I’m not the type to really follow New York Fashion Week (all bout L.A.!) but an article at Jezebel caught my eye.
There were 116 labels that held shows at the recently ended New York fashion week; that’s 3,697 spots in runway and presentation lineups. Of those, 668 were given to models of color — which, at just over 18%, is 6% better than one year ago. (And certainly better than in the fall of 2007, when WWD reported that one-third of the New York shows used no models of color at all.)[Jezebel]
The blog did further analysis breaking down the 668 models of color by race (41% Black models, 38% Asian models, 22% Latin models.) I know what you are thinking – where the Desi at? Using the nifty Desi Filter, I searched the names of the models of color in the top 25 shows in New York’s Fashion Week, just to see if the increased diversity included ‘our’ kind of diversity.
And the winner is, drum roll please…Lakshmi Menon is the only Desi model reppin’ on the runway at New York’s Fashion Week. Lakshmi appeared in the shows of Alexander Wang, Badgley Mishka, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, and Jason Wu. Looks like Padma needs to beware – there’s a new Lakshmi in town.
Who is Lakshmi? Born in Bangalore in 1981, she started modeling in 2006 and signed with Ford Agency. She is known for her “pout” and is seen as a “rising star.”
Tall and dark— in many ways, Lakshmi Menon is the typical ‘Indian’ beauty. But in many other ways, she’s as unconventional as they come. With a strong jaw line and endless legs, Menon is global fashion’s latest muse. She’s walked the ramp for biggies like Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier, Issey Miyake, Stella McCartney, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors.[Express India]
She has a short video diary from fashion week where you can catch her gorgeous accent. She also thinks you should visit Ladakh.
The good news: we had sexy, dark and lovely Lakshmi as our token brown skinned girl on New York Fashion Week’s runways. The bad news: Out of 3,697 spots, they couldn’t find another brown girl to step on to the runway? How is that possible? Desi girls are HOT. Have they seen the picture of Padma on a swing? Or Sunny getting out the vote? Or the desi cover girls on Indian Vogue, Indian Elle, or Indian Cosmopolitan? When in Delhi last month I spent hours in front of the magazine rack enamored by seeing beautiful brown women as cover girls. We have great potential desi supermodels, despite what ANTM may have us believe.
It’s great that the runways were more diverse this time around, but as far as I’m concerned, it wasn’t diverse enough. They can do better next time. As for now, I’ll take Lakshmi as our token, any day. Both Padma and Menon.
I love Lakshmi! I believe at London Fashion Week, there was a desi model named Monikangana Dutta that walked for Vivienne Westwood.
White matched the color of the snow.
Black contrasted with the color of the snow.
Brown just didn’t fit in!
(Potentially flawed theory…but a good starting point i think!)
Tall and dark— in many ways, Lakshmi Menon is the typical ‘Indian’ beauty.
tall is typical for the brown? in any case, what’s a good site to examine the phenotypes of indian models (i.e., those that work in india?)? i’m skeptical that girl this kala, who would evoke the ire of fat-pale-aunties, would pass the grade for the ideal ‘indian’ type to display high fasion, but i’m willing to be falsified. after all, freida pinto seemed rather shamlah in slumdog, and she came out of modeling.
re: height, you need to normalize for that. also, jezebel didn’t read the census right. 50% of american latinos say that their race is white, so the non-latino white population is actually 70%, not 76%.
Indian Models: Fashion’s Next Love Affair?.
I know Razib, funny right? ESPECIALLY since that was a direct quote from Express India, an India paper. For phenotypes of Indian models in India, you can look at Indian Vogue, Indian Cosmo, or Indian Elle. Google it. Have fun. 😉
i spent some time googling and i keep seeing the same olive-skinned punjabi looking chick on all these sites (some of which look like squatters), so i’ll wait for more well informed readers to point me to sites….
hey razib…congrats on the new jezebel gig
Perhaps it’s a height and body shape thing? Runway fashion favours models who look like stretched out pre-pubescent boys. Indian women tend to have boobs and hips.
