You’re pretty for a dark skin girl. Also commonly heard in many tamil households as: Vadivaana pillai aanal konjam niram kuraivu. I cannot express to you guys the amount of times I have heard both these phrases chanted to me and around me to others. Shaming girls with darker toned skin is something that so commonly happens in the South East Asian and African community. So THANK YOU to the girls behind the hashtag #UnfairAndLovely for addressing this and helping us girls feel more confident and embracing our skin.
Living in a hot sunny country like Australia where our Christmas is spent on a beach and outdoor sport is a prevalent part of our lives from primary school days til forever getting darker is just something we have to accept. So to add to that, can you imagine EVERY family event involving aunties, grandmas and even uncles questioning you with “Why did you get so dark?” “What happened to you? You look darker” as if you’ve committed a crime.
This actually caused me to feel so incredibly insecure from a very very young age. I despised my skin colour. I would pray to ganesha begging him everyday to make me lighter. I’ve tried fair and lovely, I’ve tried all the typical kadala maa homemade masks in an attempt to get lighter. I remember back in the days there was a platform called BEBO and I would lighten every single photo before I posted on there. I remembered making a friend on there before starting a new school and she genuinely couldn’t recognise me on the playrground because of how intensely I lightened my photos. I kid you not guys, I might as well have had a PHD on how to get lighter.
Looking back on this, it really breaks my heart that this is happening in our community. However, we can change this. First and foremost, my dark skinned beauties be confident in your skin. Embrace your skin tone. If you love an outfit but you’ve been told it won’t suit you because of your skin tone, wear it and wear it with confidence. Life is too short to be limited by your skin colour or body size. Do everything with confidence and you will shine.
I just cannot understand how the amount of melanin in your skin determines how beautiful you are? Because in my eyes, beauty has no skintone.From the little girl who despised her skin, I’ve now come to embrace and love my skin and life has changed for the better.
Thank you to @DioscuriPhotography for maintaining my skintone in this shoot. I am in love with this photo you talented genius! Also shoutout to @vensulla for doing my hair and makeup & @kowthamy_selven for featuring in this with me Love you guys! ❤️💋