WHO'S SARI NOW? Light-skinned Miss India contestants lack 'diversity'

Brad Hunter

Published: May 30, 2019 

Critics of the Miss India pageant say the event lacks diversity.

Critics have slammed the Miss India pageant for its lack of diversity.

The firestorm was triggered when The Times of India released photos of the 30 finalists and they looked amazingly alike.

The contestants are competing for the right to represent India in the Miss World pageant in Thailand in December. According to The Times, the Indian beauty battle takes place on June 15.

And the seeds of rebellion were sewn on social media.

Most of the finalists have fair skin and that’s not on, critics say.

Critics of the Miss India pageant say the event lacks diversity.

“They all have the same hair, and the SAME SKIN COLOUR, and I’m going to hazard a guess that their heights and vital stats will also be similar. So much for India being a ‘diverse’ country,” one woman moaned on Twitter.

Another added: “What is wrong with this picture?”

One woman asked why Miss India couldn’t “be a dusky or dark brown or darker chocolate brown?”

Others were less kind likening the assembled beauties to “assembly line production.”

In India, having fairer skin has become an obsession.

Many of the country’s top Bollywood stars endorse skin lightening products whose sales have gone off the charts, according to the BBC.

And critics say the Miss India contest is making things worse.

But Shamita Singha, the pageant’s grooming expert, told the BBC the photos were retouched because the contestants looked “plastic.”

She added there was no edict from pageant brass to alter the women’s skin tone.

https://torontosun.com/news/world/whos-sari-now-light-skinned-miss-india-contestants-lack-diversity