Brown is beautiful. A notion which Indians are yet to fully grasp. The latest public figure to stand up to online trolls obsessed with fair skin is Suhana Khan, the 20-year-old daughter of Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan.
Suhana was shamed for the colour of her skin (with vicious terms like ‘kaali chudail’, or black witch), the way she looks, and was subject to speculations about having her skin-tone lightened (which she has denied, BTW). Imagine being 20 and having to deal with a plethora of spiteful comments about the way you look and the colour of your skin — which are things completely out of your control. I mean, when I was 20, I could barely deal with my mom telling me to wake up before 12pm, let alone something like this.
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She handled the situation like an absolute boss though, clapping back at all the haters with a strongly-worded Instagram post. ‘I’ve been told I’m ugly because of my skin tone, by full grown men and women, since I was 12 years old. Other than the fact that these are actual adults, what’s sad is that we are all Indian, which automatically makes us brown – yes we come in different shades but no matter how much you try to distance yourself from the melanin, you just can’t,’ she wrote. Suhana Khan also emphasised on the need to end colour prejudice, mentioning how this post wasn’t just for her – but for boys and girls everywhere who were made to feel inferior about the colour of their skin. She made a powerful point about colourism, and mentioned how hating your own people means you’re painfully insecure about your own skin.
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In a country where no matter how far we think we’ve come, we’ve got miles to go, we still have to deal with Euro-centric standards of beauty that have been shoved down our throats since we were young. Suhana Khan brought this up as well and championed the cause of being comfortable in your own skin, concluding her empowering statement by writing, ‘I’m sorry if social media, Indian matchmaking or even your own families have convinced you, that if you’re not 5″7 and fair you’re not beautiful. I hope it helps to know that I’m 5″3 and brown and I am extremely happy about it and you should be too.’
Here’s hoping that her compelling statement has an impact on the haters (and makes them back off!)
You can read the full Instagram post here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFugYlIHC-7/?igshid=lb8jj0cdbqlo
