This photoshoot is dedicated to all the South Asian women out there who are often underrepresented in media simply because the color of their skin doesnât fit South Asiaâs unreasonable, fair&lovely, eurocentric beauty standards. As we all know, colorism is huge in India and Pakistan. Our society has come to the point where people talk about fighting oppression and uplifting women, but no one actually does anything about it. In this photoshoot I wanted to help represent darker skinned girls in the media, and address an issue through fashion photography.
Little girls grow up with their mothers bantering them about their skin color and how a man would never want them because theyâre too dark. This does not help a girlâs self confidence, and itâs important to teach them from a young age that theyâre beautiful and worthy in order to prevent them from being a self conscious teen. Itâs also important to teach other girls that are lighter skinned to support these girls. In high school, a South Asian boy my friend had a crush on said that she was âtoo darkâ and basically implied thatâs the reason why he wouldnât want a relationship with her. Comments like these are what destroy girlâs self confidence, especially when theyâre young, vulnerable and lost. Support and help your sisters!
With the rise of young South Asians taking their pride in jewelry and colorful clothes to Instagram, itâs important not to romanticize the culture. Every culture has itâs good and bad, and although itâs totally fine to appreciate and be grateful for the good, we shouldnât be silent about the bad especially if we are privileged. While our own South Asians are constantly romanticizing our culture, but not acknowledging itâs dirty laundry they are also promoting social marginalization. Women are treated horribly, LGBTQ isnât a thing (especially in Pakistan), and more of our afro-south asian brothers and sisters are murdered on the streets the longer we stay silent. Instead of bringing light to these issues, our culture keeps quiet.
- Photographer Simrah Farrukh
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