Colourism in the Arab Community
The idea of beauty being associated with lightness has long existed in many societies and cultures. However, when concerning the Arab community, there is a more pertinent and pervasive strand attached to it
A common trope that is associated with the Arab community is the idea of fairness. Adding to this, It seems a popular hobby for many within the white British community to engage in is asking the age-old question ‘what are you?’ or ‘where are you really from?’.
I have been asked this question many times in my life. Often when I submit my reply of Arab and Iraqi, I am met with hesitation before being asked ‘no offence, but why are you so dark for an Arab?’
The reality is that I do take offence to this question. Not because I take issue with being dark-skinned. The melanin enriched nature of my complexion is something I take pride in, and I feel empowered by the term dark-skinned. What I do take offence to is the pejorative nature of the question. By beginning the question with ‘no offence’, you are assuming that my complexion is something that I should take shame in, and it is something that is alien to mu culture.
This trope of the fair-skinned Arab seeks to vilify the majority of Arabs who do not fit this beauty standard or ideal. This is accompanied by the tropes associated with being dark-skinned, and what that has come to encompass.
Colourism is prolific and exists within many parts of the MENA regions. The starkest example of colourism within our communities comes from the sales of bleaching and skin lightening products. Fair and Lovely, which is owned by Unilever is one of the biggest skin lightening companies in the world and profits substantially from mainly people within Asia and the MENA regions. Due to exposure about the phenomenon it is in decline in the West, however, we have not seen this trend diminish in the East, where the trope of colourism continues and prevails.
Often there are cultural stereotypes associated with colourism. Akin to the Victorian stereotypes of paleness being associated with the wealthy, the East has formulated the trope of dark-skin to be associated with the lower-classes and labourism. This emphasises a imperialist dynamic to the colourism phenomena as there are associations of dark-skinned being associated with the poor and the uneducated.
This trope is also rooted in slavery and history. When slave masters would engage in sexual coercion with their captors, often from Sub-Saharan Africa, there became an emphasis on desiring light-skinned slaves. The same can be said for ancient times, where Turkish slaves were in high demand due to the associations of exoticism that were attached to them.
The beauty ideals that exist within Arab societies however are not just exclusive to our culture and exist and prevail in the West too, but in different ways. The West sees an emphasis on plastic surgery and women being judged by their looks as opposed to their skills. Feminist Naomi Wolf is prolific within this argument as she writes in great depth about how feminist revolutions have done little to liberate women as women have simply shifted from the domestic sphere into the beauty sphere.
To counteract these trends surrounding the ideals of beauty being associated with fairness, a dialogue needs to be made between the oppressors and the oppressed. This dialogue needs to become mainstream and pervasive within social thought and society. There have been several campaigns that have sought to do exactly this. The first example comes from the Unfair and Lovely campaign. The campaign was started by Mirusha Yogarajah, who sought to abandon colourist perceptions of beauty being associated with fairness. The campaign seeks to embrace the beauty within darker skinned communities. It is campaigns like this which are the first step in changing the narratives about how we associated beauty with skin-colour.
It is not enough however to just do and say all of this. For change to truly occur we must begin changing narratives and educating people about why our histories and class inequalities have led to the prevalent nature of colourism within modern MENA societies. This takes time, but raising awareness and embracing the empowering nature of the Unfair and Lovely campaigns is the first step to take if we are to truly change society and beauty ideals so that we can successfully eradicate colourism.