Isolation upon darker skin color have been all over Malaysia. Be it in sports, education, entertainments and even in the corporate industry.
It can get tough growing up with dark skin in Malaysia. Us Malaysians are subliminally conditioned to believe that fair skin was the only shade of skin color that was beautiful.
From the lack of diversity in local cosmetics and fashion campaigns to the absurd advertisements about skin-whitening products to the backhanded comments made about individuals with darker skin tones in social settings.
This ideology is referred to as “colorism,” the preference for and privileging of lighter skin and discrimination against those with darker skin.
In Malaysia, most people have tanned or darker skin, yet society favors those with fairer skin.
But fair/white skin isn’t only about being Western. In Asia, there is a deeply rooted cultural notion that associates dark skin with poverty and working in the fields, whereas pale skin reflects a more comfortable life out of the sun and, therefore, a higher socioeconomic status.
What is so concerning about this topic is that the Asian obsession with fair skin is so unhealthy in every sense of the word.
A preliminary study conducted by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) about skin-lightening practices among female students in Malaysia reveals that these women are well aware of the dangers and risks associated with the use of skin-bleaching products and are even able to name the ingredients that are banned from said products. However, the study also uncovers that these women are still willing to use these products at their own risk as they believe that the pros (i.e. the “self-satisfaction”) outweigh the cons (i.e. the detrimental long-term effects on their health).
This is a perfect example of how this unhealthy obsession is marginalizing individuals with darker complexions, causing them to lose confidence and pressuring them to aspire to an unrealistic beauty ideal.
Although it is unlikely that this perception will change anytime soon, it is important for consumers to be socially aware of these unintentional biases and question the reasons why we may have these perceptions. It is only once we start questioning these beauty ideals that we are able to make a significant change and fight against discrimination.
More specifically, it is important to challenge both cosmetic and fashion companies to have more inclusive images for advertisements in order to create a more holistic perception of beauty in hopes that our current and future generations will realize that beauty does not have one exact definition.
With the rise of millennial and a more progressive outlook, there is a new hope for these perceptions to change and for people to embrace their beauty, no matter what shade of skin tone they have (Alyssa-Claire Fillippi, 2019).
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