Washington, March 16 (TNS): A Pakistani television show came under fire for its use of “blackface” on light-skinned female models. The show had the women’s faces darkened with makeup for a contest.
As the BBC reported, the morning show program, Jago Pakistan Jago, included a segment titled “Mera Makeup Hai Kamal,” in which contestants were challenged to apply bridal makeup intended for dark-skinned women. Trouble was, they used light-skinned models who repeatedly mentioned the difficulties of putting makeup on darker women.
So far, the show has not responded to the backlash.
Some Twitter users argued that this isn’t worth being “upset” over since the models are brown. “I thought we ran out of things to be upset over by calling Bruno Mars a cultural appropriator, but this is worse,” blogger Ashley Rae tweeted. “Brown people can’t be too brown or else they’re pretending to be black.” In response to Rae, a fellow user said: “The problem of being easily offended is a reality though.”
The desire to have lighter skin is a global phenomenon. But Asian countries have faced criticism for the extremes women—as well as men—go through to obtain fairer skin. “It starts when children are young,” said Women of Worth founder Kavitha Emmanuel. “The moment a child is born, relatives start comparing siblings’ skin color. It starts in your own family—but people don’t want to talk about it openly.”
Courtesy: NewsWeek
