. According to anby Shantanu Guha Ray, sales are outstripping both Coca Cola and tea. Products with names like 'Fair and Lovely' and 'White Perfect' are selling by the million, and men are increasingly getting involved.
And it's not just India - similar products are popular in many parts of Africa too. It seems ironic given that many fair-skinned Americans and Europeans use tanning salons and 'fake tan' cream to darken their skin.
So why are people so concerned about their skin colour? says that having darker skin in India is considered ugly, and that people aspire to marry someone fairer than themselves. This says tanned skin for white people is associated with having the money to go on holiday, and darker skin with labouring outdoors.
Is the media and advertising to blame? Ads like the one above sell the idea that having lighter skin makes you successful at work and attractive to men, as this points out Is television dominated by fair-skinned people?
Would you ever change your skin colour and why?
