Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    'Black Lives Matter' Gets Indians Talking About Skin Lightening And Colorism

    The American call for racial justice has led to a heated debate over attitudes about skin tones — and caused some lightening creams, like "Fair & Lovely" from Unilever, to change their name.
    by Lauren Frayer Jul 09, 2020 7 minutes
    A package of "Fair & Lovely" skin lightening cream at a shop in India. In response to calls for racial justice around the world, the product name is being changed to "Glow & Lovely."

    Chandana Hiran loves reading, arts and crafts, and recycling. At 22, she's enrolled in college, studying to be an accountant. She considers herself a feminist.

    But something else is a big part of her identity too.

    "I'm slightly dark," Hiran tells NPR in a phone interview from her family's Mumbai home, her bold voice suddenly going soft. "I'd be called one of the dark-skinned people in our country."

    In India, colorism is rampant. Darker-skinned Indians, especially women, face discrimination at work, at school – even in love. Some arranged marriage websites let families filter out prospective brides by skin tone.

    So it may be no wonder that about half of all skincare products in India, according to the World Health Organization, are lighteners designed to "brighten" or "lift" – essentially to whiten – a user's skin color. WHO estimates that such products amount to about a $500 million industry in India alone. Until recently, some of them even came with shade cards – like paint swatches – so that users could track the lightening of their skin.

    Some products claim to "lighten" the skin using multivitamins such as Vitamin B3, and many users have.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR3 min read
    Apple Shows Its Steepest Quarterly Decline In IPhone Sales Since Pandemic's Outset
    The 10% drop in year-over-year iPhone sales for the January-March period is latest sign of weakness in a product that generates most of Apple's revenue.
    NPR5 min readAmerican Government
    Six Months Out From The Election, Wisconsin Students Weigh Voting For Biden
    Wisconsin's young voters — who have turned out in big numbers in recent elections — are key for either candidate to win the state. But Biden is facing some skepticism on the state's college campuses.
    NPR4 min readInternational Relations
    Senior UN Official Says Northern Gaza Is Now In 'Full-blown Famine'
    Cindy McCain, the American director of the U.N. World Food Program, became the most prominent official so far to declare that trapped civilians in northern Gaza had gone over the brink into famine.

    Related Books & Audiobooks