{"id":331472,"date":"2025-04-01T20:06:21","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T14:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=331472"},"modified":"2025-04-02T11:02:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T05:32:53","slug":"sarada-muraleedharans-post-questions-colour-bias-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sarada-muraleedharans-post-questions-colour-bias-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarada Muraleedharan’s post questions colour bias in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: The post Sarada Muraleedharan’s post challenges colour bias has been created, based on the article \u201cIn India, labour needs as much focus as capital<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express<\/strong>\u201d on 1 April 2025. Sarada Muraleedharan’s post questions colour bias in India.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sarada<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper1-Society<\/p>\n

Context<\/strong>: A Facebook post by Kerala\u2019s Chief Secretary, Sarada Muraleedharan, responding to a disparaging comment on her skin colour, has sparked public reflection on colour-based prejudice in India. Drawing parallels with Rammanohar Lohia\u2019s 1960 essay, the article explores the deep-rooted social, cultural, and political dimensions of colourism and the ongoing resistance against it.<\/p>\n

Importance of Sarada Muraleedharan<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s Facebook post<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Personal Experience:<\/strong> Sarada Muraleedharan shared her childhood memory of wanting to be reborn fair-skinned, which highlights lifelong struggles with skin color discrimination.<\/li>\n
  2. Public Resonance:<\/strong> Her post reflects the experiences of countless Indians facing similar biases, making it a moment of collective identification and solidarity.<\/li>\n
  3. Courage and Privilege:<\/strong> By openly embracing her skin color with the statement \u201cI dig black,\u201d she utilized her public platform and privilege to challenge societal norms.<\/li>\n
  4. Cultural Impact:<\/strong> The post sparked a broader conversation about deep-rooted prejudices within Indian society, resonating with historical critiques like Lohia’s essay on beauty standards and power.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How is colourism rooted in Indian culture and markets?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    1. Cultural Portrayals:<\/strong> Indian cinema often glorifies fair skin as a synonym for beauty, referring to fair women as gori<\/em>.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Literary Language:<\/strong> Literature stigmatizes dark skin with derogatory terms like kali-kaluti<\/em>.<\/li>\n
    2. Market Influence:<\/strong> The Indian skin-care market, predominantly featuring skin-whiteners, is substantial, valued at Rs 35,000\u201340,000 crore. It grows annually by 6%.<\/li>\n
    3. Matrimonial Preferences:<\/strong> Matrimonial advertisements frequently specify a preference for fair skin, highlighting societal biases.<\/li>\n
    4. Protest Symbols:<\/strong> Negative connotations of black are evident in terms like “black laws” during protests, showing how deeply ingrained such biases are in language and societal attitudes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Rammanohar Lohia challenge colour-based beauty standards<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. Lohia\u2019s 1960 essay <\/strong>\u2018<\/strong>Skin Colour and Beauty<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong> critiqued the link between fairness and beauty.<\/li>\n
      2. He said beauty standards are shaped by power<\/strong>, not nature. If Black people ruled the world, darker features would be admired.<\/li>\n
      3. Lohia argued that aesthetic judgments are political<\/strong>, and what is seen as beautiful reflects the values of those in control.<\/li>\n
      4. He called for an \u201c<\/strong>aesthetic revolution\u201d<\/strong>, which he believed could be as transformative as any political or economic revolution.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Way forward <\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Celebrate Diversity:<\/strong> Embrace all skin tones. Muraleedharan\u2019s phrase \u201cI dig black\u201d reclaims black as strong and beautiful.<\/li>\n
        2. Cultural Campaigns:<\/strong> Support efforts like Nandita Das<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s <\/strong>\u201c<\/strong>Dark Is Beautiful<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong>, which aim to change public attitudes.<\/li>\n
        3. Educational Efforts:<\/strong> Share personal stories and ideas like Lohia\u2019s to expose how beauty ideals are constructed.<\/li>\n
        4. Media Representation:<\/strong> Challenge advertisements and shows that promote fair skin as the standard.<\/li>\n
        5. Market Influence:<\/strong> Encourage inclusive marketing that respects all skin tones and moves away from fairness-focused messaging.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Question for practice:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Examine how Sarada Muraleedharan\u2019s Facebook post highlights the issue of colourism in Indian society and connects with historical and cultural critiques like Rammanohar Lohia\u2019s essay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Source: The post Sarada Muraleedharan’s post challenges colour bias has been created, based on the article \u201cIn India, labour needs as much focus as capital\u201d published in \u201cIndian Express\u201d on 1 April 2025. Sarada Muraleedharan’s post questions colour bias in India. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper1-Society Context: A Facebook post by Kerala\u2019s Chief Secretary, Sarada… Continue reading Sarada Muraleedharan’s post questions colour bias in India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":331514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[263,10500,264],"class_list":["post-331472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-1","tag-indian-express","tag-society","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Sarada-Muraleedharans-post-questions-colour-bias-in-India.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}