The idea that light skin is more beautiful than dark skin is the consequence of colonisation and racist Western beauty norms in many contexts. Mainly, all preferences for light skin have their roots in colonisation. We have to acknowledge how categorisations of racialised beauty have been a tool of colonial violence. My internationally acclaimed photo project, Humanae, rejects a singular understanding of race through skin colour, and highlights how whiteness is also manifested in the pursuit of beauty in relation to facial features. Colonialism has often used the idea of beauty to disguise racial fetishisation, scientific racism and ethnographic profiling.
Beauty is a social construct that functions in a dynamic of comparison with "the other". This search throughout our history tries to reach an ideal that is impossible, and women mostly suffer from this pressure. To grow old becomes a process of deterioration and to be beautiful is to try to reach the impossible. The objective of my work is to generate conversations where we can celebrate that we all have beauty.
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Denne historien er fra March 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
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The 'Invisible' Dalits
The debate over sub-categorisation of castes is likely to shape the political discourse in the upcoming state elections
Caste Census: To Conquer Or Conserve?
The caste census is generating heated debate, but even its most ardent proponents are not able to articulate a plan about how to use the resulting data
THE FATEFUL COMEDY
Actor-director Rajat Kapoor talks about adapting Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov into a Hindi play
Mad Hatter
When a leader takes off his topi and holds it in his hands while appealing for votes, it signals something extraordinary
Circle Within Circles
The caste question in Muslims.
Backward March
The Maratha reservation question may continue to mire the next government in the state
The 69% Exception
Quota within quota: lessons to be learned from Tamil Nadu
United Indifference
The perils of tweaking tribal identities
Two Nations, Two Destinies
The widely differing balance of power between the military and civilian leadership in India and Pakistan has significantly impacted democracy in the two countries
Crème de la Crème
The mainstream society thinks reservations are against right to equality. It’s high time they are seen in the context of right to justice.