Why are Indian women so obsessed with fair skin?

Question

Why do so many Indian women feel they need to be lighter? Where does this come from. I have heard many different ideas and theories but I would like to know what people from India think. I guess it is hard for me to understand because being from the north I have never been that perplexed with having light skin, its pretty natural for us to be light. However, even while I was travelling India, it seemed like no matter how light these women were it was never good enough. Why are people so ashamed of the colour of their skin? I feel like this a more common phenomena in India then for NRI's.

Actually, your aryan theory is wrong. That whole aryans from Germany was a lie that Hitler came up with. I have done many studies are the Aryans and no one is positive where they came from. However, they were not from Europe, most believe they were from Northern Iran/Russia. However, the word Aryan means noble in sanskrit and in many vedic texts the Aryans refer to Indus (Punjab, Pakistan,Afghanistan) as their home. I suggest reading some more into the Aryan's because that theory was shed years ago when people started researching into the race. Germans have nothing to do with it, its a nazi obsession.

Answer 1

Those women probably suffer from low self-esteem. Just like the Asian women who want to widen their eyes and the countless American women who plump their lips, get their fat sucked out, tummies tucked and noses reshaped.

Answer 2

Are Thin & Skinny ( Aneroxic ) Women Attractive to men ? Not sure what you consider anorexic but very slender women are absolutely attractive to men. this is true across countries, races and cultures. Heavier weight women may find greater acceptance in some countries than others - but slender women seem to have universal appeal. Are Indian men Obsessed with Fair Skinned Women ? --> Don't know about obsessed but they are absolutely preferred both in media and socially. South indians are NOT the only ones with the fair skin preference - this is prevalent throughout MOST of India esp regarding females. Political affiliations/ leanings haveNOTHING to do with sexual preferences.

Answer 3

Well, most indians are indo-aryans and some are dravidian and mongoloid. Indo- aryans came from somewhere near Germany a long time ago and they were really fair skinned and some even had light or curly hair. They were also higher up in the caste system. The dravidians were darker, had straight black hair and they were generally short. These people were lower in the caste system. The mongoloids are people who came down to india from china. From a long time ago the indo- aryans(the ones who came from an area near Germany) were the ideal people in terms of people. Since they were also higher up in the caste system everyone wants to be light like them. The idea of having fair skin comes from the somewhat german presence in india.

Answer 4

I've noticed this too,every culture has their own perception on what is beautiful.In the asian countries white skin is considered beautiful and highly desirable,its also a symbol of upper class people.While in the west,tan skin is more desirable,and many light skinned girls go and tan or use tanning lotion to be the sexy tanned skinned ideal.
I agree that women should be happy with the skin color God gave them,im very fair and white and happen to think tanned skinned Indian woman are gorgeous...be proud of your heritage and embrace what you have making the most of your gifts and love yourself!

Answer 5

I think this goes back to ancient times, where people who had smooth fair skin were of higher status. If you didn't have fair unblemished skin, it probably meant your life was hard and you were in the sun doing a lot of manual labor.

Skip forward to modern times... Its just considered attractive now, after so many generations. Like many things we find pretty, we don't really think about WHY we find them pretty, but there's usually a reason.

However, I do also think times are changing. Having a beautiful tan is the way to go. Even us Caucasian (white) girls know this, and spend a good portion of our time trying to get that perfect golden tan.

Answer 6

Its kind of the same for some dark skinned black people and darker asians and hispanics. Its in every culture.
Notice how media put out that blond haired pale white women, like jenna jameson, christina agulaira are ideal.
In black culture, media says Beyonce and Tyra Banks because they have lighter, fair skin, and they are ideal. Hispanic culture its Shakira and jennifer lopez, because their skin is fair, so they look better, according to media if you look closer to caucasian then you look prettier.
also because the world/media makes people believe that white people are the most beautiful people in the world, so everyone wants to be beautiful. notice its not that big of a deal how light or dark men are.

Answer 7

u r wrong.not all indian women like that.very few those who want
to act or modelling they want to have lighter skin.even western
country women also trying their best to show them as beauties.
one more thing we r very much care about our culture than showing beauty to others. many pretty girls dont want to participate beauty contest because of showing the body. we are
proud that still we r keeping our culture and heritage,comparing
to other part of the world.there may be an exception but 99%
of us concerning about the family and parents than skin.so
we r still live in a joint families its very rare single parent,step mother or father,second marriage,divorce and almost all the girls
are vergins untill the marriage . in this case all are same wether
Aryans or Dravidians.

Answer 8

They are dark, white is a symbol of purety and peace. They are in deep need of peace in India. And men are interested in the purest of women. You've heard about the virgin thing, I'm sure. We like dark skin, because tanned skin is a sign of beauty and youthfulness. So there you have it. This is a guess at it's best. I really haven't a clue.

Answer 9

It's due to the caste system in India, based on darker skin-lower in society.

Answer 10

amira, its all to do with opposite attracts, iam an Asian male originally from Africa Malawi, i just finished a 2 yr relationship with a white woman and she was attracted to me purely because of my skin colour, look at the black guys most white women i know are looking for darkies, the turn on is that when we sweat its Gleason's (it shines) Built Black man body shows more tones, creases and shape.
so vise verse. for black and Asian we like white skins or white men or women, or should i say fair skinned.
Hope this answers your question, amira