Is Saket Racist?

Before I address that, let me state at the outset-he is being stupid. As Patrix points out, each of us are responsible for the consequences of what we say-Saket’s comment would be construed as offensive at the least and racist at worst. If he was in the US, and if he opined that he found Black women less attractive-he would be in trouble. So we should definitely be wary of making such broad generalizations which frankly serve no real purpose.

Now, let’s come to the charge of Saket being racist and chauvinistic. Here’s what he said,

But in any case, I’m thankful they are North Indian: If the site had pictures of a shit load of them Madrasi chicks (with equally unique sounding names) instead of the Punjabi ones, the contest would have been an absolute non-starter. [link]

Since Saket’s post is about India’s hottest chick contest, I guess what he means is that ‘Madrasi women’ are less attractive (or hot) than North Indian women. Saket further clarifies (in the comment section) that his classification is according to attributes like height and ‘better complexion’. However distasteful I might find it, Saket is entitled to his view on what he thinks is the appropriate definition of beauty.

First, is there something called beauty or physical attractiveness? I would argue yes and it is entirely subjective. That would be true for both sexes-how many women would date a man who is short and weigh 300 pounds? Not many, I bet, and to pretend otherwise is foolish. Men swoon over beautiful women and women fall for good looking men-that’s how it has been and that’t how it will always be. To pretend that everything is equally beautiful is, well, just taking the politically correct way-nice to hear but largely meaningless. As long as we recognise that such preferences take nothing away from the person being judged but are merely indicators of our tastes, we are doing okay.

Second, most people are offended by Saket equating fairness with beauty. I would be the first one to admit that I use skin complexion to judge beauty-I don’t like fair women. I have always thought that dark-skinned women are more beautiful and since I don’t consider myself a racist-I am not sure I can call Saket that for thinking the opposite. After all, we are both guilty(if you must) of using the same criterion for judging beauty.But then who isn’t? Why are tall men considered more attractive? What about fat women? Is there any difference? Then why is one perfectly acceptable and other is not. Of course, there are fairness creams even for men now-so there! And as far regional biases go, I have this thing for Bong women…. .

Finally, Saket was talking about a contest which aims to judge the hotness quotient in a woman, and the contest is voluntary in nature. Perhaps, then the real anger should be directed against beauty contests. I personally think they are entirely a waste of time but people like them-don’t they? Look at it this way-those who are finding Saket’s comments offensive, are they not accepting that there is something called beauty? I mean, if Saket had claimed that women need to be hot to succeed in life-a lot of people would have simply said: how dare you demand that women be hot? No?

Admittedly, it’s not a perfect world and it’s certainly unfair to claim that men and women are treated as equals by the society. Women certainly face a much greater burden of social prejudices. I really don’t have a solution to offer but trying to impose a universal standard of beauty won’t take you too far. I admire the intentions behind it, but all prejudices can never be removed because they stem from the most basic of human right-choice.

One concern, a very thin line divides preferences from bigotry. And we should be a)smart enough to define that line b) careful enough not to ever cross it. In other words, I don’t think it’s wrong if someone claims that he finds a person of particular color less attractive, however, if based on that skin color, he/she is denied a job then that is racism. To fight racism, we should be clear enough about it’s definition and not use it everytime someone from a different race/region passes a remark which we find unpalatable. This isn’t as easy as it sounds-Blacks use the N word for themselves, but if I was to say it-I would probably spend the next couple of months in a hospital.

This one would perhaps have been better if she didn’t try to look as if someone was gonna rape her in the next thirty seconds. Or maybe not.

Frankly, I found this comment far more distasteful than the rest of the post. Joking about rapes, IMO, is far more distasteful than about skin complexion.

Before I end-a frank admission. Personally, I can’t recall the last time I found an advertisement offensive or a comment for that matter. Usually, I am just amused. If someone was to crack a joke at my expense, even if it is racist, I am confident that I can give it back in equal measure. Yes, I admit I was brought up in a very liberal environment and I have lived a largely sheltered life, mostly among academicians. Perhaps, my lack of personal experiences makes me less willing to accept claims of racism. But I will say this- it also depends on how you take it. Just because your White boss scolds you, it doesn’t always means he is racist.

Right?