People from different walks of life talk to us about Body Positivity, challenges of being a Dusky Bride and how to overcome them, the beauty of finding Love without barriers and coming out to family and friends.
There are communities that want us to believe that we are an intransigent society - where beauty is best defined with the shade of our skin and the weight of our body, and love needs the society’s stamp of approval to be recognised as Legal and Real. There are businesses that have thrived by influencing those who didn’t fit into these definitions. We know of women and couples around us, who have been chained to insecurities and if you take a closer look, the building blocks of these chains are discrimination and propaganda.
But if history is any guide, the strength of a determined mass has always had the power and influence to move mountains. From Gandhi’s Salt march to the Berlin Wall protests of 1989, to the recent George Floyd protests that began in May 2020; the voice of the mass has proven to inspire, educate and gradually lead to strong transitions in the building system of societies all around the world.
We believe Love is Love, and there are no rules and definitions that can bind two hearts together. So we kicked open the pandora’s box of prejudices to address some unconscious bias that has been lurking in our foundations. As we delved into deeper conversations with our readers, struggles of dusky women trying to find a groom, the challenges of queer individuals to find love without being judged by their peers or their family, and the growing need to advocate self love and body positivity came into the surface. The responsibility of inspiring a change now rests on our shoulders - we, the Gen X (Xennials) and the Gen Z are still living in a society, where women with dusky skin and increased body weight, LGBTQIA+ community, and lovers from different religion and cultural backgrounds are underrepresented and discriminated.
Beauty is not in the colour of your skin!
If you scan through the list of Miss Universe pageant winners of all times, what stands apart is the careful selection of personality and handpicked beauties of various skin colours around the map. The two Indian women who were honoured with the esteemed title, Sushmita Sen in the year 1994 and Lara Dutta in the year 2000, are dusky skinned beauties with distinctive personalities. But when you look at the multi-billion dollar skin whitening/fairness cream cosmetics industry in India, you wonder where the unparalleled need of whitening your original skin stems from. The perils of the dusky skinned women and even men of this generation, is not limited to being left out from the general definition of beauty/handsome and attractive. Unfortunately the flip word of beauty is not only ‘ugly’ but ‘non potential’ and ‘an unfit match’ in various arranged marriage stories. Parents and relatives have an incessant need to whiten your skin tone is categorised as a critical judgement confirming that the kid doesn’t quality to be part of the “good looking” list of the family.
Intercultural Love & Weddings
Image source: lassiwithlavina.com
As the birthplace of four of the world’s major religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism and a home land to people following Islam and Christianity as their religions, India has always been the land of diversity. Regardless of the political and cultural tensions that have often divided our land, we live under the same sky, within the same boundaries as countrymen. Our children attend the same schools, visit the same malls, eat at the same restaurants and watch movies together at the same theatres. Falling in love with a man or woman from a different culture or even religion, should be considered as normal as the day to day activities that everyone participates in, together. But love and marriages have had their limitations for too long. Many families in different parts of the country have built the tallest walls made of castes, religions, cultures, gotras and doshas between lovers.