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| Obsession with fair complexion: 'Mothers come and say that their daughter is having a relationship, just make her fair quickly' |
Mothers bring their 10- and 11-year-old daughters to us that the daughter's color is tan, and if we start working on it now, it will turn white by the age of 19, or 18.
Some mothers ask the doctors for courses of skin whitening injections for their young daughters and if the doctors do not do it, today most of the small and big parlors in every big city of the country are providing these injections without any regulation or supervision. .'
Islamabad-based Dr. Urmila is a dermatologist, and according to her, a large number of women and men visiting her clinic are afraid of their natural complexion.
She explains that many of the patients who come to her are indeed suffering from a few acne problems, but there are also a large number of people who just want to lighten their complexion.
In many countries in South Asia, many people consider a fair complexion to be a guarantee of beauty and success. The roots of this concept are very strong in Pakistan as well.
It has come a long way from the cheap bleaching creams in the market. Many treatments and methods like injections, lightning lasers, PRP, and the like are now being used for discoloration.
Among them, in particular, the efficacy of injectable chemicals, i.e. products used by vaccines, has been questioned in various countries, including the US, and people have been warned against their 'unchecked' use.
"We're told not to wear yellow, it's just black."
Fareeha Yusuf is associated with a chain of private schools in Islamabad. They are aware of discrimination based on skin color, but they stopped it from turning into an inferiority complex at an early age. According to him, the main reason for this is his father, who taught him to stand in front of discrimination in society.
"While playing as a child, it often happened that those who were white-skinned or beautiful children were given preference and I was given the role of a maid. I was very confused as to why this was so." Why can't I be the heroine, who is about to get married or her doll is about to get married? Why should I be a maid? I would feel bad and I would say that my heart just doesn't want to play.
"I would come home and tell Baba, and he would send me back saying no, you go, play, and take the role you want to play." At that time, I used to cry a lot, but they used to send me forcibly.
She says that in Pakistani society, this competition based on color starts in childhood.
This thinking is very deep and strong in our society. There is a tendency among young girls to compete about who is cuter and who is fairer. In every family, there must be such relatives that whenever the fair-skinned girls go somewhere, these relative women must ask hey, don't you put a baton on her face? There is a new cream in the market, apply it. I have seen many women suffer throughout their lives due to this inferiority complex.
According to Fareeha, wearing certain colors in childhood for dark-skinned or dark-skinned girls also becomes a handicap.
"We are told not to wear yellow, it is completely black, how can we wear yellow, or not wear green, it will not look good at all." Red will not look good. Just wear it in light colors. So even the colors of clothes are banned for such girls.
In school and college, this series continues to increase. Somewhere, when the teacher would select girls for an event or a game, those who were tall or fair-skinned would be selected. Later it was realized that the difference was only in color, and there was no difference at all. But when I became a teacher myself, I made sure that no child or girl would face discrimination based on the color of their skin.
"Someone would call me black, then someone would call me black"
Not only women but also men are involved in this painful color race and discrimination.
Shah Rukh Khan, a resident of Karachi, spoke to BBC about this. He is a government employee and has spent a large part of his life enduring hatred that is unacceptable in any civilized society.
Some call me Black, and some call me Bhangi. And I hear 'Kala Dajjal' a lot. I was asked if you are from Africa. I keep hearing all this and people make clear distinctions based on color, they are taunted, and the words are spread.
He says that the unfortunate thing is that our ability doesn't matter, after a hard day's work we are judged on the conventional scale of our looks, complexion, and beauty. If someone looks good or has attractive eyes, it is because of his fair complexion, people like us look less good.
But unlike Fareeha, it was a bit difficult for Shah Rukh Khan to ignore such sentences.
"I think one way to solve such problems is to ignore them. Because you cannot argue with these people. Yes, it is certain that after listening to these things, your mind also gets on board that I also become a little white.
"I have also tried night fairness creams from many companies, but I have not seen any significant difference. People also say injecting glutathione to lighten the complexion, but I did not do it until today due to its side effects. have not been used.
Experts in the medical field claim that glutathione injections, which are also used in combination with vitamin C, are widely used in the market for skin lightening. Apart from injections and drops, it is also available in capsule form and is being sold in even small beauty parlors without any legal checks and balances.
The relevant institutions of the United States and some other countries have also issued a warning against its use, according to which there is no complete research on its use and effects at the moment. While "excessive use of this chemical used for liver disease can lead to kidney, liver and thyroid diseases, including cancer." However, there is a lack of comprehensive research on its benefits or harms.
Doctors and dermatologists use this glutathione to treat blemishes on the skin, but the dosage and course of injections are taken care of.
However, doctors also say that this method is certainly popular for lightening skin color, but it does not change the color of the skin permanently.
There are various advertisement campaigns related to skin tone. Fair and Lovely, and many other social media advertising campaigns like it, have not produced any significant change in public attitudes, or at least very slowly.
What is the obsession with the white color in Pakistan?
We asked dermatologist, Dr. Urmila Javed, to understand whether people's attitudes have really changed and whether the 'fair skin craze' has not only persisted but has also increased.
She says that people think that if the color is white then they will be beautiful. But the truth is that the quality of beauty is not the color, the quality of beauty is good i.e. healthy skin. No acne or blemishes, no visible facial or skin pores, hydrated skin, no blackheads or unwanted hair, etc. But what is complexion, it has never been a measure of beauty. These are self-imposed norms in our society.
Talking about the people who come to her, she says that the 'fairness obsession' is painful.
The sad thing is that the girls don't say anything, their mothers come and say, Doctor, my daughter's color is bad, she is less white, and you should do something about it, some mothers say that the daughter's relationship is coming, that's it. Quickly turn it white. If the parents are not trusting their children, then what kind of inferiority complex is being created in this child for the rest of his life.
She says that there are women who say that their husbands are not happy with their fair complexion. Not only women, but boys also come. Especially men who are doing jobs where there is a lot of public dealing. This proves that they are also facing the pressure of society.
"There is a gradual change in the society regarding color"
Fatima Lodhi is among the first in Pakistan to resort to a social media campaign to end color discrimination. Fatima Lodhi, who has been running an awareness campaign with the hashtag 'Dark is Divine' since 2013, believes that society is gradually changing.
"I have seen a change in people's behavior now. At first, actors and actresses also did not want to talk about this issue. The industry is a mafia, when they are paid they do things without thinking about how it affects people. But the campaign that has been going on has changed something. Now many actors refuse to do controversial color-lighting ads. I hope that change will come, it will take time but this thinking will also change.
According to Fatima Lodhi, our society's obsession with fair complexion began when the region became part of the British Raj.
Since then, people believe that fair-skinned people have superiority over black or brown skin, and this skin color is desired. Unfortunately, these ideas are deeply rooted in us. Earlier it was about fairness creams, but now various procedures have come. The problem is not that a fair complexion is called beautiful. The problem is that the second color is called ugly, which is wrong.
But Shahrukh Khan is not very hopeful for a change in attitudes. "Now this society will continue to stigmatize us and we will continue to think that we wish we were white too."
But Fareeha Yusuf thinks that it is the parent's responsibility to take the children out of this color discrimination and suffering.
It was my father who gave me confidence. They would say if these people are not accepting you, you should go and stay with them until they come themselves and say that we have to make friends with Fareeha. And I made very good friends and when they became friends, then things like color, etc became meaningless.
I think we should make our daughters very strong and mothers themselves can play the most important role in this matter. In our country, mothers do not allow their children to play in the sun, and climbing is not allowed because if they go out in the sun, they will turn black. All this needs to change. The world has come a long way