Perception of Race and Skin Color in Pakistan
http://expatheather.com/2010/06/18/perception-of-race-and-skin-color-in-pakistan/
Very Interesting article.
The most popular beauty product in Pakistan is
Fair and Lovely cream. As you can see in the commercial above (in Hindi-Urdu), a dark-sinned girl and her father go to a “modern beauty company” and are turned away. The father dramatically gets some Fair and Lovely cream, and the girl’s skin changes to several shades lighter. She puts on a more fashionable outfit, straightens her hair, and goes back to the same place where she ends up turning heads with her lighter skin color.
Recently, Emami has come up with a skin-bleaching product for men called Fair and Handsome. The commercials show a darker skinned young man sulking because he can’t get a date. After putting on the cream, his skin tone becomes quite a bit lighter. Suddenly the scene changes and he’s a glowing white-faced man surrounded by supermodels. Even Indian actor Shahrukh Khan has starred in a Fair and Handsome commercial, bringing him a lot of flack from the more Westernized Indian press (video below).
Many Pakistanis, and their Indian neighbors, are obsessed with the desire to be white. Women stay out of the sun, get whitening facials, and wear
powder white makeup for their wedding pictures. The less sophisticated end up l
ooking like ghosts with bright white faces in the photo albums. When parents are looking for a bride from their son, they will certainly be looking for a girl who is fair skinned.
Pakistanis usually consider the Pashtuns and the Kashmiris to be among the most attractive of the local people. Both of these people groups have fairer skin than many other Pakistani peoples.
Women desire to be fair skinned for good reason, as it seems the majority of local men are more attracted to lighter skinned beauties. In Bangkok‘s red light district, there is an entire area catering to Pakistani, Indian, and Middle Eastern men. The women working there are not Thai, but Central Asian women with lighter skin. Combine this reality with Hollywood movies and pornography, and you end up with scores of Pakistani men who can only associate fair skinned women with prostitution and loose morals. Those Pakistanis who have lived and worked abroad in the West for longer periods of time know otherwise, but unfortunately the majority of the population has a strong association of white women as harlots.
On the other end of the pigment spectrum, darker skinned people can also have a hard time living in Pakistan. The words ‘negro’ and ‘******’ are commonly used to describe skin color, and they do not seem to set off alarm bells in anyone’s heads. When Pakistanis use these words, they are usually only using them to refer to the color of someone’s skin and should not be taken as an insult. In Pakistan, most of the upper class people have lighter skin, and many of the lowest caste have the darkest skin.
There is a strong system of caste in Pakistani and Indian society, even though the majority of the country adheres to Islam. Most families prefer to marry within their own caste and live with their own caste, or social group. Many people of the lowest socioeconomic class used to belong to the Hindu Dalit (untouchable) caste before converting to Christianity.
Even after leaving the Hindu system, their caste stuck with them. There are even some middle class, educated families who refuse to allow ‘black’ Christians to work as cooks.
If you are a foreigner thinking of moving to Pakistan, it’s best to have these perceptions in mind before you set your feet on the ground. If you have lighter skin, you can expect to have a lot of respect merely because of your skin color. If you’re a white woman, it’s best to dress and act modestly as you need to overcome the stereotype that white women are easy to go to bed with. If you have darker skin, stay confident in yourself and don’t allow remarks on your skin color to bother you.
Some locals may drive you a bit crazy trying to offer you solutions to make your skin whiter. I have really white skin, and I was offered skin bleaching almost every time I went to get my hair cut at a beauty salon.
If you’re part of an interracial couple, be prepared to be gawked at and questioned. For the lighter skinned partner, people may openly ask you (in front of your spouse) why you married a dark skinned person. They are not asking you this to offend you, they are honestly confused because this makes little sense in the local culture. One friend confided to me that the first time he left the country and saw a white woman with a black man he was shocked. He couldn’t imagine why the woman would choose to be with the darker skinned man. On the other hand, although at times you may feel uncomfortable, you have the opportunity to set an example to those around you.
's permission)
. BTW West Indians are good looking people.
