Open to debate, teen boys share the “what” and “why” of their cosmetic habits and complexion preferences
Meet the very enthusiastic Alston Fernandes, a 24-year-old from Indore, who has been using fairness creams ever since he was a teenager. “I like being fair and there is no better way I can say it, it’s a desire which comes from within and I wish I had a fair complexion”.
However amusing it may sound, a study carried out in 2004 by PhD research scholars Anand Shankar Raja from Tamil Nadu and Mahesh Kumar from Coimbatore, discovered that nearly 30 per cent of Indian men secretly used fairness creams. Later in 2005, Emami forayed into the market with their product Fair and Handsome — encouraging men to use a product designed for their skin type. While there is nothing wrong with using cosmetic products, the ‘fairness frenzy’ hitherto connected to women, now seems to have taken hold of men too.
Nineteen-year-old Abdul Ahad from Delhi, recalls moments in his life where he wished he had a lighter skin tone, “I attribute a lot of my skin biases to my parents. They would warn me not to stay out in the sun for long hours as I would get a tan and end up looking bad.” With parents coaxing their children to look beautiful, advertisements promoting fair skin and the marriage industry perpetually demanding for fair brides and grooms, it’s not surprising that men too are in the light-skin race. But these are not the only reasons.
According to 17-year-old Chrisanne Fernandes from Mumbai, women enjoy the company of lighter skinned men. If that’s a revelation, there’s more. “Guys groom themselves based on what we demand,” she says.
It does not end here. Teens such as 18-year-old Madhura Muralidharan from Mumbai have seen a drastic change in the fashion sense of her male friends at college. “There have been instances where my male friends have had elaborate makeovers. It’s to do with everything from the lightening of skin colour to the styling of their clothes and how they carry themselves. Social media is a huge influencer.” She asserts that using a fairness product to enhance one’s beauty is acceptable, but if a guy uses it to imitate or be impersonate another, then that would be unacceptable.
Dr Rahul Ghadge, counselling psychologist explains the struggle among modern teenage males, “This is more of an identity crisis, where he attributes everything around him to the colour of his skin. When young, there is always an attraction towards the opposite sex, and rejection is rampant especially when it comes to skin colour. Opinions and reactions of the opposite sex have a greater influence as compared to matrimonial advertisements and parents at home,” he says. And from what studies show us, skin lightening products are the rage now.
There are a number of teenage boys whose views go unaccounted for. Vishal Jha, a 20-year-old from Mumbai uses ayurvedic products just to maintain his colour and not with an intention to further lighten his skin. Likewise, Vinayak Mehta, a 19-year-old student from Delhi, who believes, “Beauty should be simple and given a chance to work and the heart can charm the rest.”
FAIRNESS FRENZY
A study carried out in 2004 by PhD research scholars Anand Shankar Raja from Tamil Nadu and Mahesh Kumar from Coimbatore, discovered that nearly 30 per cent of Indian men secretly used fairness creams. Later in 2005, Emami forayed into the market with their product Fair and Handsome , encouraging men to use a product designed for their skin type. ‘Fairness frenzy’ has taken hold of men too.
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