Aditi Rao Hydari: Dropping ‘fair’ from a beauty product takes us closer to inclusivity

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, July 9 A cosmetic brand recently dropped the word ‘fair’ from the name of their skin-whitening product that, till a while back, endorsed the idea of fair complexion as the parameter of beauty. Many celebrities have applauded the decision. Among them is actress Aditi Rao Hydari, who feels such a step take us a step closer to beauty inclusivity.

“I think our generation of celebrities is always standing for a world that is more inclusive. At the beginning of my career, I got an offer to be a part of a fairness cream ad campaign that could have given me a great deal of visibility, followed by entries into the movie business. Coming from a non-film family that was an opportunity for me to grab, but I didn’t,” claimed Aditi, while speaking to IANS.

She added: “I come from a family where I was taught to look at an individual beyond caste, region, colour, religion or even appearance. I cannot stand by and endorse an idea of beauty that is discriminatory. So, as the word ‘fair’ is removed from such a product, it takes us a step closer to inclusivity in the beauty and cosmetic world.”

“Having said that, we have to understand it is a slow process. We are putting the idea of inclusive beauty in the minds of those people who have been practising the definition of ‘fair is lovely’ for ages now. Not just here, this is the worldwide scenario. It has to trickle down in the right direction. Our society is dealing with so many other basic issues of human rights that ‘beauty inclusivity’ is a topic that is not catering to their immediate interest,” Aditi noted.