Beyoncé,
-snip-
"With help from Wizkid, SAINt JHN and her own daughter Blue Ivy Carter, Beyoncé uses “BROWN SKIN GIRL” to tell young “brown skinned” girls to be proud of their skin and embrace it." -https://genius.com/Blue-ivy-saint-jhn-beyonce-and-wizkid-brown-skin-girl-lyrics
The complete lyrics for that song are found on that link and in the summary of this embedded video.
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents a small number of comments from the discussion thread of the official YouTube video for Beyoncé's 2019 song "Brown Skin Girl". These comments specifically refer to the issue of colorism.*
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.
-snip-
*Here is a definition of "colorism" from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colorism
"prejudice or discrimination especially within a racial or ethnic group favoring people with lighter skin over those with darker skin"
Here are links to some other pancocojams posts about this song:
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/comments-about-lyrics-your-skin-is-not.html for a March 15, 2021 pancocojams post entitled "Comments About The Lyrics "Your Skin Is Not Only Dark, It Shines And Tells Your Story" From Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl" Song".
**
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/07/brown-skin-girls-throughout-world.html "Brown Skin Girls Throughout The World Comment About Beyoncé's Song "Brown Skin Girl"
**
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/03/article-excerpt-youtube-discussion.html
"Article Excerpt & YouTube Discussion Comments About The Racist 2020 Bollywood Song "Beyoncé Sharma Jayegi" (later re-named "Duniya Sharma Jayegi")"
****
COMMENTS ABOUT COLORISM IN INDIA AND IN OTHER SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES
These comments are from the discussion thead for the official "Brown Skin Girl" video as well as two YouTube discussion threads about the Bollywood song "Beyoncé Sharma Jayegi" (original title).
These comments were published from September 2020 to March 2021. They are given below in relative chronological order with the oldest comments presented first except for replies.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
I did not read all of the comments in these videos' discussion threads.
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRFS0MYTC1I&ab_channel=Beyonc%C3%A9VEVO [discussion thread for the video that is embedded in this post]
2020
1, a.b
"Hello, I'm an indian and I want to thank beyonce for making
this beautiful song. As some of you may know the Bollywood/Tollywood industry
is harsh on color. In my entire life I have never seen one dark skinned girl
in any of the movies I watched. I
remember crying to my sister one day and saying "Why do all the girls of
my skin color get stuck as maids?" When I visit India on trips my aunts
try to rub fair and lovely cream on my face. I've grown up thinking that my
skin color was ugly and gross. I wished
I had paler skin. But I started to love my melanin thanks to all of you!"
**
2. Nancy Singh
"I think you confined india in terms of bollywood or film
industry but we don't care about it coz we know what indian culture is that i
think u aren't aware of, we indian pray to god which is dark skin (maa kali)
and lord krishna so how can we say indian discriminate actually i am a dark
skin living in india but when i look upon our god i feel happy and proud i am
indian. Don't spread rumors about india as there are lot already☺"
*️*
Reply
3. a.b
" @Nancy Singh I am Indian myself and of course I know all
the gods and yes I know all of the culture. As I said I'm Indian. But now in
modern times the standards of beauty have changed and it's pressuring for a lot
a people. When I hear parents planning marriages I hear them talking if the
girl is light skinned or not. Sure our culture is very accepting but our modern
times aren't and that is a problem because now all of these children are
growing up in modern times and unable to see their beauty."
**
Reply
4. Вимала Даршани
" @Nancy Singh Well I wish that was true but we've got to
accept the fact that colorism still exists in the society. Oh common, isn't
'Fair' the first preference ? It is not a rumour in my case. I'm medium
complexioned and when I get tanned sometimes my mum starts her rant 'Put this
and that to remove the tan'. It isn't a rumour, but the bitter truth. Kudos ✌🏻😊"
**
Reply
5. Вимала Даршани
"@Nancy Singh Well people pray to dark skinned God's here,
but that isn't reflected in terms of colorism in the society. We do pray to
Godesses, but sexism is quite rampant. We say all are the one and same but
Caste and religious distinctions still prevail. How I wish I could be proud to
be an Indian... I love my country, but I'm not proud of what's happening within
the country 😔"
**
Reply
6. Nancy Singh
"@Вимала Даршани I agree with that they are some societal
problems which prevails but that is present everywhere not only in india and
for that we have to speak up and raise our voice for the injustice but hating
your own origin means just ignoring and
doing nothing for improvement."
