Emancipation Of Women In Alice Walker's Discrimination Based On Fair Skin

Women empowerment and their emancipation are the most important topics of discussion in many circles in our country. Although, complete emancipation of women seems impossible as they are bound by the shackles of being fair skinned. This fixation on fair skin can be traced back to the time well before the British succeeded in conquering India (Natasha Shevde, 2008). Even the young Lord Krishna, in a song implores as to why he is dark skinned when his lady love Radha, is fair (Shephali Bhatt, 2014). This fascination for fair skin has led to the discrimination of darker skinned individuals in our society. The discrimination based on colour was first introduced by the nomadic Aryans when they entered India in 1500 B.C. They introduced the

This practice of colourism exists in certain parts of the world such as Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Latin America. This form of discrimination is observed because of rigid beauty myths associated with the fairer skin tone (Trudy, Gradient Lair, February 2014). This practice of colourism is found in India as well, which can be traced back to the days of colonization. Fair skinned Indians were at a greater advantage than the darker skinned Indians, because they were similar to the European colonizers in skin tone. Thus, in time fair skin came to be associated power, higher economical standing and social status, whereas dark skin was associated with hardship and lower economical status (Ruby Hamad, February 2014, Daily Life).
1.4.3 Pigmentocracy: Although this term is associated more with the African- Americans, it is a term that can be widely applicable in India as well. It is a term that was recently adopted by social scientists to describe certain societies where wealth and social standing of an individual was determined by their skin colour (Richard Lynn, The Occidental Query, volume 8, no. 2). In the Americas, it was found that people with lighter skin had an inclination to perform better in education than those with darker skin (Edward Telle & Liza Steele,

This includes a small introduction to the theories that will be used in this research paper which is as follows:
1.5.1 CULTIVATION THEORY:
The Cultivation theory was propounded by George Gerbner and Larry Cross; they were concerned with the effects of television on the attitudes of the audiences. This theory states that these effects can be observed only after a long term exposure to such televised messages. This theory mostly focused on the violence shown on television programs in America.
1.5.2 SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY:
This theory was proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger and states that individuals learn to define themselves by evaluating their abilities and opinions by comparing it to other individuals. This theory attempts to explain how women feel about their physical appearances and bodies based on the media messages and images they are exposed to (Kasey L Serdar, Westminster University).
These theories will be discussed further under the Methodology.
1.6 LIMITATIONS:
The limitations that I might encounter during the course of my research are explained as follows: 1.6.1 Personal Bias: The respondents to the questionnaire may choose responses based on their own personal bias which may affect the overall