Indian women tend to have boobs and hips.
so do most european women. right? the height thing is interesting, but last i checked punjabis were no shorter than northern europeans corrected for environment. runway models tend to be a very particular physical type though. no surprise if some groups don’t “represent.”
femina miss india 2009 final contenstants [group pic 2009] [past winners]. there are a few representatives from shamlah (or rather ujjwal shyambarno) end of the spectrum. times are changing a bit in bollywood as well. [nandita][deepika] [priyanka][bipasha]. of course, with tons of makeup, they look much whiter in movies. it’s different in south, and there have always been outliers even in bollywood. [rekha]. But Lakshmi (or Parminder Nagra) are probably a shade or two darker.
dipanjan, thanks. some of those chix actually look like a typical brown person (but better looking :-), as opposed to someone like katrina kaif. that being said, the images i’ve seen suggest that you have to be at the 50th percentile or lighter in complexion. the darker half of the brown population is excluded immediately as being too ugly. additionally, someone like bipasha basu who is always offered as an example of a non-light-skinned woman in bollywood is not really dark skinned, just of relatively normal complexion for a south asian (and somewhat light for a bengali it seems to me).
of course we’re talking about modeling and acting here, really superficial industries. most south asians, like most dark skinned peoples, prize lighter skin as aesthetically pleasing. that’s just the way it is. but if we’re talking about the underrepresentation of south asians in western modeling, i think the reality that many south asians perceive ourselves to be a modestly* ugly race anyhow needs to be brought up (i.e., the features most typical for our race in terms of complexion and features are not prized in the media representations in south asian societies). it isn’t like many of our non-brown friends who have some glancing acquaintance with bollywood don’t notice that most of the lead actors, especially actresses, pretty much look to be a different race in physical type from the kids they’re taking pre-med or engineering courses 🙂
p.s. my money is that the “latin” models in the jezebel list look more like alessandra ambrosio & gisele bundchen than camila alves.
more images of alessandra ambrosio for fine-grained phenotypical analysts….
btw, the root has an article about how the white male power structure in tennis can’t appreciate black beauty. it links to this 10 most beautiful list for tennis players in the australian open to show how it privileges white beauty, blah, blah. interestingly sania mirza is #9. some of the other “ladies” don’t seem that hot to me…whatever happened to anna….
11 · razib said
Are ya kidding me? Please speak for yourself and use “I” statements when talking about Desis as an ugly race, and if you are i.e.-ing media, then state that Western Media does not prize certain aspects of Desi beauty.
A few points – 1) All my desis circle of friends perceive themselves as HOT, myself included. I personally consider our race FAR more attractive than white folks, the base that normalizes Western concept of beauty. I hardly think I’m alone here in thinking this. 2) How South Asians in America are perceived as beauty is far different than South Asians in India perceive beauty – hence I think two South Indians were able to make it big in the US where as fair and lovely brainwashing in India has constructed their beauty in India to the margins. 3) Thus, South Asian Americans approach beauty differently than those in India – here in the US, I grew up with seeing white chicks in mags all the time – never thinking that brown could be beautiful. Thus, when I saw racks of brown cover girls in Delhi, I was enamored. I have grown since then, and so has the industry. And I would imagine that many of the Mutiny went through similar experiences too of self-acceptance of brown beauty. 4)Comparing NY Runway standards of beauty to Bollywood standards is like apples and oranges. 5) I would think if you were going to go making blanket statements on what South Asians/Americans preferences, you’d have some hard data to back that up. Using Bollywood movies and media doesn’t count – that’s constructed. 6) At 3am, why are the your comments 54% of the thread on a blog about the need for brown beauty representation in the US? I thought you preferred blonds. 7) There is no normal complexion or typical looking brown people – South Asia is diverse and there are many different types of “looks” from the desh. I reject the notion that looks and complexion can be averaged.
Done ranting. Brown is beautiful. The end.
glad to see the pout back in style. expresses a lot of tude. this is not to be confused with the thiick hanging lower lip look, much loved by Bill Clinton. not that i object to that but a true pout is sharper, more sophisticated.
