OK, Vogue India decided to tackle the thorny issue of their country’s increasing struggle with accepting the beauty of their darker skin. Sales of skin lightening creams shot up 18% last year. Their editorial manifesto reads thus:

“Every generation has its share of beauty myths. Perhaps it is time to bust this one. Time to say that as a magazine we love, and always have loved, the gorgeous colour of Indian skin, dark, dusky, bronze, golden - whatever you call it, we love it.”

All very agreeable sentiments but to me the whole goddamn purpose is undermined by the fact that only two of the cover models actually look Indian. It’s kinda like saying, “darker skin is good if you’re a bronzed beach-babe.” They fundamentally appear to be subscribing to a very Western notion of beauty. Which is the actual problem. I mean looking tanned, healthy and sunkissed is generally universally regarded as to being attractive. The fact sales of whitening cream are shooting up is because they are influenced by this Westernized beauty ideal. This would have better been challenged by Vogue India by putting explicitly Indian women on the cover, not some Western looking bronzed beach lovelies.

Nice try, but spectacular own goal.

Posted on April 14, 2010 at 4:13:56 by The Real Runway