{"id":333,"date":"2014-11-21T15:31:47","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T19:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/?p=333"},"modified":"2014-11-21T15:31:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T19:31:47","slug":"colorism-within-ramayana-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/2014\/11\/21\/colorism-within-ramayana-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorism Within Ramayana Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although colorism within Ramayana traditions was not a unit our class covered extensively, a few articles and some class discussions mentioned issues of colorism in the epic.\u00a0 Below, I will speak to colorism within the Ramayana<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as well as some of the social implications around colorism in India today.\u00a0 To do this, I will reference both the Ramayana<\/em><\/a> comic and the Ramayana<\/em><\/a> book.\u00a0 I am not interested in the determining if the Hindu epics like the Ramayana<\/em> have influenced colorism in India over time, but rather, interested in the connection between colorism in both written text and stories as well as in social practice.\u00a0 Additionally, because there has been much more research of how colorism affects women in India, I make a point to address this.\u00a0 This does not mean, however, men do not experience colorism in India.<\/p>\n

To look closely how both the Ramayana<\/em> comic and the Ramayana<\/em> translation have instances of colorism, first, colorism needs to be distinguished from racism. \u00a0Both are discriminatory social constructions (Jones, 2000, 1493; Hunter, 2007, 237).\u00a0 Additionally skin color can be an indicator for race (Jones, 2000, 1497), however, colorism is about one\u2019s \u201c\u2026actual skin tone, as opposed to racial or ethnic identity\u201d (Hunter, 2007, 237).\u00a0 Instead of having different treatment based on another\u2019s perceived race different from the discriminator (\u201cracism\u201d), colorism is based on prejudice against people with darker skin, usually within one\u2019s ethnic or racial group (\u201ccolorism\u201d; Parameswaran and Cardoza, 2009, 222).<\/p>\n

Even though\u00a0the term was coined in the United States (Jones, 2009, 1489), colorism is prevalent all over the world.\u00a0 Within India, there are a number of theories as to exactly where colorism began (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 32-33), but we can see it is integrated within a number of other social factors, like gender, class, caste, and more.\u00a0 Comics like the Amar Chitra Katha <\/em><\/a>series can teach and influence children at an early age to value lighter skin along with other social hierarchies (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 21).\u00a0 Radhika Parameswaran and Kavitha Cardoza\u2019s \u201cImmortal Comics, Epidermal Politics: Representations of gender and colorism in India\u201d (2009) studies extensively 30 books within the Amar Chitra Katha<\/em> series and found that of the 960 pages, only 345 pages, or 36%, had dark-skinned characters, either human or animals (23).\u00a0 Within parts of the article, the Valmiki\u2019s Ramayana <\/em>comic is discussed.\u00a0 Within this comic, and the shorter Rama <\/em><\/a>comic, Rakshasas<\/a> are the only characters depicted with darker skin, and they are portrayed as aggressive, scary, and hideous (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 26; Pai, 1980).\u00a0 Lighter-skinned men are usually shown to be strong, healthy, clean, handsome, and often, noble (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 24-25; Pai, 1980).<\/p>\n

Women in the Ramayana <\/em>comic, and in the Amar Chitra Katha <\/em>comic series in general, also have contrasting characteristics between those depicted with light skin and those with dark skin. \u00a0Light-skinned females generally have high status like light-skinned males, are pure, loyal, and loving (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 29). Additionally, these women are beautiful, slim-figured, and young (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 29).\u00a0 In the Ramayana<\/em>, Sita<\/a> is a great example.\u00a0 Dark-skinned females in the comics are even more marginalized than their male counterparts, and when they do have roles, the low-status women are almost always depicted as monstrous, hypersexual, brutish, and evil (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 30).\u00a0 Shoorpanakha<\/a>\u00a0is one such example of a depiction of dark-skinned women (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009, 30-31; Pai, 1980). \u00a0Another instance of dark-skinned women being violent and monstrous is in the image below.\u00a0 A page from the Ramayana<\/em> comic (Pai, 1980) shows Tataka, a Rakshasi<\/a>, violently throwing rocks at Rama<\/a> and Lakshmana<\/a>. \u00a0As seen, she is drawn much darker than the other heroic characters (Pages from Valmiki\u2019s Ramayana, Amar Chitra Katha, 1975).\u00a0 Coding of skin color and gender in the Ramayana<\/em> comic promotes colorist ideas\u2019 of light skin having \u2018superiority\u2019 over dark skin (Parameswaran & Cardoza, 2009).<\/p>\n

\"Ramayanacomic\"<\/a>

Pages of Valmiki\u2019s Ramayana from Amar Chitra Katha comic series, Los Angles County Museum of Art (LACMA)<\/p><\/div>\n

