It was in a pleasant evening, I met a charming young man. His wits and jokes easily made him the centre of attraction of that get-together. At a moment we had a group-selfie, but he notably withdrew from it. Later in a private dialogue, he opened up his mind. Actually, he doesn’t like
taking his photos. Since he had a dark skin, he used to find reasons to avoid attending public functions. He literally hated wearing white cloths. This really moved me when I realized that an energetic young man can be trapped in himself at times, just because of his skin colour.
Indian culture seems to maintain black skin as a body image stereotype. Various Indian sociologists found that ancient India accepted a black skin colour for heroes and gods. But, after the Mughal and British invasions, Indians developed a craze for white skin with a prejudice such as ‘white was superior and powerful’. Colourism’– discrimination based on skin colour – is firmly rooted in Indian culture. Neha Mishra observes various nuances of colourism in our social life. The first thing the family judge in a newborn baby is the skin complexion. Indian marriage scenarios and rituals highly valued the fairness of the skin and devalued dark-skinned people. The media continually disseminate it as a stigma through advertisements and films. Interestingly, most Indians are generally ignorant about the practice of discrimination and exclusion based on colour, even if it is deeply rooted.
Body image concern has been prevalent more among women, but it is increasingly becoming a concern among young men. Indian males did not seem as sensitive to their body shape as they were to their skin colour. But recent studies have found the negative perception of the weight and shape of one’s body, i.e., ‘body image dissatisfaction’ (BID), to be a significant concern among young Indian men. Physical appearance has been found as the strongest predictor of self-esteem for boys and girls than their academics, athletics or popularity. Rather than appearance, the health has to be a higher value when human body is concerned. Sadly, various psycho-socio-cultural elements make is further complex.
It has been empirically proved that positive body image lead to higher level of self-acceptance and on the contrary negative body image cause lower level of self-acceptance. God created humans in his image. It doesn’t matter, whether one is brown or white or black, fat or lean, all carry His image. His image decides the worthiness of humans. Accepting God-given body image seems to be a multilayered effort, synthesizing various spiritual, psychological and sociological efforts
– Fr.Jo Paul Kiriyanthan