Popular Matrimonial Website Takes Off “Racist” Skin Tone Filter After Facing Backlash Online
niharika nayakBA (Media & Communication) Experience: 4 yearsNiharika has a passion for all things art, music, and travel and has over 4 years of experience in writing for social media. During her spare time, she likes experimenting in the kitchen, playing vide... more
Image: Shutterstock
Lately, due to the boom and rise of the internet, many people go online to search for their soul mates. This has lead to a significant rise in people joining matrimonial websites and looking for love online. One would think that this would remove the need for outdated requirements like “slim, fair-skinned, homely women”, but unfortunately this is not the case. A young woman of Indian-origin from the United State recently brought the issue of discrimination based on skin color to the forefront when she sent a petition to a popular matrimonial website. She pointed out that they have skin color filters and how it projects a racist sentiment especially in light of recent events around the world. Here’s what she had to say:
Discriminatory Filters
A woman named Hetal Lakhani from Dallas, Texas started the online petition after a discussion with another user of the website named, Meghan Nagpal. The filter asked users to select different options ranging from dark and light skin tones. Users could use these files to find a life partner who matched their ‘skin color requirements’. However, the website claimed that the filter was arbitrary and served no function. They claimed that people would be shown all kinds of skin colors regardless of what skin tone they had selected.
Meghan joined the app as she was looking for a partner who shared the same values as her and was also of Indian-origin. She contacted the company when she noticed that this filter existed and was disappointed by their response. She decided to take the matter to social media and discuss the filter option on a Facebook group instead. “When Meghan shared this on our group I was really shocked because a company usually has a social responsibility,” says Hetal.
Matrimonial Sites And Their Growing Popularity
Indian Matrimonial sites have been extremely popular in recent times as it erases the need for a matchmaker or middle man and allows the couple and their families to interact directly. Many NRIs look to matrimonial websites to find partners of Indian-origin just like them. In many cases, parents too make profiles for their children and interact with the other partner’s parents. Meghan said, “I emailed them and one representative said this is a filter required by most parents.”
Hetal said she was extremely shocked when she saw Meghan’s post and decide that she had to do something about it. So she decided to launch a petition and in less than 15 hours they had gathered over 1,500 signatures! Many people expressed that they were glad that these women were bringing the issue to light and it started spreading like wildfire.
Strong Women Work Together
After Hetal put out the petition, it was noticed by a popular Indian blogger called Miss Roshni. The blogger took things a step further and shared the petition with the website asking them for a response. According to Miss Roshni, the filter was extremely disrespectful towards Indian women and “disgusting”.
However, the website claimed that this was just a “blindspot” that they had missed out and they quickly got rid of the filter. Meghan and Hetal were very ecstatic to hear the news of their success. According to Meghan, this was a step in the right direction for promoting solidarity and unity within the South-Asian community. Hetal added: “I have my bachelors, I have my masters. But if a skin tone can take that away from me – that would be the worst.” You go, girls!
Colorism In India
It’s no secret that Indians are obsessed with fair skin. This is an unfortunate remnant of the Brtish era that has plagued our country even after the British left in 1947. Many people in India tend to associate darker skin tones with those who belong to a lower caste. Despite how illogical and nonsensical this notion is, it’s often propagated by our media itself.
Bollywood celebrities are known for endorsing fairness creams for multiple global and national brands. Recently, many Bollywood celebrities came under the radar for promoting fairness creams and later speaking up about how #BlackLivesMatter. Many of their fans took to social media to share old advertisements of these same celebrities endorsing fairness creams and called them out on their hypocrisy. While some celebrities came out and expressed their regret over participating in such ads, many other celebrities chose to stay silent.
While we all know that attitudes towards skin color in India and among Indians across the globe might not change overnight, this is a step in the right direction. Women like Hetal, Meghan, and Miss Roshni truly stood their ground against this big organization and managed to get them to change their rules overnight. If that’s not an incredible feat, we don’t know what it! Do let us know your thoughts on this article in the comment section below.