3) Thus, South Asian Americans approach beauty differently than those in India – here in the US, I grew up with seeing white chicks in mags all the time – never thinking that brown could be beautiful.
When you were growing up the white population was well over 100 times the population of south asians and still today is something like 80-1.
1) All my desis circle of friends perceive themselves as HOT, myself included. I personally consider our race FAR more attractive than white folks, the base that normalizes Western concept of beauty.
That’s fair, but then if somebody who white said that he find his race much better looking the south asian people here. Then how will you feel. You can’t have it both ways.
Also if you said you find you race much better looking then say blacks, east asians, or hispancis I have feeling there would be more outrage here.
I agree with Taz’s comment, esp her point #1. The reason why desi girls (and asian girls!) think they’re hot, is b/c in real life, people (including white people! shocking!) act like we’re hot. I mean, yeah, when we were kids, we didn’t feel that way b/c typically kids don’t value “difference” b/c they’re just learning how to adhere to social norms. But it doesn’t necessarily work like that in the real world. Like the way shame and embarrassment is esp acute in children (b/c those emotions teach humans how to adhere to social norms), but then we spend the rest of our adult lives trying to NOT feel shame for things in our childhood/adulthood (i.e. being proud of who we are, speaking up to our boss, etc).
Also runway models typically aren’t chosen for being “classic beauties”.
Lakshmi Menon is hot and so are jalepenos. But the burning question of the moment is: Who is this? –> Raivo Pommer; raimo1@hot.ee
18 · etc… said
That’s just the brown version of jungle fever. I haven’t yet met a white dude who doesn’t fetishize asian/brown chix.
people (including white people! shocking!)
Thank you Taz for stating the obvious in world where desis have to be inordinately humble, despite many knowing and experiencing differently.
As for our plethora of desi beauties in mags looking like a another race…I find that statement hilarious; what race is that? White? Are they a separate race?…b/c I don’t see too many white people look as beautiful as Rekha or Ujjwalla Raut. Desis are on average brown or dark skinned but light skin is also very common; the desis in mags are models (having been to Germany the average German does not look like Heidi Klum; My friend coming back from a trip to Brazil commented that in no way did the people she’s see look like the Giselles in fashion mags) – why then are desis so hard on themselves? I don’t see the models nose, hair or skin color any different than average desis (yes, the skin color is generally lighter) – all their physical elements lead to more than your average looks – as is the culture of fashion mags; Maybe desi magazine have to show an average looking person, as opposed to the Western media…maybe that will be the only thing that will satisfy some people.
I think the reason why desi models are not as common in the primarily Western influenced fashion world (even though there has been quite a few successful desi models since early on) because:
In the West, the majority (white people) view diversity in 4 “races” white, black, east asian, and latina. The minority looks represented have much larger populations in the US and their voting and buying power is much larger than the desi population – they have rightfully asserted that their look should be included in fashion mags and that’s great.
South Asians look like all the races represented (except for east asians, generally) already, except they’re South Asian and not part of a large population group. And I think dark skin with naturally straight hair is just not a common sight among the large populations in the US and if you’re trying to get diversity in with a dark skin model, it’s better to get a black model who is representative of a large population in the US.
Desi models can make a ton of money in bollywood, w/o having to starve themselves.
Having read some accounts of a desi model that was doing very well in the high fashion world, she described that culturally she really missed India and didn’t want to pursue modeling internationally…I guess she can find financial success in South Asia w/o disrupting her life too much.
South Asians, until recently have not had the buying power of luxurious brands; i don’t think gucci stores were even around 15 years ago in India…unlike say East Asia. So I think with a growing upper middle class population that wants gucci, it’ll be more common to see south asians pursue modeling in the int’l world and for int’l designers to pursue desi models – however often these models won’t be distinguished from many other races on the ramp, thus not fulfilling the diversity need.
Menon chick is beautiful and so nice to see a dark desi with her unique look covering popular fashion mags and used by designers. Finally someone with dark skin, natural hair that models clothes I wear.
I want to point out two things….
