Skin Sin

Those who are blessed with Zee TV in their homes will know that Scar Repairex is the new self proclaimed wonder cure to injury marks, burns, insect bites and Acne scars...correction - Ugly acne scars as the TV advertisment screams.

Today I did what I seem to be doing a lot these days - I complained to an absolute stranger. Last week I demanded that a young man on a Central Line train pick up his chewed to death piece of gum off the floor (to my shock horror he listened to me!) and today I wrote to Scar-Repairex.

The ad features three glamorous models in the politically correct shades of white, black and Asian who use the super cream and have their skin (and lives) transformed.

Now you probably think this post is heading down the road of the "Why do Asians want to be fairer?". Wrong. That ongoing debate is currently in the limelight due to Shah Rukh Khan's appearance in an ad in which he advises a twenty-something Romeo to use fairness cream to woo some bimbo looking lady. Zee TV also boasts a similar ad for Litenex featuring the same story - boy wins sensual women because he is fair. Unfortuantely in a lot of communities, this is probably the truth. Anyway, it's best if I dont get started on the fairness issue.

I would like to draw your attention to the way in which mainstream Indian society's attitude is summarised by Scar Repairex's use of the tag line "Do you have ugly acne scars?"

Some key points to make here

1) As a former acne sufferer myself, I can clearly say that acne sufferers are already conscious of their marks and do not need reminding of their existence during every Zee TV break.

2)Why is it that in narrating a long list of different scars during the ad, acne gets the 'ugly' adjective?

3)Do the makers of Scar-Repairex not know that severe acne sufferers often experience social anxiety, depression and in some cases commit suicide because of their marks? In what way does hailing acne scars 'ugly' on TV help their situation and show a degree of sensitivity towards the needs of their target audience?

4) Why is it such a sin to have not so "perfect" skin in Asian society?
( "perfect skin"= fair (the fairer the better), creamy, spot free and mark free)

I can count endless situations where I have had aunties ask me what is wrong with my skin and that I should try X and Y herbs and gunk to get rid of the acne. Gosh I even been hounded in a mall in South India by a shop keeper's assistant wanting me to purchase 20 bottles of Ayurvedic acne eradicating tablets from the in-house Ayurvedic doctor. Another incident saw me walking into a mobile phone shop wanting to top up my phone credit only to be asked by the retail assistant if I would like to be given some special medicaition to get rid of "that"...dont' even mention trips to the beauty parler.

Acne is no joke and it is about time Asian society woke up to the sensitivities associated with it. "This is our culture" is no excuse. We are talking about real people, real feelings and a real condition.