UnfairAndLovely

Dark-Skinned South Asians Are Sharing Selfies With The Hashtag #UnfairAndLovely

“I’m always fetishized for my skin colour and it’s something that has bothered me for ages.”

A new global campaign on social media against colourism - #unfairandlovely has created buzz all over. In recent weeks, three students from the University of Texas, Austin, have launched a new campaign which has become a talking point on social media around the world. It was inspired by a project that Pax Jones, a 21-year-old black student at the University of Texas in Austin, began in December. She created a photo series featuring stunning images of her South Asian classmates. Along with some other fed-up women, a campaign celebrating dark-skinned women in all their glory.

The world is unfortunately rife with various -isms. Racism and sexism often get a ton of attention, and for good reason. But colorism, or holding lighter skin tones up as more beautiful, is another damaging practice that can make some people feel like they’re less worthy than others. Given that society is generally more critical of women’s looks than men, colorism typically affects women more. And just like racism and sexism, colorism is often present in advertising—just take the recent Thai ad that proclaimed “whiteness makes you win.” 

In matrimonial advertisements in South Asian countries, women with "fair complexion" are in high demand, and millions of men and women around the world have resorted to bleaching their skin.Skin whitening creams are big business in India

In recent years, new creams have been introduced to lighten armpit hair and even female genitals.

And their manufacturers advertise their wares by preying on basic human insecurities - consumers are encouraged to believe that lightening their skin tone a shade or two will enable them to win 'better' jobs and spouses and generally improve the quality of their lives.

Over the years, campaigners have tried to challenge this belief - they argue that beauty is more than skin deep and that dark is beautiful too.

From March 8-March 14, the team behind Unfair and Lovely has joined forces with Reclaim the Bindi, a “campaign that fights cultural appropriation by promoting those who identify with the bindi reclaiming their cultures,” according to their Instagram. Together, the two movements have sparked an outpouring of women speaking up about their identities in a really beautiful way. Here, a sampling of some of the gorgeous women showcasing how much they love themselves and their backgrounds.

Or just use the hashtag #UnfairAndLovely.#DarkIsBeautiful