“Looking for Indian girls with fair skin” – Modelling agency called out for Colourism

Hi Neha, she liked you but the skin tone they want a girl with fair skin. Thank you anyway for trying your best.”

Against the backdrop of Eminem’s “Without Me”, Neha shared her experience with a modelling agency who first stated that they were looking for Indian models, but later clarified that they were looking only for fair-skinned Indian girls.

Neha, a 20-year-old TikToker with more than 12,000 followers, exposed a conversation between an agent of the company and her. As various messages in the conversation were revealed, Neha, who did not utter a word throughout the video, let her facial expressions do the talking.

The Conversation

The first message, which was sent by the agent to Neha, noted how the agency liked her but wanted someone with fairer skin tone. The agent also thanked Neha for “trying her best“.

Neha, who didn’t look too amused by her remarks, appeared unfazed and stated “let’s not normalise colourism babes”.

On that note, you know what should be normalised? Proper spelling. Imagine being racist or colourist, but not knowing how to spell “tone“.

Neha then responded by clarifying if the agency was looking for an Indian model. To which, the agent replied by stating that it is not easy to find an Indian model with fair skin in Singapore.

Notwithstanding the puzzling specific need for a fair-skinned Indian mode, Neha noted that there were plenty of fair-skinned Indian models in Singapore. All the agency had to do was to have stated what they were looking for explicitly.

However, as one TikTok user pointed out, the reason why the agency did not explicitly state that they were looking only for fair-skinned indian models was probably because they know the social repercussions of such an ask.

The agent then said she liked “Neha’s skin ton slightly brighter but still a no”. Whatever that means.

Neha made it clear that she could not care less about this agent’s opinion of her skin tone.

To date, the video has been viewed more than 69,000 times. You may watch the video in its entirety below.

@peapperonithem: reaches out asking for indian model also them: fair-skinned indians only♬ Without me by Eminem –

Reactions

Many in the comments section of the video took issue with the agency’s inexplicable preference, and their communication with Neha. Naalishya, a fellow Indian model, said that she was “disgusted‘ by their audacity.

Although Neha herself was of the view that it was fine for the agency to seek fair-skinned Indian girls (just that they should have stated so explicitly), not everyone shared the same sentiments.

Natasha argued that deep down, this preference for fair-skin stems from “beauty expectations” that “fairer means prettier”.

It appears that Neha’s experience was not an isolated one, as at least one other user shared that she experienced the exact same thing.

Although many users asked for the agency to be named, Neha did not do so.

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