American ramp models need to be certain weight, height, size, body structure measurements. Not desirable or even acceptable but that’s a fact. A lot of south Asian woman can be very skinny and tall but if you don’t fall into the category and don’t strut your stuff and attitude which needs to be cultivated here it’s hard to break into the business. We have to look at the ratio of brown women wanting to model and then figure out what percent of them are making it. If we are a X% of the population in the United States why are we expecting to see more than that X% on the ramp considering that the profession isn’t culturally supported in the first place? The women who are making it to the ramp today are born in the last 2 decades.
Padma Laxmi isn’t dark. I just want to put that out there. She’s gorgeous and often times bronzed/tanned but dark she’s not. She’s actually on the lighter side of the average desis. Laxmi Menon is hot not just because she’s brown but if you look at her features and her body she’s the right look for the ramp (the right look that is needed today just to be clear)
Here is a pretty decent blog that’s been around for a while dedicated to South Asian models. There are several others.
I subscribe to this great little magazine called Audrey that only covers the Asian world and while South Asian is only part of it’s representation it’s doing more than any other magazine to cover the South Asian model/fashion world…outside of South Asia.
If anyone’s ever checked out the Kingfisher calendar they know hot South Asian women that can easily do the ramp here. They need to sign up with the agencies in the United States first which many of them are not and there could be multiple reasons for it.
Nina Manuel, Deepanita, Diandra Soares, Noyanika and Ujjwala have all been doing extremely well in India for many years and from what I recall none of them look anything like Katrina Kaif.
A good place to start is Vikram Bawa or Atul Kasbekar’s websites to see the range of Indian models.
Also there is plenty of high paying work in India, there are multiple fashion weeks in Delhi and Bombay to keep the Indian Models occupied.
“That’s fair, but then if somebody who white said that he find his race much better looking the south asian people here. Then how will you feel. You can’t have it both ways.
Also if you said you find you race much better looking then say blacks, east asians, or hispancis I have feeling there would be more outrage here.”
That about nails the la croix of the matter. It’s fine to think you’re better looking than other races–normal chauvinism in a way and probably better than thinking you’re not all that, but don’t expect other races to desist. I understand a famous writer in Japan got lambasted in the 60s for saying the Japanese — not other east Asians, just the Japanese — were one of the ugliest races in the world. Japanese “face” would be lost if any Japanese agreed. The whole runway/model/fashion thing is a mid-20th century euro-thing with no precedent in any other society, so what do you expect. A lot groups gained ascendency in a proscribed field by starting their own “thing.” A little off topic, but Naoemi Campbell, whose age is probably the reason she doesn’t get as much work anymore, has complained and some people suggested she start her own agency. If she is convinced black models bring something wonderful to the runway, then what are the limits of an all-black model agency! Go girl.
Even limited to white models, it’s well known in the merchandise world that when buyers have a choice, blonde models sell better than white brunettes, (tho I suspect Liz Taylor in her heyday outsold them all), and magazine covers featuring black models are always a monetary loss that they write off on tax season every year. Maybe now it’s different, what with Obama and all, but I just read an article about blonde models being more in demand during financial depressions, so this may not be the best time for non-blondes to make a bid for dominance in the cut-throat world of modeling.
However, desi beauties, contrary to an above comment, are not really exactly like any other race,can often have some startling “incongruities” in their looks, like Aish, but are still quite distinctively of the sub-continent, and may be able to cash in on a certain type of look that just “can’t be matched” by any other type.
it’s interesting that both these tall and dark supermodels–padma lakshmi and lakshmi menon–are south indian. coming from a subcontinent infatuated with fairness, it’s not hard for me to believe that their beauty is most appreciated on the opposite side of the globe.
(south india represent!)
23 · umber desi said
deepika padukone, meghna reddy, jesse randhawa, and malaika arora are also not fair — at least what is called ‘fair’ in scythia.
What is the ornament that Ms. Menon is wearing in her hair?
