Colorism in Pakistan.
What are the causes of Colorism?
On our questionnaire we asked people to share their experience regarding colorism, the most
common responses were:
• Comparison with other family members.
•People assume we belong to different ethnic background.
•People prefer fair over dark.
•People recommend fairness products.
General Perspective according to the
questionnaire:
What is the extent of colorism?
On the questionnaire a question regarding the negative attitude of people towards dark skintoned individuals was asked. The most common responses were:
•People are racist
•Lack of exposure
•Literacy rate of Pakistan is low
•According to beauty standards of the society fairness is considered supreme
According to the questionnaire statistics:
Results:
The results were obvious. As more than 80% individuals were satisfied with their skin tone, even
when given the option of considering a fairness treatment, 65.7% individuals answered never.
22.9% answered probably, and 11.4% answered definitely. It is a positive change with which
both our interviewees Aiman Zahid and Abdullah Tahseen agreed. According to Ms. Zahid, steps
are been taken on a global level towards awareness regarding colorism. Whereas, talking about
the media Industry, Mr. Tahseen said that things have changed a lot and darked skin individuals
are getting opportunities.
How does colorism impacts teenagers in
Media and Organization?
•Role of Advertising and Media plays a part in promoting unhealthy beauty standards.
Abdullah Tahseen states that: “Once I was asked to apply foundation on my tan arms to make
them look fair as the other model, I was working with was a Pathaan and he was way fairer than
me”.
•Use of whitening creams and medical procedures.
•Discrimination affects job opportunities, promotion, and personal relationships.
•It impacts mental, and physical health of an individual.
Data from the Questionnaire:
Impacts of colorism in a domestic setting
and society:
•Discrimination between the people of same nationality and ethnic background.
•It can lead to intra-family discrimination and mistreatment based on skin tone.
•Can negatively impact the self-esteem and mental health of individuals who experience color
bias on a daily basis.
•Dark skinned color people get less opportunities if compared with fair skinned individuals.
Statistical Data from the Questionnaire:
What are the negative effects of
colorism?
•Leads to sibling rivalry
•Causes mental health issues
•Lighter skinned individual gets favored over dark skinned individual
•Impacts the representation of people of different skin tones in media and popular culture.
Data from the Questionnaire: