tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post3495818036292055120..comments2023-12-01T00:19:34.320-08:00Comments on NONSENSE ON STILETTOS: On Skin Tones and Looking "Indian"Blue Floppy Hathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13924517166595597734noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-40319159932177727282010-07-02T23:28:07.859-07:002010-07-02T23:28:07.859-07:00Anon: Personally, I've always thought Indians ...Anon: Personally, I've always thought Indians looked South Asian, and left it at that- most of us are actually too dark-skinned to pass for even very tan Europeans. <br /><br />And yes, well-meaning people insisting, in effect, that only those who don't look "too white" have the right to be deemed 'Indian' (again, whatever the hell that looks like- an average Tamil will probably look nothing like an average Punjabi, and yet both are Indian) does show up a great deal of ignorance. Indians aren't black or white or even all brown, heck some of us even look East/ Southeast Asian. I can't help but be a little resentful of such obvious stupidity and ham-handed stereotyping.blue floppy hatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-30701189339975807472010-07-02T07:38:51.825-07:002010-07-02T07:38:51.825-07:00Indian features are those of Europeans - what is t...Indian features are those of Europeans - what is the difference. And yeah, plenty of Indians can pass for europeans...their hair is the same, their light skin is the same. I never knew Indians supposedly had broad noses...wtf? They are the same type of noses I see on white people.<br /><br />Sorry there is a group of so-called "liberals" that somehow want to bring Indians into the white/black divide. Yes, there are those issues among white and blacks...but Indians just don't fit into that pigeonhole. Everyone I see in Kerala, except for those that have dark skin, have overlapping features with "white" folks..<br /><br />So the fck what? Do Indians have to deny their regular phenotype to fit into the black/white paradigm? Um noo....I was really disgusted with the comments in Jezebel and Huffington Post. They look like Indians...if you don't like the fact that Indians have overlapping phenotypes with white people, then you are racist against Indians and writing a false narrative, to support your blacks/white divide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-14964233034028083172010-05-29T12:40:18.352-07:002010-05-29T12:40:18.352-07:00^oddly, there really weren't that many people ...^oddly, there really weren't that many people around to make it clear that this was actually offensive or even flat-out wrong. I gave up in disgust, since apparently facts don't triumph over some people's arrogance and entitlement to their efforts to be PC (not 'dark' enough! not broad-nosed enough! Too thin (they're models, WTF)). Good call on skipping reading the comments, though- some of them were rage-inducing.Blue Floppy Hathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13924517166595597734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-87823424863292479452010-05-25T21:17:46.817-07:002010-05-25T21:17:46.817-07:00I remember reading this article, but I didn't ...I remember reading this article, but I didn't get around to reading the comments. I'm glad I didn't because I would have been pretty annoyed, and fortunately there are other Indian commenters on the site to set people straight. It's one thing to note that the models are not dark, but the comments about whether or not they look Indian disgust me. My mom is ridiculously fair as in her skin is actually white, and I understand that this is a large part of what makes her beautiful by Indian standards (though she is beautiful in her own right), but these comments make it sound like her skin color would make her look less Indian when I'm pretty sure her Indianness is self-evident. Most Jezebel commenters are usually better than the average internet commenter, but there are so many moments (usually when it comes to race) that individual ignorance is put on display.That Studenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09100764029535733598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-89980299300598104442010-05-03T17:10:33.223-07:002010-05-03T17:10:33.223-07:00This is fascinating. Thank you for summing it up s...This is fascinating. Thank you for summing it up so well, LLGxxLiberty London Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10490236712607497356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-24615077564542631132010-04-21T12:56:40.662-07:002010-04-21T12:56:40.662-07:00well said/written. i understand the gripes you not...well said/written. i understand the gripes you noted here, despite having never read vogue india. it's interesting to find out that the prejudice amongst one's own people (and their colors) is not restricted to the many hues of blackness as i've experienced it. thanks for sharing your point.Penneradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18100528401602497059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-41820241250994526982010-04-20T15:46:43.805-07:002010-04-20T15:46:43.805-07:00I totally agree with you about the cover and "...I totally agree with you about the cover and "comments" it inspires in many. I hate having to explain that: "Yes, I am Indian. Oh, I don't seem like it? Oh, I don't act very Indian?" For people that know and understand me, we can talk about it. But I find it maddening to go through with strangers.Angienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-2555469303948265172010-04-16T06:53:39.113-07:002010-04-16T06:53:39.113-07:00I see your point. Yes, dark always has had to be w...I see your point. Yes, dark always has had to be wrapped in sexy in order for it be palatable to the larger Indian audience. <br /><br />Also, it would have been infinitely better to shoot the cover as is, for any other issue - without the gratuitous proclamation of love for all things dusky.