When I was in my early 20s, I modeled–I’m only 5’4″ so it was mainly stuff for catalogs and, occasionally, your typical uber-talented starving artist. It was fun and it gave me a boost in confidence at a time when I direly needed it. By no means do I fit into the stereotype of Indian female beauty–I have curly hair and dark skin–and I think I felt less alienated by western media representations of beauty than I did by hard-hitting insults from family members. At a young age, I was accustomed to insensitive remarks from my parents and grandparents (I’m probably in the middle range of darkness, but “black” was always casually tossed around), and to bearing the brunt of disdain that came from fairer-skinned cousins. So it was deeply validating to know that at least, somewhere in the world, people actually saw me as beautiful. Granted, at that time there were close to zero representations of Indian women in fashion, that admiration came with a good deal of exoticism (I can’t tell you how many times I was asked to bring “your saris” to the shoot, even though I don’t own any), and it’s eventually what turned me off of the work for good. Based on looks alone, I still get more attention from western folks, particularly Europeans, than I do when I’m in India. I’m hoping that the growing heterogeneity of beauty norms in the United States will someday transcend mere exotic appeal and that it will also lead to a little more open-mindedness when it comes to Indian ideals of beauty.
Am I the only one that thinks this chick is not that hot, but more used for exotification than her beauty? Sort of like the “Slumdog Millionare” of models.
Having been in the position where people have said exactly the same thing about me (both dismissively and as praise), I’m reticent to dispense judgment. The topic of representation is always interesting to me, but it still irks me that there are so many discussions on here and in general that revolve around sizing up women–whether they’re hot enough, Indian enough, skinny enough, fair or dark enough, ad nauseam. Haters are always content to hide behind their snide maledictions and anonymity.
Satya, you can say those things if people are judging woman on the street, but if your job requires people taking pictures of you and showing them to the world than people have the right to say things about your looks. You get paid for people judging you, dont you? Dont models get awards for how they look in photos? So giving them praise for looking good is great, but someone says “I dont think they look that great” and your a slimeball hiding behind a computer?
And I was not saying anything about the color of her skin. I might be darker than she is. I love dark skinned Indian women. I love all colors of the rainbow.
Since you asked, I’ll venture.
I looked at her pictures this morning through the eyes of my children (aged 6 & under) and I envisioned them asking me two questions: 1) Mom, why does she look so angry? (first picture) 2) Mom, why does she look so sad? (second picture)
But what does my family know? My crystal ball says my children will never romp the ramp, ever.
In general, ever since I became a mom I noticed that kids are attracted more to a person exuding warmth than to a person assumed beautiful by adults. I don’t know what that observation is worth; perhaps $0, but nevertheless…
Part of a South Indian (Tamil/Telugu?) bride’s/dancer’s traditional jewelery.
ST, I get your point, and I never said you were a slimeball. I don’t model anymore partly because the work was extremely tiring and, of course, while I may have received praise from some people, I got my fair share of insults from fat, balding, greasy photographers and agents. When you put yourself on display, people feel that they have the right to judge you, even if you are more attractive than the average person. It’s schadenfreude. I get that. On the other hand, since I’ve been there before, I try not to do it to other people, whether or not they’re “average” or in the entertainment industry. Fact is, women are still disproportionately judged for their looks compared to men (another reason I bowed out of modeling–I rather prefer being known as the smart, rather than the pretty, girl). I don’t know how many threads I’ve read on SM alone where 100+ posts are devoted to assessing a woman on the basis of her looks and finding her either worthy or lacking. For some reason, most people (both men and women) feel perfectly justified in appraising a woman’s looks and being needlessly venomous in their critiques. I’ve seldom found this to be true when it comes to men. To me, the topic at hand was less about Lakshmi’s beauty than about how standards of beauty are transforming due to South Asians’ increasing cultural capital–but of course, it was bound to include potshots about the model’s level of hotness. Speaking of which, who says exotic looks and beauty are mutually exclusive, anyway? I’m sure her appeal has to do with a little of both.