Not only can colorism be seen in the children\u2019s versions of the Ramayana<\/em>, but it can be seen in more adult versions of the Ramayana<\/em> as well.\u00a0 In the Ramayana<\/em>, we can see a number of instances where again Rakshasas are usually depicted with dark skin and monstrous.\u00a0 \u00a0One depiction of colorism and femininity shows the guard of Lanka as violent towards Hanuman<\/a> who looks to enter the city disguised as a cat.\u00a0 \u201cSuddenly, a dark-skinned women appeared from no-where before him, her face crooked in an unlovely smile, flames for her hair and a bleeding tigerskin for her dress, standing there in a halo of glowing lights and moving colors that looked like the burning clouds at the destruction of all three worlds\u201d (Buck, 229).\u00a0 Here, destruction and chaos are invoked when describing a dark skinned woman.\u00a0 As seen before in the Ramayana<\/em> comic, this woman is unfriendly, violent, and repulsive (Parameswaran and Cardoza, 2009; Buck, 1976; Pai, 1980) comic.\u00a0 Both the comic and the translated book of the Ramayana<\/em> show colorism toward those with darker skin, particularly women.<\/p>\n

Connecting the Ramayana<\/em> to cultural values within India today, lighter skin is highly valued.\u00a0 The perceived superiority and value of lighter skin creates a market, especially for women (Parameswaran and Cardoza, 2009, 216-217). \u00a0Skin color, particularly lighter skin tones, indicates beauty and higher status in many cultures, including India (Hunter, 2007, 246-247; Parameswaran and Cardoza, 2009, 226).\u00a0 Products like skin lighteners<\/a>\u00a0are used in many post-colonial countries like India and are used to whiten the skin (Hunter, 2007, 248). \u00a0Below is an image of a popular skin lightener (L’Oreal<\/a>, 2012) that describes white complexion as “perfect”. \u00a0Even despite dangers of these lighteners like mercury poisoning<\/a>, societal hierarchies create more benefits for those with light skin than dark skin, making women weigh whether lower status or physical risk is more detrimental (Hunter, 2007, 249; Jones, 2000, 1498).<\/p>\n

\"india-commerical-for-bleaching-cream-colorfultimes-com\"<\/a>

L’Or\u00e9al skin whitening kit ad found on Teah Abdullah’s article “Skin Lightening, Racial Identity & Beauty Standards: Stop the Madness!”<\/p><\/div>\n

A multitude of factors relating to the issues of colorism that have not been discussed are extremely important and pertinent to consider: gender (though this is mentioned above), class, caste, religion, and ethnicity are just but a few of these issues.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there is not a lot of research around colorism in India in general; most of the research on the topic of colorism speaks of African Americans in the United States (Parameswaran and Cardoza, 2009, 226).\u00a0 Hopefully, when colorism in India becomes better researched, masculinity and colorism will also be looked at.\u00a0 More research on colorism within epics, scriptures, and storytelling may produce more information about colorism within society (Indian or broader) as well, and in turn, the research on colorism within India may show new ways of reading and interpreting these religious texts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reference:<\/address>\n

Abdullah, Teah. L’Oreal<\/a>. Digital image.\u00a0Feminspire.com. Feminspire Media Network, LLC, 12 Nov. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2012. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.<\/p>\n

Buck, William.\u00a0 Ramayana<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0 Berkley: University of California Press, 1976.<\/p>\n

\u201cColorism<\/a>“. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press<\/em>, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.<\/p>\n

Hunter, Margaret. “The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality<\/a>.” \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sociology Compass<\/em> 1.1 (2007): 237-54. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n

Jones, Trina. “Shades of Brown: The Law of Skin Color<\/a>.” Duke Law Journal<\/em> 49.1487 (2000): \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01487-557. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n

Pages From Valmiki\u2019s Ramayana, Amar Chitra Katha<\/a>, <\/em>printed comic book, 1975, reprint 2007 (Los \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA).<\/p>\n

Pai, Anant.\u00a0Va\u0304lmi\u0304ki’s Ramayana<\/em><\/a>. Bombay: India Book House, 1980. Print.<\/p>\n

Parameswaran, Radhika E., & Kavitha Cardoza. \u201cImmortal Comics, Epidermal Politics: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Representations of gender and colorism in India<\/a>.\u201d Journal of Children and Media<\/em> 3.1 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (2009): 19-34. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n

—.\u00a0 \u201cMelanin on the Margins: Advertising and the Cultural Politics of Fair\/Light\/White Beauty \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in India<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Journalism & Communication Monographs<\/em> 11 (2009): 213-274.<\/p>\n

“Racism<\/a>“. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press<\/em>, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although colorism within Ramayana traditions was not a unit our class covered extensively, a few articles and some class discussions mentioned issues of colorism in the epic.\u00a0 Below, I will speak to colorism within the Ramayana\u00a0as well as some of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2759,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[118],"tags":[172907,172290,41465,110963,165554,173247],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student","tag-amar-chitra-katha","tag-colorism","tag-gender","tag-india","tag-ramayana","tag-skin-lighteners"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5u6BD-5n","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2759"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/imorgens-rel131\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}