Read on Twitter
tw// racism, beauty standards etc.
a thread of how white colonialism affected southern asian countries' beauty standards:
a thread of how white colonialism affected southern asian countries' beauty standards:
started because of this tweet by @/telanonwills
DISCLAIMER: the knowledge i present to you is knowledge i have passed down from generation to generation, this is something my grandmother, father, mother etc used to talk to me about and it really affects me personally. that being said, if any of you have personal experiences-
-you'd like to share please go ahead!!
before i start, i just want to say that i love all of my south asians. we are a beautiful group of people, as are the rest of the world. a group of beautiful souls degraded down to mere "curry-munchers"
before i start, i just want to say that i love all of my south asians. we are a beautiful group of people, as are the rest of the world. a group of beautiful souls degraded down to mere "curry-munchers"
but here's our history:
white colonialism in india started way back in 1600, when the East India Company was started for spice trades with India. at first, it was seen as not that good of a trade, but eventually, it became one of England's only good trading routes, in the time-
white colonialism in india started way back in 1600, when the East India Company was started for spice trades with India. at first, it was seen as not that good of a trade, but eventually, it became one of England's only good trading routes, in the time-
-of Charles II, and it eventually became the "foundation" of the British Raj, aka white colonialism. the British Raj is something that STILL affects southern asian countries a lot.
also!! the reason why im mostly speaking about india is because at the time it was-
also!! the reason why im mostly speaking about india is because at the time it was-
-all really india! india wasn't partitioned until quite recently in history, so i'll still be referring to india rather than south asia, as it's a little specific
the East India Company gave England a reason to enforce British Raj upon India, stating that "we gave you-
the East India Company gave England a reason to enforce British Raj upon India, stating that "we gave you-
-proper judiciary, armies and such so you should let us rule over you" it was very corrupt, as many things done by England were/are!
this then led to very despicable beauty standards:
- being dark-skinned was seen as working for too long in the fields, doing too much-
this then led to very despicable beauty standards:
- being dark-skinned was seen as working for too long in the fields, doing too much-
-manual labour, and so was often looked down upon. this was worsened by more and more white people going to india, where they enforced this stereotype by encouraging lighter skin over darker skin
this starts the whole bleaching issue, where south asians would bleach-
this starts the whole bleaching issue, where south asians would bleach-
-their skin as a way of being seen as more important. by this stage, the colour of your skin reflected your "worth". lighter skin meant you did less manual work, and were probably doing things like white-collared jobs in an office. darker skin meant manual jobs, e.g. farming-
-this then made its way into beauty standards, as lighter skinned brides were preferred over darker skinned brides, and often families would turn down proposals simply based on how dark the brides skin was (this happened to grooms too, but not as badly)
unfortunately it's something that still happens in some places, but not as much now, especially as many of the youth of south asia are much more accepting of the colour of their skin! as they should be! every skin colour is beautiful <3
and now for something else user @/telanonwills said. they called us "currymunchers". for everyone's information i'd like to clear up that actually, many south asian cultures don't have that many curries! and we have other foods! curries are actually often ate by more-
-western people, especially of white ethnicities!
now to talk about a few more sensitive subjects:
disclaimer: people who were silent when this all happened won't like this next part
to reduce my people (even if im a born british asian, im still south asian by race) to mere-
now to talk about a few more sensitive subjects:
disclaimer: people who were silent when this all happened won't like this next part
to reduce my people (even if im a born british asian, im still south asian by race) to mere-
-currymunchers and elephant worshippers is degrading, disgusting and ignorant. but you know what's worse? sitting around and saying NOTHING. those of you who sat around, seeing all of our tweets, saying nothing, not even rting or even liking to raise awareness, you disappoint me
especially since i know a lot of my "moots", especially some close ones, did it. and it hurt us, a lot. you were all quick to talk about racism when it was trendy, when it got you likes and rts. whenever you need something with cheap shipping, it likely comes from south asia-
-and yet you're all so silent now? what happened?
and to those of you that DID reach out, be it via a small dm or even just liking and/or rting, thank you. on behalf of all south asians, thank you, for having the human decency to stand up, and to care for us like we care for you
and to those of you that DID reach out, be it via a small dm or even just liking and/or rting, thank you. on behalf of all south asians, thank you, for having the human decency to stand up, and to care for us like we care for you
the truth of the matter is that most non-desis simply don't care. most of you guys won't care at all, and won't even read through this thread. but to the small amount that will, thank you. thank you so much, we really do appreciate you.
i'll be adding links once i find them, please dm me any links/ drop them under here. thank you 
also a really good thread about casual racism towards south asians!!! i really recommend you guys read this (thank you bia for helping find it) https://twitter.com/oezcl/status/1288709113728372736?s=19
i should make things more clear, im not saying colourism has disappeared, it's still very common. what im trying to say it's let's actually talk about desi issues, please. let's talk about colourism, subtle racism, overt racism. let's talk about it all
i'd also like to say i have now muted this conversation, but i'll check it in the morning! it's currently nearly 11pm here and i have chronic headaches that come and go, with one starting now so i'll be online for a little longer but i'll check tomorrow
thank you all
another really good thread on history!! https://twitter.com/shnxier/status/1289116266226233344?s=19
also how mughal influences affected south asia (i didn't include mughal influences because i was discussing white influence only at the time but yeah) https://twitter.com/localshabba/status/1289087691347263488?s=19
