Dark-skinned girl

I grew up in a society
Where the colour of your skin
Was a better indicator of beauty
Than the person within

Especially if you were a girl
On the day you were born
People would pity your parents
And in extreme cases, disown

“You poor thing”
They’d coo to my mum
“Not only is she a girl
But one that’s really dark brown”

While I enjoyed my childhood
Playing football with the boys
I still got cautioned by all
For it made me darker being outside

“How will you get married?”
The nosey aunties would demand
“If you play out in the sun
And have your skin so tanned?”

As I grew into my teenage years
The compliments came if my skin was fair
The less time I spent in the sun
Would ensure that grannies and aunts wouldn’t glare

I learnt that if you were dark and tan
Neither job nor love would you ever get
After all, what kind of man
Would want a wife dark enough to forget?

The ads on the telly
Bombarded me with this message
That if I used ‘Fair and lovely’
Many a job and man would I get

The other dark skinned women I knew
Described their colour akin to wheat
Which in my head made no sense
Apparently, it’s better that than dark-skinned you see

I caved around the age of thirteen
And tried those fairness creams a-few
Fat lot of good they did for me
As my dark skinned genes reigned supreme

I gave up my fight eventually
And resigned to that horrible fear
No job would I get, no man would want me
All these burdens I would endure

In my twenties I finally moved away
To a society with the majority white
And the funny story is that over here
My skin colour is viewed a delight

My light-skinned friends love my colour
And wish they could tan as well
They think it must be awesome to be brown
Be it summer or the winter months of hell

I no longer see ads telling me
That white is how we ought to be
In fact it is ever so queer
But being tan is the in thing over here

I realise that this dark skin of mine
Doesn’t matter to my employers or clients
And this chocolatey dark skin
Caught the eye of a wonderful guy

I am more accepting of my skin
Not just because of what others think
I realise how many colours look good to wear
The brighter they are, the better they seem

I love my dark brown skin
The colour of chocolate to me
And come the lovely warm summer,
I’ll be at the beach in my bikini

Those old nosey aunties still question my darkness
And with horror they exclaim and sigh
But I tell them proudly of how I love it this way
Every time I visit them with my head held high

 ***This has been written for One Single Impression Prompt 183***

Author's note: I have always had a problem with Indian society's emphasis on light skin to the point of constantly selling 'fairness' creams. I admit, I succumbed to the pressures occasionally and felt pretty bad about my looks only to come here to Australia and have friends envious of my colour! I understand there are other countries where fairness is valued too but I guess this is specific to India at the moment. I still get comments about how dark I have become by 'well-wishers' when I visit India. On the plus side, it no longer bothers me!  

Until next time,

Cheers!!!