Pakistan 'Blackface' Accusations Swirl After Controversial TV Segment

On Wednesday, a Pakistani television show came under fire for its use of "blackface" on light-skinned female models. The show had the women's faces darkened with makeup for a contest.

As the BBC reported, the daytime program, Jago Pakistan Jago, included a segment titled "Mera Makeup Hai Kamal," in which contestants were challenged to apply bridal makeup intended for dark-skinned women. Trouble was, they used light-skinned models who, according to Pakistan Today, repeatedly mentioned the difficulties of putting makeup on darker women.

So far, the show has not responded to the backlash.

On Twitter, the show was accused of promoting "Pakistan's obsession with fair skin."

@SanamJungPK @Humtvnetwork Absolutely appalled with @JagoPakistan_ newest episode where fair skinned models were painted darker to prove that darker skin can too look beautiful with makeup. Was it too difficult to find models of darker skin?! pic.twitter.com/pYFEvUMWYG

— Maimunah Khawaja (@may_khawaja) March 15, 2018

Lack of sensitivity, depth, & education demonstrated by everyone at @Humtvnetwork @SanamJungPK @JagoPakistan_ . Not everyone feels the need for whitening injections. Shaming dark skin isn’t cool. #JagoPakistanJago #SanamJung #HumTV https://t.co/5hPsCc2r5d

— Sheeba Khan (@sheeba_k5) March 15, 2018

So glad this is being called out. The intense crap and racism I suffered for having dark skin (and it still exists in UK today - ask any Asian man and often they marry or date white skinned) - needs to be smashed.

— Yasmin A. Choudhury FRSA (@yasminisyasmin) March 16, 2018

the internet has the power to be malignant and harsh at times, I hope it is also used to educate and inform. Racism is not okay. Not in the West or the East, not anywhere. It’s about time we learned this. #MorningShow #humtv #JagoPakistanJago #blackface #Pakistan

— Farhanaaz Affandi (@flamboyantfarha) March 15, 2018

Some Twitter users argued that this isn't worth being "upset" over since the models are brown. "I thought we ran out of things to be upset over by calling Bruno Mars a cultural appropriator, but this is worse," blogger Ashley Rae tweeted. "Brown people can't be too brown or else they're pretending to be black." In response to Rae, a fellow user said: "The problem of being easily offended is a reality though."

The desire to have lighter skin is a global phenomenon. But Asian countries have faced criticism for the extremes women—as well as men—go through to obtain fairer skin. "It starts when children are young," said Women of Worth founder Kavitha Emmanuel. "The moment a child is born, relatives start comparing siblings' skin color. It starts in your own family—but people don't want to talk about it openly."

Makeup Palette
A makeup palette, above, is used prior to the filming of a commercial at Ogden Union Station in Ogden, Utah, on May 13, 2011. Recently, models on a Pakistan television show were made up with... Jim Urquhart/Reuters

Younger generations have fought to break the trend. In 2017, Mumbai-based poet Aranya Johar recited her poem "A Brown Girl's Guide to Beauty" on YouTube. "Since the age of 9, I've been slapping my face with fairness creams," Johar said. "Every face wash was a slap in the face because I was a skin tone which was ugly. I had a voice and opinion. But they muted my sound. Probably because I was told, 'Boys only like girls who are fair and lovely.'"

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more

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