Why do Indians bleach their skin?

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Geri Dale

The colour - or level of tan - of ones skin in many cultures is more than skin deep. No pun intended. It goes way back to when both women and men worked in the open fields. Field workers were from the poorest and lowest of classes and hence they got very dark from being out in the sun all day. It is true in many Asian countries where migrant workers travelled from India to Malaya (now known as Malaysia) to work in the plantations. Chinese workers sailed to Malaya to work in the tin industries and other neighbouring migrant workers were enticed with the prospects of getting rich by working in the shipping industries which was a very lucrative trade.

All these migrant workers brought their wives over and they too worked under harsh conditions. That made them get very dark indeed, so much so that many Malay female workers looked like Indians and Chinese female workers looked like Malays. Back in the day when the women from the rich upper classes did not have to work but spent most of their days under parasols, kept their skins pale to attract the right sort of men for marriage. If you had dark skin you were deemed poor and from the lower class. Many prospective Mother-in-laws dread the thought of having grandchildren inherit the skin colour from their darker Mother.

So that practice in many Asian cultures has still been passed on through the generations. Sad but true. I grew up berated by my Mother for playing in the sun because being a girl I would never find a good husband if I were dark. Beauty is still seen as being fair skinned and blemish free. It also shows your class status even within a multi-cultural society throughout much of Asia.

Eva xx

Because a lot of the Western models and people they see in magazines from Hollywood are white.
The same thing happens in Africa (what they do can be so dangerous sometimes).