Dark Skin Girl

“How to get fair skin in just 2 days!”

“Skin whitening secrets.”

“How to get naturally fair skin”

I’m sure you’ve seen at least one of the above titles, some are videos, others are articles written by “people who have tried and tested these methods”. In fact I’m sure there are more methods to get fair skin than there are to get brown skin.

But what’s so bad about being a brown skinned girl?

We all talk about female empowerment, supporting young girls, but if its telling them that being brown skin is bad, then I don’t want to be a part of this empowerment regime. I’m not saying that you should not try these methods, if you feel that you want to be fair, than go ahead, but don’t be telling a little girl that she needs to start using fairness creams in order to be more attractive, don’t be telling the woman who is self conscious that she needs to be fair in order to find a guy. Who knows, maybe she's not interested in men.

We don’t need these negative comments coming our way when we’re already struggling with poverty, unemployment, climate change and other personal problems.

Come to think of it, men go through the same thing too, we now also have fairness creams for men, why?

I wonder if these individuals who make these products know the kind of pressure that they are putting on young children. That's why so many people suffer from depression, because they are forced to hate themselves for not looking a certain way?

Being fair is not all that great, trust me, yes I’m a fair girl. So why am I writing this? I am writing this to prove to all those who say that fair girls are more beautiful, those who say fair girls attract more men and those who think being fair means fitting in, well you're wrong! I don't see myself as more beautiful then the next girl, I don't have boys running after me asking for my number and nor do I feel like I am fitting in with society. So why do I feel the need to share all my stories with you? I should love being fair, I'm not a brown girl..?

Well, here’s the story..

My sister is a brown skinned girl. Recently she just had a baby girl, so now I’m a proud aunt. But then we had a very nosy Indian aunty who said something along the lines of “your baby is so fair and cute”, so now my sister has been trying to use these fairness creams in order to fit in with her in-laws. Stupid I know, but as a woman who is sometimes insulted for her skin color, you feel like you have to start fitting in with the crowd, especially if you’re married. So here I am writing this blog or article (whatever you want to call it) just so that any person who is going through the pressures of society, anyone who is being told that they need to lose weight or gain it, to anyone who is told that they need to change their skin color or look a certain way, this blog is to tell you that you don't need to listen to those people.

You should live life they way you want to because 10 years down the line, you'll be doing things to impress people and fit in and you'll forget what it's like to live, you'll forget who you are as a person and become someone you're not. Don't live life with regrets. Do what you love and what makes you happy.

To all those who are being told to use fairness creams in order to fit in…Please don’t do it. It’s a terrible world out there and who knows, maybe there's someone out there who loves you just the way you are.

I probably don’t know exactly how you feel, but what I do know is that you need to do what makes you happy, and if being a fair lady is not something you want, then don’t do it.

Love yourself. Love others and Spread kindness.