**
Reply
7. Nancy Singh
"@a.b yes I can totally agree with the situation of
marriage you were talking but that's because of modernization or i could say
westernization and for this our film industry has played a greater role. You
know when whites people came for
colonization they saw black and brown skin as inferior and even
brainwash them like white is beauty, So that not what india came up on its own.
It was the ill effect of british colonization. For this I don't blame India and
you know who are responsible. I must say this should be changed"
**
Reply
8. Вимала Даршани
"@Nancy Singh I'm sorry to say but as an Indian I know most
Indians are racists. I think you just haven't experienced it yet. And as I've told you I'm trying to use my
voice for a better India but we should also acknowledge the fact that problems
such as colorism, racism and sexism exist. Only when we address and accept our
problems, we can find a solution. Denying that it doesn't exist only cites
ignorance. I appreciate your love for the country, but it is necessary that
sometimes you need to be harsh with your child to make sure your child has a
bright future."
**
Reply
9. Вимала Даршани
"@Nancy Singh Haha I'm having a love hate relationship with
my country. That would be pretty accurate. Plus I'm not blaming it, I'm just
addressing the truth directly so that we can deal with it better. 😊✌🏻"
**
Reply
10. Snehal Bansode
"@a.b
ikr !!! we'll one day end this racism but just like " Charity
begins at Home " Racism also starts in a family first ( telling from my
own experience ) like they want fair girl for marriage !! trust me even my own
brother calls me Black ! well i don't
take this seriously but still somehow this is racist ! and we need to stop
it !! XDD I Hope you Understand"
**
11. Komal Ameta
"Seriously
India's obsession to fair skin is really too much
I wish soon this racist
mindset will get destroyed
without any violence."
**
Reply
12. Akkshaya Suresh
"India does not have Racism, but has
Colorism. I've faced so much because of my skin colour, still proud."
**
Reply
13. xXUltimate_ShadowXx
"Also in Philippines. Some of my aunties
want me lighter."
**
Reply
14. abhijith rajesh
"even gods are not spared krishna is
drawn as blue in pictures instead of black."
**
Reply
15. shivansh singh chauhan
"Indians, usually, love to use brown skin victim card but the
truth is that we're extremely racist as a society."
**
16. Shantanu warghade
"In India we deal with another type of skin color difference.
There's a popular belief that being white or fare means you gonna get a good
husband. being dark is a sin. that's what Indian media, Indian culture has
depicted in their contents, many Bollywood music always portrayed a brown or
black guy as comedic character ( there's even a popular song called ' Hum kale
hai to kya hua dilwale hai ' which translates as ' i am man with a good heart
even if i am black' ) . In Bollywood a majority of actresses are fair skinned
and some even white. however the ideologies are changing. we see a variety of
celebrities, fashion brands, cosmetic brands and even films on this matter.
India may not have racism, but skin color difference still exists. i am proud
of my skin color."
**
Reply
17. Heba Said
"I am a part of a recovery program: and I always include
India without fail as a part of a country with many people of color. There are
many people of color in India. And what you call racism and are colorism are
the same thing: Please for your own growth, wisdom and knowledge looking into
it
It is called colorism to soften "what it is" and
give it to Indian people so they don't are confused: The Idea is Indian people
accept a problem like racism that cannot be dealt with now because it is not
solved overnight especially in country like India: the second most populous
country in the world. Plus illiteracy being high in some places: villages etc.
It easier to lie to people about the extent of the problem and for people of
color in India to accept their own inferiority. Also this problem in India has
been going for centuries, maybe, since ancient times, as you know India is one
of the oldest civilizations in existence. Thanks for your comment because
people, then, know that racism is a big problem in India. Please continue
raising awareness about racism and the problems in India. Also thank you to
Beyonce etc., Saint JHN, WizKid, for this amazing video!"
Reply
18.
"@shivansh singh
chauhan One doesn't exclude the other.
Diaspora Indians are discriminated against for their skin color and race but
Indians in India are also prejudiced against darker complexions and other
races. Nevertheless, I'd like to end with a positive note. India is also a
welcoming country. Siddis who are from Africa (Bantu people) came here as
merchants, slaves and sailors but were able to create princely states and
become noblemen.
**
Reply
19. --
"@Heba Said Racism and colorism are different in the sense
that racism exists between races while colorism exists inside a community.
