There are a lot of problems that are plaguing the society but the obsession with fair skin in our country surely has supremacy over others. The dark-skinned people have been and unfortunately will continue to face discrimination and biasness unless we take a collective effort to bring down the brand-made idea of ‘beauty’. The deep-rooted prejudice against dark skin promotes the notion that anything that’s not ‘fair’ is not ‘lovely’. On September 29, 2020, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s daughter, Suhana Khan had shared a powerful post to ‘end colourism’, revealing that she has been called ‘ugly’ since the age of 12. (Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan Recalls The Year When His Pretty Girl Suhana Khan Taught Him The Beauty Of Fatherhood)
Suhana Khan had shared screenshots of the nasty comments she had received for her complexion and in her strongly-worded post on ending colourism, had written, “There's a lot going on right now and this is one of the issues we need to fix!! this isn't just about me, it's about every young girl/boy who has grown up feeling inferior for absolutely no reason. Here are just a few of the comments made about my appearance. I've been told I'm ugly because of my skin tone, by full grown men and women, since I was 12 years old.”
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Speaking about the notions of beauty that social media and matchmaking sites have convinced people to believe and that she is happy to be 5'3 and brown, Suhana Khan had ended her note with the hashtag, End Colourism, “Other than the fact that these are actual adults, what's sad is that we are all Indian, which automatically makes us brown - yes we come in different shades but no matter how much you try to distance yourself from the melanin, you just can't. Hating on your own people just means that you are painfully insecure. I'm sorry if social media, Indian matchmaking or even your own families have convinced you, that if you're not 5"7 and fair you're not beautiful. I hope it helps to know that I'm 5"3 and brown and I am extremely happy about it and you should be too. #endcolourism.”
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While her friends in the US and the industry people had lauded her for her befitting reply to the trolls, it also triggered new trolls which involved her superstar father, Shah Rukh Khan. Netizens called Suhana Khan’s post, a height of hypocrisy as while she had penned a long note emphasising to end colourism, her father Shah Rukh endorses fairness cream. A Twitterati pointed, “While I wholeheartedly agree with what #SuhanaKhan has said, #EndColourism should start from home. You can't complain to the society about the obsession your dad has been promoting for years!! If this doesn't expose the morals, or the lack thereof, in the film industry!!” Another user wrote, “Well said #SuhanaKhan Dark skin is not a badge of shame but rather a glorious masterpiece ..but shouldn't u be penning a note to your dad too to #EndColourism..coz he is the one promoting skin whiteners. To hell with such colour prejudices. So practice what you preach.” (Also Read: 8 Star Kids Pampered With Lavish Gifts From Their Celeb Parents, Worth More Than Our Life Savings)
When, in June, Hindustan Unilever had announced their decision to drop the word 'Fair' from their skin-whitening cream, Fair and Lovely, Suhana Khan had lauded their decision in her IG story. She had reposted an IG post, which stated, "Hindustan Unilever announced that it would rebrand its skin-lightening cream 'Fair and Lovely', and drop the word 'Fair' from the product. It has also committed that it will remove all suggestions that success is linked to skin tone or colour in its communication."
At an event in 2018, Shah Rukh Khan was slammed for calling his then-18-year-old daughter, Suhana Khan ‘dusky’. While discussing the backlash at the Kolkata Film Festival, Shah Rukh was QUOTED as saying, “I’ll be honest; my daughter is sanwli (dusky), but she’s the most beautiful girl in the world. And nobody can tell me otherwise.” We have capitalised the word ‘quoted’ here for a reason, because what Shah Rukh had actually said, goes like this, “My daughter is sanwli (dusky), AND she’s the most beautiful girl in the world.” He had used the word ‘and’ and not ‘but’! (Also Read: Suhana Khan's Uncanny Resemblance With Gauri Khan As The Mother-Daughter Duo Twin In Blue Outfits)
It's high time that celebrities voice their opinion on issues that are plaguing the society and work towards eliminating the skin colour bias in India.
