> Ana Maria de souza-Goswami <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote > Why does everyone think that anglo indians have to be fair. Selma > remarked that a dusky friend of hers called herself Anglo-Indian. > I lived four years in Bangalore and knew a lot of Anglos. 90% of > them were dark, very few were fair. The Anglos asked me whether > I was one, because of my very fair complexion, and when I > said 'Goan', then of course, 'But you must have some > Portuguese blood'. Ana Maria de Souza-Goswami
Dear Ana, You mean "with less pigmentation" and "with more pigmentation"? There are a lot more words which are racist, and we might not be aware of their connotations. See http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12772 Selma's "dusky" has "dark" connotations, but sounds a bit more polite -- dusky Adjective [duskier, duskiest] 1. dark in colour: her gold earings gleamed against her dusky cheeks 2. dim or shadowy: the dusky room was crowded with absurd objects duskily adv duskiness n http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dusky Here you have Indian women criticize the "fair and lovely" ideal: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1308/context/archive Is fair equal to lovely? See what this blog [http://vsequeira.blogspot.com/2005/07/fair-lovely.html] : "I challenge you to find someone who describes his or herself as "Dark."" VanithaJ wants to know: "Is it true that the fair skin girls are more beautiful & prettier than dark skin girls?" So see the interesting answer, http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080527235136AAlUSJW Anyway, where does skin colour come from? "Melanocytes: Found in the lower part of the epidermis, these cells make melanin, the pigment that gives skin its natural color. When skin is exposed to the sun, melanocytes make more pigment, causing the skin to darken." http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/skin/Patient And, having a "fair" complexion is apparently one of the risk factors for skin cancer, as per the site above. ("Having a fair complexion (blond or red hair, fair skin, green or blue eyes, history of freckling.") Are Asian fashion magazines too biased towards "fair" skin? http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/publishing/902 Of Anglo-looking actors in Bollywood: http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2005/08/bollywood-delusions-race-vs-language.html Bias towards "fair" skin is benefitting cosmetic companies http://usefulltou.blogspot.com/2008/03/bias-towards-fair-skin-is-benefitting.html Teaching kids to avoid bias: "Why is Jamal's skin so dark?" Inappropriate "His skin color doesn't matter. We are all the same underneath." (This response denies the child's question, changing the subject to one of similarity when the child is asking about a difference.) http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:ec-fnRZFlkMJ:www.teachingforchange.org/DC_Projects/ECEI/teachingyoungchildren.pdf+fair+dark+skin+biased+terms&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&client=firefox Race, amidst racism: "When slavery ended, light-skinned blacks established social organizations that barred darker ex-slaves. Elite blacks of the early 20th century were fair-skinned almost to the person. Even today, most blacks in high positions have fair skin tones, and most blacks who do menial jobs or are in prison are dark." http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2005/07/skin-and-color-of-money.html Fair and Lovely: why indians obsessed with light/dark skin http://www.topix.com/forum/world/india/TPS5C91828CVDRPRI Indian-born, Zambian-raised humourist Melvin Durai: I've been rather content with my complexion, as content as I am with having dark hair, dark eyes and dark thoughts. http://www.nshima.com/fair.html The Effect of African American Skin Color on Hiring Preferences The role of African American skin color in hiring decisions was investigated in a 2 × 2 × 2 (Participant Sex × Applicant Sex × Applicant Skin Color) design. College-age participants (N= 107) were presented with stimuli and asked to make 8 employment-related decisions. An interaction of applicant skin color and participant sex and a skin-color main effect were predicted. Fair-skinned applicants were expected to receive better ratings from men, while dark-skinned applicants were expected to receive better ratings from women or ratings from women would not differ. Additionally, in general, fair-skinned individuals were expected to receive better ratings than dark-skinned individuals. The results were consistent with the hypotheses. Results are discussed in terms of the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype and prior research. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb01991.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jasp WHAT IS "FAIR" SKIN? Light skin. Fair has also meant extremely lovely/beautiful. That is a rather outdated use of the word fair, though. We all should know from the Grimm Brothers "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" Fair does mean beautiful. http://www.english-test.net/toeic/vocabu... I have "fair skin", dark hair and dark eyes. Sometimes I am referred to as pale, which is almost negative. Pale in the English language is a descriptive that is used to describe something that is "less than" what it should be. If something "pales" in comparison, or if someone is ill, they are described as having a "pallor", or being "pale". http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080129075714AAIIQcY -- Frederick FN Noronha * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org * Phone +91-832-2409490