You also didn’t just say that Lakshmi doesn’t look all that hot. You referred to her as the “Slumdog Millionaire” of models, which to me, conflated ugly class stereotypes with her looks. Perhaps you intended something totally different (i.e., she caters to western ideas about India in much the same way as the film did) but I guess I interpreted it as the former. So forgive me if I came at you a little hard, but this is something I take more than a little personally.
“Am I the only one that thinks this chick is not that hot, but more used for exotification than her beauty? Sort of like the “Slumdog Millionare” of models.”
ms. menon was/is a successful model in india before going global. you may not think she’s attractive but she has the look that the business wants. clearly the designers who hire her repeatedly do so because she is able to model/sell their products to the public that buys those products. Someone you consider more attractive might not do that very well and might fail at selling whatever product it is. rather than automatically chalk it up to exotification/being used maybe it’s as simple as there are others who do consider her actually beautiful or attractive and marketable in the west AND exotic or different (and i don’t think being considered exotic is always necessarily a bad thing).
i think she’s striking and attractive but can see why others wouldn’t find her their cup of tea. likewise i don’t share the general opinion about giselle bundchen being a great beauty, but can see why others do think so and can certainly see why she’s a popular model.
I wonder how many South Asian male models there are? If anyone needs a boost in confidence in the area of physical beauty its us. Seeing as how we are hardly represented as sex symbols.
36 · tybris said
john abraham, the bastard. 😉
Indian women are vey attractive,imo and in India there is a lot of emphaisis placed on a girls’ looks. This obviously has a negative connotation sinc emuch of it is bound about with desirability and the value of the girl on the “marriage market”; a lot of which in traditional segments of the population seems to be driven primarily by physical beauty for women – I would say Indians are quite typical of most societies in regard except perhaps to the degree to which this can be taken. Some of which really puts an intolerable strain on the girls in question.
But I don’t think “tall and dark” is the typical Indian aesthetic for beauty. Usually it is more slim and fair really, though this is a conservative trope and I am sure there are variations. However, we remain largely a conservative society in this regard for the moment.
Lakshmi Menon, though, is very hot indeed. Though she would not fit the typical Indian or Bollywood version of beauty.
Are ya kidding me? Please speak for yourself and use “I” statements when talking about Desis as an ugly race, and if you are i.e.-ing media, then state that Western Media does not prize certain aspects of Desi beauty.
1) don’t make presumptions of time zone
2) i really don’t care what i or you think is hot. an american-born-brown people probably have a different standard of beauty from a DBD. for example, i doubt most of us would think that a shapely pretty-faced dark-skinned woman is less attractive than a less pretty light-skinned woman. but, i’m skeptical this is true for brown people as a whole.
3) the stuff about western media is total bull. parminder nagra and freida pinto are relatively normal colored brown women. the N is small, but i don’t think it’s a coincidence that they got their break in the western media. white people aren’t the only one who have racialist sentiments.
4) i was speaking as “we” in a general sense. as a brown person. there are people, like KXB, who are light-skinned but like dark-skinned women. and i prefer blondes. but as a whole it seems that the brown aesthetic preference, especially for women, is a pale olive. about 5% of brown people are within spitting range of this type. of course someone like heidi klum doesn’t look like a typical german, she’s way better looking. but she doesn’t look like a separate race. so when is say that brown people perceive ourselves to be a modestly ugly race, i’m saying that some of the traits typical to our kind, good looking or not, a rich brown skin, on the dark side, facial features between those of europeans and africans in quantitative character, dark eyes, etc., are woefully underrepresented in places like bollywood. granted, many people do look totally brown, and the point about make up is also important (some of the “light skinned” actors are probably not that light without make up). but the % of individuals who have light eyes, light olive skin, “sharp features” (a term i learned on these message boards, and seems to mean a sculpted caucasian visage) is way out of proportion to what is represented in the brown population at large.
even in my own minimal personal experience criticisms of being dark skinned (especially to women) seem to come mostly from other brown people, not whites. so talking about the western media seems kind of like crap to me.
This I agree with. Gradations of brown aren’t really scrutinized that closely by white people. My sister is probably 0.00005 darker than I am, but relatives still feel the need to point it out.
