Literature Review on Fairness Cream

Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists 2007; 17: 100-104.

Review Article

Fair skin in South Asia: an obsession?
P. Ravi Shankar, P. Subish Department of Pharmacology, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal.

A large part of South Asia was governed by the British for around two centuries. The ‘white’ race was the ruler and the ’dark’ or ‘black’ natives were the ruled. The colonial legacy in South Asia may be one of the contributory factors for the belief that White is powerful and White is beautiful. The British and American influence The British left South Asia by the middle of the twentieth century. Large parts of Asia and Africa gained independence in the 1950s and the 1960s and the Sun was finally beginning to set on the British Empire. The decline of the British was followed by the rise of their transatlantic cousins, the Americans. The American empire in contrast to the British was mainly an economic one. The American dream and the idea of America as an El dorado caught the imagination of the masses. Hollywood, American television and the entertainment industry exerted a powerful influence on South Asia. The invaders South Asia, a heterogeneous region has been a melting pot of cultures since antiquity. The fair Aryans subjugating the darker
Address for correspondence Dr. P. Ravi Shankar Department of Pharmacology Manipal College of Medical Sciences P.O.Box 155, Deep Heights, Pokhara, Nepal. Phone: 00977-61-440600 Fax: 00977-61-440160 E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com

Dravidians has been stressed in history, though recently some historians have cast doubts on the theory. There were later invasions of other fair skinned races like the Moghuls and the Europeans.1 The Hindu caste system with the ‘fairer’ higher castes and ‘darker’ lower castes in general, may have given another impetus to the notion of the superiority of fairness. Fairness and South Asian society In South Asia, pale skin is considered as social markers of...