A historic decision was made by one of the leading multifunctional companies, Hindustan Unilever, who announced that they have taken a progressive step by removing the word ‘Fair’ from their beauty product ‘Fair & Lovely’. This move comes into force after skin lightening and whitening companies as well as ads have received massive criticism over the racism debate.
One of the first Bollywood stars to talk about this openly is Bipasha Basu. She shared her childhood memories and how she always wondered why the adjective dusky was associated with her ever since her first public appearance as a model at the age of 16.
With her skin colour being considered exotic, in New York and Paris, she also wrote how sexy was associated with her just because of it. Being confident about herself, the actress went on to tell that this is a deep rooted stigma and this is a step other brands should follow as well.
Have a look at Bipasha’s long note on her personal experience:
Next to talk about the matter on social media was Abhay Deol. He called Hindustan Unilever’s decision as a small step in the right direction. The actor wrote that the black lives movement made us take this step. He highlighted that we have a long way to go about redefining the concept of beauty but this is a beautiful beginning.
Read Abhay Deol’s note:
Lastly, Richa Chadha welcomed the decision of renaming and dropping ‘fair’ from the ‘fair and lovely’. The actor feels that this step will hopefully change mindsets too. On Instagram, she wrote a note along with a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt which read ‘Not Fair But Lovely’, which she got printed in 2015.
Calling this beauty product a by-product of colonialism and casteism, Richa added that we must have our own idea of beauty without any source of influence which makes it inclusive.
Here’s Richa Chadha’s post along with her view on Hindustan Unilever’s step:
