Of all the things to kick up a fuss about!!!
People dying of hunger? - No sweat.
Terrorists blowing up people? - Big deal, happens all the time.
Human rights being violated around the globe? - So?
Michelle Obama's fashion designer Naeem Khan calls her dress 'Nude' and a newspaper calls it 'Flesh, but it’s not the colour of her skin? - How dare they! Its a crime against humanity. It’s racist. It’s discriminatory. I'm offended!
Yes, I AM offended. Not because someone was a little careless in choosing his words to describe a piece of fashion but because it gained so much limelight! Seriously, I am certain that, if we looked around a bit, we would find some bit of news more worthy of first page coverage than Michelle Obama's dress and how Naeem Khan or some newspaper described it. But then again, the media reports what the common people want to hear. Even news channels and prints have a TRP to maintain. If they highlight such trivial issues, it is because WE give it that level of importance.
We, the people of the world, are obsessed with the colour of skin. We are bothered about what others think of what hue or shade of brown we are. WE are the hypocrites who rave and cry when someone calls us black or brown and claim that we are being discriminated against. Yet, we are the first to try out the latest fairness creams to hit the market! It is WE who fuel the fire of racism by considering ourselves inferior just because our skins are darker. It is WE who are discriminating against ourselves.
Think about the last time you sat through a 5 minute break time between some Ekta Kapoor soap opera and DID NOT come across the promo of some fairness miracle or the other. Soon after being crowned Miss Universe, the dusky Lara Dutta was seen in the promo of one of Garnier’s fairness products. More recently, the actress Kajol is appearing in some age defying product’s advert in which she is portrayed as being ridiculously fair. I don’t remember seeing a Naomi Campbell or Tyra Banks in a fairness product commercial.
Its about time we stopped being two faced about our colour consciousness. Either we are not happy with our own skin or we are so proud of it that casual statements describing a dress are offensive.
Make up your mind!
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