<br /><br />However, the cover still is beautiful (the universe of comparison remaining past Vogue India covers). And for that I will remain eternally thankful. I swear I will drop dead if I read another article on how disciplined Deepika Padukone is or '27 Lehengas'.<br /><br />On an aside, have you managed to read this month's GQ India yet? Syndicated cover notwithstanding, there is an article with illustrations on how to remove a unibrow. <br /><br />Truly inspired.Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-6624553791436912882010-04-15T10:06:19.417-07:002010-04-15T10:06:19.417-07:00Good points! The dark skin thing always irritates ...Good points! The dark skin thing always irritates the hell out of my sister and me. My North Indian roommate in college (who knew I was from the south) once said: "One thing you have to admit is that all South Indians are ugly"! Yeesh.<br /><br />The problem as I see it in India is that people don't see casteism as the same as racism. Many people think it's a big joke when I scold them for taking this sort of thing lightly.<br /><br />One of the saddest pieces of news I read recently featured some air hostess institute in a poor area. None of the graduates were hired, and someone said it was because they weren't attractive. And people have no shame about admitting things like this. <br /><br />India needs some kind of "Say it loud: black and proud" moment.<br /><br />As for commenters... they're mostly idiots on popular blogs and websites. Westerners still think they can adjudicate on parts of the world they can barely place on a map.<br /><br />(Sorry for the rant!)Yohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14326253996680580793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-2985445805723808432010-04-14T16:25:36.904-07:002010-04-14T16:25:36.904-07:00Well put, as always :) I was particularly interest...Well put, as always :) I was particularly interested in that they chose to address it at all, and was wondering whether any articles inside elaborate on the issue? <br /><br />As for the attempt itself, I'm not well-placed to judge (ignorance and all) but it seems to fall short the way "shape" issues, not to mention "race" ones, do - playing safe by focussing on the people already established and pandering to existing stereotypes. Disappointment is inevitable. <br /><br />I 100% agree with your point about the comments on how the models don't look "Indian". But I want to strangle most commenters on jezebel/nymag anyway, so no surprise there.yanqinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06466658131536796827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-14323057732001217832010-04-14T11:53:10.124-07:002010-04-14T11:53:10.124-07:00My sign-in attempts aren't working, so here go...My sign-in attempts aren't working, so here goes: my beef with the cover is precisely what I stated- that it claims to laud darker Indian skin colours, and in order to do so, must present them as, well, sexy (as if dark-skinned women can't be attractive in any other way). This is a tendency that runs across Indian popular culture in a big way, and I'm not a fan of it -stereotyping always sucks. I'm no prude, but if they really wanted to present dark skin in a different light, they could have done it in another issue. Or, I don't know, put clothes on the models that don't automatically turn them into sex objects (though they haven't been shot that way). I don't buy the travel=swimsuit line either. <br /><br />Also, Vogue India has this annoying tendency to cram multiple models onto the cover at a time when they do feature models, which I wish they wouldn't do. This is not skin-related, it just makes for better covers that's all. And all said and done, this cover is still better than the usual hackneyed Bollywood shite that gets served up on the cover every other month.blue floppy hatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999120180171025160.post-68322508538768461662010-04-14T06:39:12.287-07:002010-04-14T06:39:12.287-07:00I'm curious. What is your beef with the cover?...I'm curious. What is your beef with the cover? Like you've said yourself - for once they've moved away from Kareena Kapoor. The shot is beautiful. The women are in bikinis because it's the 'travel issue'. Travel issues, as readers are painfully aware, necessitate a bikini (cue Dia Mirza on the the Bazaar cover this month or Deepika on last year's issue). I don't think it was a premeditated move to objectify these women. But that's just my opinion.Knoreply@blogger.com