Racism in India would more be like the caste system."
**
Reply
20. Edgardo Taneo
"In the Philippines too. I think western culture really
influenced the standard of beauty and your sentiment is one of the few that
testify that media on the other parts of the world also is unfair towards
darker toned people"
**
Reply
21. Suzanne Flynn
" @666 BRLN 999 The racist and brutal Indian Caste System FAR
precedes British Colonialism in India and goes back to ancient and medieval
times and still survives to this day there. Read some history before you spout
off."
**
22. Jazz Borah
"As an indian I completely agree with you. Infact even in
recent bollywood films fair skinned Bollywood actors and actresses just smear
their faces with make up to look darker. (Bhumi Pednekar in dream girl, Hrithik
Roshan in every other film) why not employ actors/actresses with dark skin
colour. What's wrong in that? And regarding the negative stereotypes associated
with the South indian people portrayed in media and Bollywood movies. The South
indians have black or dark brown skin colour!!! So how is it even a topic a
discussion or something to be frowned upon. And don't get me started on fair
and lovely 😒. One of my friends has a dark skin colour
and the way that her mother taunts her and her family members give her stupid
advices to use fair and lovely, milk, dahi and everything... Just sick
mentality really and I don't think so it's ever going to change especially for
girls!!"
**
Reply
23. Pingu Nootson
"That can’t be easy. Dark skin is gorgeous. Unfortunately the world is late on this
truth. We gotta instil the self love into our children that we didn’t get.
That’s the only way 🥰 Best wishes to you."
**
Reply
24. Dheeraj Sai
"Same sis I'm an Indian too to be more specific the typical
south Indian who is always considered to be dark and ugly by many north Indians
and all the fair looking south Indians.Yes ! Men also face colorism and it's
more in India dark men like me always becomes the centre in the conversation to
crack any jokes to make fun off just to make others happy joking about my skin
colour,will I be visible in dark or when lights are off and laughing
pointlessly and taking me for granted even by my own best friends all these
things are very common to dark looking men in India. And it all boils down to
show the empathy for my skin colour that is all making me go through this
suffering and I'm unlucky is what the conclusion they give.SH*TTTTT!!!!* I'm
done with this...and the worst part is it runs with in the family too..."
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
**
Reply
25. Purvi
"With fairness cream ads portraying only women fair women as
successful, being named "fair and lovely" what else can we expect?
Media plays a major role in brainwashing people, casting fairer people as lead
roles and people with darker skin tones as ugly, automatically associating them
with poverty. It's slowly getting better, but it's so deeply engraved in our
minds that it's gonna take a long while to treat everyone equally!"
**
Reply
26. Annastaysha8D
"Unfortunately, I can vouch for this even as a white girl. I
visited India to see my friends, the culture, & the history. The first
thing I saw getting off of the plane we're make up aisles in the airport.
EVERYTHING advertised skin lightening in the products! I even had a talk with
my friend telling her that light skin like mine isn't everything. She should be
proud of her skin. It is so saddening. We spoke about it a lot"
**
Reply
27. S. Bhattacharjee
"No offesnce to you, but it is your personal experience..do
not include INDIA - India is a large place and has variety of mindset..may be you
are unlucky to have that kind people around you. It is not about India as my
experience says, being an Indian too I have never got these types of comments
whereas my skin colour is also Indian-brown. Even I have not heard any other
commenting BADLY or being racist for others whose skin complexion is darker
than me, atleast not in my locality.
First of all, India was basically a BLACK PEOPLE's Land.
Then the Aryans came. We got Brown varient. Colour was never our enemy. Yes, we
cna not deny that many people has this fair-dark issue but my point is the
whole India is not about all of these."
**
Reply
28. Shafira N
"Same here in Indonesia, apparently most of Asian countries
experience the same thing. When i heard this i feel proud and wanna embrace my
tan skin. This song makes me really happy and feel appreciated."
**
Reply
29.. Zeynab Ahmad
"I'm Pakistani and it's taken me a long time to love my skin
colour and be proud of it. More power to you!!!"