I am curious as to why you prefer blondes.
I am curious as to why you prefer blondes.
christ, can we please add this to the FAQ? in any case, this is a moot point, and has been for years. i prefer a blonde, and hope to forever more 🙂 when i & this weblog were younger i offered up other reasons, but that’s really the true one.
Ah, I see, Razib. Sorry–I’m a bit new so I didn’t know this was a dead horse. 🙂
My husband is blonde, but strangely, I find bald men quite attractive these days.
christ, can we please add this to the FAQ?
PMSL, you are never going to live this one down are you Razib 😀
Just give up hehehe!
More seriously, I think traditional attitudes are changing, even in India. I was pleasantly surprised by some less orthodox sentiments shown, especially by the younger generation. I think it is a positive development for the future, when we can leave some of this ridiculous prejudice behind.
More seriously, I think traditional attitudes are changing, even in India. I was pleasantly surprised by some less orthodox sentiments shown, especially by the younger generation. I think it is a positive development for the future, when we can leave some of this ridiculous prejudice behind.
in india this might be true (hopefully). but diasporas are often holdovers of a more conservative era. i do think that in the united states color prejudices are going to be less salient for those born & raised here because
1) 80% of the range in color of american brown people looks the same to white people (excluding the lightest and darkest 10ths)
2) education, $$$, a fit body, etc., rank way higher in our rankings. it doesn’t matter how pale you are if you’re fat
but i think on your side of the pond conrad things might differ a bit. only 20% of american browns are of the best looking ethnicity, while over on your side over half are, and if these message boards are any indication they’re pretty proud of being lighter, “sharper featured” and taller (though i never hear anything about hirsutitude 😉
but diasporas are often holdovers of a more conservative era.
I blame you and your love of blondes for this, mate ROTFLMAO!
More seriously, yes, you might be right I don’t know the numbers or the breakdown for the UK. But the approach to ethnicity is different here and it doesn’t seem to work out the way it does in the US; popular representations of South Asians is also very different than in the states. On the other hand if you look at a lot of actresses who come from a South Asian background but have made it onto big stage they tend to not to conform to conventional stereotypes of the good looking ‘desi’ girl.
In anycase our generation still displays a lot of attitudes we should have left behind long ago, but I am more hopeful of the next and successive generations in this regard.
I don’t know the numbers or the breakdown for the UK.
i calculated 60% of south asians being punjabi from the census data. in the USA it’s 20% punjabi.
On the other hand if you look at a lot of actresses who come from a South Asian background but have made it onto big stage they tend to not to conform to conventional stereotypes of the good looking ‘desi’ girl.
my impression is that in brownland they like it plumper & paler than you see among western brownz.
the stuff about western media is total bull. parminder nagra and freida pinto are relatively normal colored brown women. the N is small, but i don’t think it’s a coincidence that they got their break in the western media.
Parminder Nagra does not have the bollywood look, where as in the west is talent as actress that will make a star.
Tinu Verghese is another brown skin beauty & high-fashion model. I think she’s the first I’ve seen catwalking with some visible chin bling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXT5ZD2V7z0
i calculated 60% of south asians being punjabi from the census data. in the USA it’s 20% punjabi.
That may be true but I don’t think Punjabis are significantly more attractive than other ethnicities. IMO anyway. my impression is that in brownland they like it plumper & paler than you see among western brownz.
Paler perhapsbut not plumper. There is a lot of emphasis on slim figurelines for young girls pre-marriage from my experience.
And Parminder Nagra is also very hot but not typical Bollywood at all. You can see quite a few South Asian actresses on some of the soaps here in the UK, they come from a wide range of types and the only thing they have in common is a high level of acting skills.
That may be true but I don’t think Punjabis are significantly more attractive than other ethnicities. IMO anyway.
right, i just mean that they perceive themselves as such, and i think most other brown ethnicities implicitly accept it. as noted by others very few on even this board brag about how dark skinned or broad featured they are 😉 small, dark & broad nosed doesn’t seem to be part of the canons of beauty.