Blog written by Puspita Hassan, Youth Community Animator – TERT, BCS.
As I reflect on how racism affects my life, I am drawn to consider how we define standards of beauty. As a child, I remember watching Fair & Lovely commercials on TV. Often, it would follow a similar theme in the story line. A woman with dark complexion finds happiness once she starts using the beauty cream that makes her skin tone lighter and ‘white’. In addition to harming self-esteem, the commercials contribute to internalized racism as it promotes negative messages, such as having a fair complexion is better, being dark skinned is not beautiful and inherently ‘bad’. Although the brand has finally changed its name to Glow & Lovely in 2020, it leaves behind a legacy of promoting stereotypes and dividing people based on the colour of their skin. I recognize that in reality, this is just one way that the media perpetuates harmful ideas that contribute to racism. Unfortunately, we live in a reality where hate crimes, institutionalized racism, harassment, and differential treatment continues to affect people. Therefore, I believe raising awareness and taking community level action is important. It gives us an opportunity to seek accurate knowledge and hold each other accountable.
If you have any feedback about this blog or would like to contact the TERT campaign, please email us at YouthResilient@bangladeshi.ca. Thank you!
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