**
30. Reply
Adam Black
"I know that’s I’m African Sudanese livening in India 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️nightmare"
**
Reply
31. Bhavana Raj
"so trueee,my girl,and in India we have these commercial on
skin care cream in which they shun you
for being dark skined, ,aunties tell us not to stand near the sun or else we
will get tanned and no one is gonna marry us,well for your kind information
aunti ji i so dont need a man who will
just marry for me for my complexion ..WORD!!!,,they tell us to use lemon ,turmeric,or any of those fucking
homemade remedies so that you can become fair.God why dont society just
accept you for you are,they just
increase your goddamn insecurities
,that you just dont feel proud about
yourself and dont realise the beautiful
person you are....
well to all the people out there i just want to say you are beautiful,you are strong,you
are a wonderful soul,and no one in this world
can take it from you,the only reason why people judge us is because we
are insecure about are self ,rather we should prove them wrong by showing them
that we love ourselves ….
**
32. Reply
Everything Everything
" @Eva Attocknie light is also beautiful ,and so is dark ,the
issue goes wrong when one color tries to be superior over other colors ,I
appreciate light as I do to dark
Reply
33. Sweta Mohapatra
"I can feel you girl. I used to hate my skin tone too, but
after watching the influence of people in colour in western pop culture, made
me feel proud of myself too, now when my mom told me to use this or that to
look fair, I proudly say I don't need anything, I am good just the way I am.
And to say, I am just yellowish tone, can't even imagine what girls with even
darker skin tone face regularly."
**
Reply
34. Lisa
"omg, i never knew that.... that's so sad... beauty has no
color. everyone in the world should know this. school need to educate small
children so they will learn to love all colors
**
Reply
35. mxd-asian1990
"@Smokey the Kidd Actually this is not just the case with india, its the same in all of south asia and also southeast asia, AND south china (the ppl there are mainly on the brown or even very darkbrown skintone side, unlike east/northern chinese ppl). Thailand is the only non colonized country in southeast asia ,still they have the same mindset as indians do about lighter skin. Theres several reasons why they think light skin is better."
**
Reply
36.
"My Indian sister our brown skin rocks. Never hate who you
are. The darker the berry the sweeter the juice. Love you"
**
Reply
37. Silky Walia
"Not at all happening in India, most population is black
here, plus many of stars are brown colour, so stop spreading this for India.
Also South state is utmost over-proud of there color and they ain’t letting
anyone discriminate. Don’t know which part of India you reside in
**
Reply
38. so fetch
"@Sayantani
Bhattacharjee. Do you live in India? I
am from New Delhi which is the capital of the country. Have you seen any Indian
movie? Advertisements? IT IS ALLL OVER INDIA are you kidding me. The pressure
to be light skinned is much more on the girls than it is on the boys. And mind
you I never even realised that I was dark skinned untill i started got bullied
by kids in school (6 th grade) for being dark skinned. Then i realised how it
was everywhere. The media, advertisements... literally everywhere. It is a
problem in
India, and it is because of oblivious people like you that it cant be brought
up to the forefront. I guess ignorance is bliss in your case"
**
Reply
39. s.
"Same in bangladesh. As one of the darkest girls in my class
I feel you."
**
Reply
40. so fetch
"... I am from northern part of the India. Which I think is
even worse because majority of the people here are light skinned"
**
Reply
41. Deborah Vieira
"so fetch Isn’t it sad that we in America think we are the
only black people going through this hatred the the Europeans has spread all
over the world. How can one people who are in the minority of the world do so
much damage to the majority of colored peoples. From Africa to India."
**
42. Samriddhi Soperna
"To the people saying this song isn't for South Asian
people, there's literally South Asian girls in this song and it's titled
"Brown Skin Girl"
To all my brown and black women, stay winning!🥺"
**
2021
43. ahqnaaa
"I cried when she included a south Asian girl, she
understands us better than
The soceity 🥺"
**
"I'm dark and I'm from Sri Lanka 💞"
**
45. pretty B
"It's so sad how our own countries don't want to show our
real skin tone."
**
46. 101 4ever
"I am from south east asia and my moms grandfather had really
dark color not like the others in my moms family and i got it from him and i'm
proud😏"
**
47. Nethu
"As a brown skinned Indian humiliated because Indians have
this standard that pale and fair skinned is beautiful. The fairness inducing cosmetic
industry is a billion dollar industry even though the majority of Indians are
not 'pale' or 'fair'. Even in matrimonial adds, we see men demanding 'fair
skinned brides' with poor representation of dark skinned women in the film
industry. Racism need not be between two different races, internal racism is a
thing where people put down their own people"
-snip-
This comment was written in bold font on that discussion
thread.
****
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